This post may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure here.
We have reached that time of the year we have lots of rainy days. After so many rainy days, it is hard to come up with new ideas to keep your little ones busy. Today I am sharing 20 ways for you to have fun with your kids on a rainy day. You can also use these ideas anytime you need to change things up and do something different to keep your kids free from boredom.
When it’s pouring down, and you just can’t leave the house to go to take your kids for a walk or spend some time at the park; you need to have a list of activities so you can have a great day, regardless.
When small hands are occupied, everyone is happy.
1. Arts and Crafts Are So Much Fun
I have ever been much of an artsy person, however, thanks to my friend and colleague Barbara, I have discovered how amazing it is to actually make things. I can make a cake, cook food, etc, but to make a personalized journal from scratch? That’s fantastic for me.
Get your kids involved by creating a box of arts and crafts and start projects like painting flower pots building, kites, or creating a family yearbook.
2. Cook and Bake With Your Children
My little one loves to help in the kitchen. Especially with baking. When we make cookies and brownies, we can see what we make actually turn into something better. Much better than cooking, as explained by my three year old.
Healthy and delicious recipes = no more dinnertime temper tantrums.
Did you know that cooking can help your kids learn and practice some basic math concepts and build language skills? Practice counting and math skills by counting eggs or pouring water into a measuring cup. You can encourage your kids to taste new ingredients about where ingredients like milk, eggs, butter come from.
If your kids help assemble a pizza, let them know that their help was important.
3. Create A Family Yearbook
Family yearbooks are so much fun to create. Encourage your kids to tell you or write (depending on their age) one new thing they learned each day or one thing they absolutely loved about the day. Write in down along with the date so you can add it to your yearbook. Throughout the year, I download photos from my camera I put them in yearly (and then monthly) folders.
Your yearbook should contain snippets from your lives.
Include things like:
- photos from the beginning of the year
- narrative to explain the photos and life seasons
- drawings and paintings kids brought home from school
- short funny stories
- lots of text help preserve sweet memories of family time
4. Put On A Puppet Show
What is better than a live puppet show on a rainy day? I have learned to love doing this.
At first, it felt all awkward and super weird, but my little one is so awesome at this, that it motivated me to want to be better. It’s a given that children pay more attention to stories when there are visual cues like pictures or animations right?
Staging your own puppet show is a great way to get your child involved in telling the story. A well-organised backstage makes for a better show, so organize the puppets and props in the order you will need them. Put props in one box and puppets in another so things don’t get too confusing.
Reading a story aloud while your child acts out the narrative with the puppets is the simplest format to use. Keep it simple, and remember, toddlers thrive in the world of make-believe.
5. Have An Indoor Camping Experience On A Rainy Day
Want to take your kids on a camping trip without leaving your house? Roast marshmallows to golden-brown perfection without starting a fire?
Turn an ordinary room into a land of adventure inside your home. Making the tent takes only about 10 minutes. To put your tent together, you must gather a few of your household items. A light cloth works best to make the walls and roof of your tent.
Get at least four chairs for every corner of the tent. Chairs with high backs work great for added support for the tent. Add sleeping bags, pillows, blankets, and all your kids’ stuffed animals. For more fun, make up a story and spend the night in the tent.
6. Play Hide-And-Seek With A Twist
In traditional hide and seek, one person counts while others hide. Once the first person is found they follow the seeker (or not) around as they continue their search.
Put a twist on hide and seek like this:
The other popular twist on hide and seek is to give players the challenge of getting back to base (wherever the seeker did their counting) without being caught.
If the seeker spots someone make a dash for it, they chase them, and if caught before reaching base, that person is out.
Or play it in reverse……
They call this twist on hide-and-seek Sardines. I play it like hide-and-seek, only in reverse!
One person hides, and everyone else searches for the hidden person. Whenever a person finds the hidden person, they quietly join them in their hiding spot. Say you have 6 people playing, you could end up with 5 people hiding in a tight spot as the hidden group looks like a bunch of sardines. Makes for lots of fun and giggles, especially with toddlers!
If your kids are over playing hide-and-seek, try an indoor scavenger hunt instead.
7. Create An Indoor Obstacle Course
Obstacle courses are a great way to have fun with your kids on a rainy day. Create the obstacle course according to the ages, abilities, and the number of kids involved. Space is another factor to take into consideration. Eight to ten stations is a good number.
Here are 10 ideas to get your home obstacle course started:
- Crawl under or over a row of chairs.
- Jump into and out of a Hula-Hoop three times.
- Throw a beanbag into a laundry basket.
- Walk fast while balancing a plastic plate on your head.
- Limbo under a piece of string tied between two chairs.
- Somersault from one point to another.
- Hop on one leg while mom sings a nursery rhyme.
- Do five jumping jacks.
- Spin anti-clockwise for 10 seconds, then clockwise for another 10
- Walk backwards from the kitchen to the living room.
Your little ones will love the challenge of having to complete each task, and you’ll love the energy it can burn off and time it will keep them occupied. You should personalize these ideas for your kids.
Time how long it takes your child to do the course because when done you can ask them to try beating their time.
On a rainy day, pretty much anything goes. You control the level of fun.
Over to you! Have you got suggestions for keeping kids amused on a rainy day?
Share them with me in the comment box below!
