• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

sloely

enjoying life slowed down

  • clutter free
  • simply frugal
  • natural remedies
  • grow your own
  • non toxic living
  • Simple Parenting

Rainy Day Activities For Kids

July 26, 2017 by Alice 3 Comments

Rainy day activities for kids - a big list of things to do on a rainy day for boys and girls from toddlers and preschoolers to older teens. There’s easy DIY fun scavenger hunts, crafts, games, projects, baking, art and science. Including cheap no mess ideas great for indoors and outdoors to burn off energy. Never be stuck by the nightmare parenting question of what to do on a rainy day again. #rainydays #rainydayactivities #kidsactivities #indooractivities #indoorgames #kidsgames #kidscraftsThis post includes affliate links, read here how these work.

Remember rainy days when you were a kid?

We always used to play sledging down the stairs in our sleeping bags.

Endless fun.

Until disaster struck and we crashed into a pile of laundry or some such.

And mum got just a teensy weensy bit cross.

And did her – very fine – impression of a sabre toothed tiger!

EEEEK …

Rainy day activities for kids - a big list of things to do on a rainy day for boys and girls from toddlers and preschoolers to older teens. There’s easy DIY fun scavenger hunts, crafts, games, projects, baking, art and science. Including cheap no mess ideas great for indoors and outdoors to burn off energy. Never be stuck by the nightmare parenting question of what to do on a rainy day again. #rainydays #rainydayactivities #kidsactivities #indooractivities #indoorgames #kidsgames #kidscrafts

… and now it’s the holidays. And it’s raining.

And I’m the sabre toothed tiger. GRRRRR!

What on earth are we meant to do on a rainy day to stop our kids:

  1. Killing each other before breakfast?
  2. Whining non-stop?
  3. Driving us to an early grave in a bottle of gin?

Well, there’s a whole bunch of rainy ideas here that work for us.

They don’t – I’m afraid – come with a cast iron guarantee your family will never face complete meltdown on a rainy day ever again.

But they do help – quite a bit – with the yelling.

And the whining.

And the gin ๐Ÿ˜‰

So here goes, loads of rainy day activities for kids …

Rainy Day Activities For Kids

Rainy Day Activities For Kids

1. Just Go Outdoors Anyway

What’s a bit of rain anyway?

Just shove on your wellies and anoraks and have some fun outdoors.

Even if it’s only an hour. You all run some energy off.

And it’s an excuse to have a bath in the middle of the day when you get back.

Which’ll take up at least another hour.

PLUS a rainy day is the best time in the holidays to hit the playground.

You get everything to yourself. No waiting. No shoving.

And if mummy’s feeling particularly stupid brave she’ll let you go on the button slide and drag through the mud! It’s worth serious brownie points the rest of the day. I promise.

But if it really is too wet – there’s thunder, lightning that kind of stuff – this second tip is my fave.

2. Love Bomb Your Kids … For An Hour … Early

As early as you possibly can, switch off your phone, your laptop, the radio, the lot.

For an hour. Solid.

And cuddle them. Listen to them. Read to them. Play any game they want.

Basically give them undivided attention for that hour.

Then leave them alone.

Now of course they’ll come back for top-up attention, but it’s the best way I know to get them to entertain themselves. Seconded only by tip number three.

3. Give Them A Big Pile Of Cardboard Boxes

I have to be honest here.

Most of the time, I’m not massively into fiddly kids craft activities.

And most kids do have MORE fun with a pile of random cardboard boxes

– plus some strong tape, felt tips and scissors – they can do what they want with.

Space rockets. Boats. Trains. Dolly hospitals. Castles. Smugglers’ caves. WW2 Bomb Shelters!

Rainy day activities for kids - a big list of things to do on a rainy day for boys and girls from toddlers and preschoolers to older teens. There’s easy DIY fun scavenger hunts, crafts, games, projects, baking, art and science. Including cheap no mess ideas great for indoors and outdoors to burn off energy. Never be stuck by the nightmare parenting question of what to do on a rainy day again. #rainydays #rainydayactivities #kidsactivities #indooractivities #indoorgames #kidsgames #kidscrafts

Whatever they like.

