Rainy Day Activities for Kids: 21 Ideas to Beat Boredom
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I love fall. We get back into a good school routine, the sun sets before bedtime, and the air has a certain crispness that can’t be found other times of the year. Near Seattle, though, that crispness is quickly replaced by the start of the rainy season – months on end of rainy days. Having plenty of rainy day activities for kids on hand is definitely important during the rainy season.
Honestly, the rainy season was what I was most worried about before moving to Seattle. Months and months of rainy days seemed like a recipe for disaster with children. Thankfully, we quickly adjusted and built up a long list of rainy day activities for kids.