It’s phsyical. It’s creative. It’s their thing.

And keeps them going for hours on end.

But in case World War Three does break out in your living room, I’ve found it helps massively to have a bunch of very energetic, but very simple activities up your sleeve.

4. Get Physical!

And when I say simple, I really mean simple.

You want something you can play instantly without faff or prep, such as:

  • Hide And Seek – it needs no explanation, and is always a winner in our house especially if we play the slightly more sophisticated Tinkernelly
  • Twister – if you haven’t got Twister(USA), get it! It’s worth every penny on a rainy day!
  • Classic Party Games – all those party games we played as kids are perfect for a rainy day. In case you’ve forgotten, I’ve got a massive list here of classic party games.
  • Balloon Games – just blow up some balloons and play:
    • balloon races with balloons between legs
    • balloon tennis
    • balloon volley ball
    • balloon tag

    If your kids are seriously high energy, it is worth coming up with a bunch of slightly more structured physical challenges to keep them going all day.

    There are fab ideas for physical rainy day challenges in these lists from Kids Activities Blog …

    Rainy day activities for kids - a big list of things to do on a rainy day for boys and girls from toddlers and preschoolers to older teens. There’s easy DIY fun scavenger hunts, crafts, games, projects, baking, art and science. Including cheap no mess ideas great for indoors and outdoors to burn off energy. Never be stuck by the nightmare parenting question of what to do on a rainy day again. #rainydays #rainydayactivities #kidsactivities #indooractivities #indoorgames #kidsgames #kidscrafts

    … What Moms Love …

    Rainy day activities for kids - a big list of things to do on a rainy day for boys and girls from toddlers and preschoolers to older teens. There’s easy DIY fun scavenger hunts, crafts, games, projects, baking, art and science. Including cheap no mess ideas great for indoors and outdoors to burn off energy. Never be stuck by the nightmare parenting question of what to do on a rainy day again. #rainydays #rainydayactivities #kidsactivities #indooractivities #indoorgames #kidsgames #kidscrafts

    … and No Time For Flash Cards …

    Rainy day activities for kids - a big list of things to do on a rainy day for boys and girls from toddlers and preschoolers to older teens. There’s easy DIY fun scavenger hunts, crafts, games, projects, baking, art and science. Including cheap no mess ideas great for indoors and outdoors to burn off energy. Never be stuck by the nightmare parenting question of what to do on a rainy day again. #rainydays #rainydayactivities #kidsactivities #indooractivities #indoorgames #kidsgames #kidscrafts

    Even the most physical kids have big sensory needs as well.

    And simple baking to help make tea is a great way to meet them.

    5. Bake Pastry or Pizza For Dinner

    Now, I know some of you will be screeching “Not on your Nelly, Mrs!” at this point.

    And the very mention of baking sends shivers down your spine.

    But stick with me.

    Pastry and pizza are the easiest things ever for kids to do. Easier than cakes!

     

    A post shared by Sloely (@sloelysloely) on Jul 24, 2017 at 3:44am PDT

    Any kid – any parent! – can rub butter into flour with their fingers and add a bit of water to make a ball of pastry to roll out and cut into shapes for jam tarts or mini quiches or some such.

    And pizza dough is even easier. It’s just a bit of water and oil stirred into flour, yeast and sugar to make a big blob of dough you punch around a bit before letting it rise.

    When it’s risen, you knock it down and roll it out. And chuck toppings on.

    It’s that simple.

    And the fab thing for kids is they can do it without help.

    And can come and go. They can make pastry. Leave it in the fridge.

    Play something else. Then come back and roll and cut it.

    I am totally NOT a good cook but we do this lots on rainy days.

    And I always find kids love it. It’s sensory. It’s fun.

    And I guess it’s just that old Montessori idea of them really enjoying simple responsibilities.

    PLUS on a rainy day, it can easily take up an afternoon ๐Ÿ™‚

    6. Make Their Own Playdough

    For similar reasons, I’m a big fan of getting kids to make their own playdough.

    Now obviously you can buy it or make it for them.

    But they get so much more out of making it themselves.

    And then playing with what they’ve made.

    And … tick, tock, tick, tock … it keeps them entertained for a lot more hours on a rainy day!

    There are all sorts of ideas for fancy playdough recipes around. There’s loads here …

    But you DO NOT need a fancy recipe to have fun making playdough.

    Keep it old school and give your kids a big bowl each, a bag of flour and a jug of water – food colouring if you must and can handle the carnage – and then let them experiment.

    Sometimes it will turn out crumbly. Sometimes sloppy. Just hold some flour back so they can thicken it up if they want.

    And for a bit of variety offer oil. Or dish washing liquid. Or glitter. To change the texture.

    It is a messy rainy idea, I admit.

    But curiously calming.

    Me and my friend from down the road sit there rolling it for ages, over a cup of tea – long after the kids have disappeared somewhere or other – as we put the world to rights.

    7. Free Style Painting

    The other simplest idea for sensory play on a rainy day is obviously painting.

    There are times, I just can’t be doing with the mess.

    But there are just so many no prep, simple variations on painting you can offer the kids on a rainy day without it turning into a complicated craft activity. You can :

    • Print with vegetable and fruit cuttings and ends
    • Make patterns with string, marbles, fingers, hands
    • Get natural and paint with shells, fir cones, leaves and stones
    • Create your own paint brushes from kitchen utensils

    And for more inspiration check out all the lovely ideas here …

    8. Rainy Day Crafts

    Now as I confessed I’m NOT that crafty.

    I have my moments. But mostly not so much.

    So if you do want some ideas for rainy day crafts head over to the fab – and appropriately named! – Rainy Day Mum blog where Cerys the mum who writes it, has loads and loads and loads of rainy day ideas ….

    Rainy day activities for kids - a big list of things to do on a rainy day for boys and girls from toddlers and preschoolers to older teens. There’s easy DIY fun scavenger hunts, crafts, games, projects, baking, art and science. Including cheap no mess ideas great for indoors and outdoors to burn off energy. Never be stuck by the nightmare parenting question of what to do on a rainy day again. #rainydays #rainydayactivities #kidsactivities #indooractivities #indoorgames #kidsgames #kidscrafts

    So there you go loads of rainy day ideas that will keep the kids entertained.

    And smiling. Mostly.

    AND you off the gin. Whatever the weather’s doing outside.

    I do hope these ideas help.

    For more fun ideas for kids play do follow me on Pinterest and have a read of these posts:

    • 101 Outdoor Activities With Kids
    • 30 Ideas For Painting Outdoors With Kids
    • 30 Lovely Flower Crafts For Kids
    • 10 Vegetables To Grow With Kids
Indoor Fun For Kids
Rainy Day Activities For Kids
Rainy Day Activities For Kids class=”wp-image-26953″/>
Original image source: rawpixel.com

Filed Under: Family Games Tagged With: play

Previous Post: « Feather Painting With Kids
Next Post: Clutter Free Gifts »

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Blackberrying Tips says:
    August 11, 2017 at 2:21 pm

    […] as soon as it stops raining – !!! – will hit the woods […]

    Reply
  2. Forty Forty says:
    April 27, 2020 at 7:29 am

    […] 250 Fun Ideas For Rainy Days […]

    Reply
  3. Mother May I says:
    July 31, 2020 at 3:52 pm

    […] really IS a fab outdoor kids game and good for a rainy day if you’re stuck […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar



PRIVACY - DISCLOSURE - ADVERTISE - COPYRIGHT

Footer

Clutter free …

Gentle Declutter Method - Just 10 Things
Declutter List Of Things To Declutter Right Now

Grow your own …

Spring Vegetable Planting List
Natural Mosquito Repellents For Garden And Camping
How To Grow Raspberries In A Small Garden
Growing Rosemary From Cuttings In Water

Natural remedies …

How To Relieve Lower Back Pain Long Term At Home
Natural Remedies For Stomach Ache & Indigestion
PRIVACY - DISCLOSURE - ADVERTISE - COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT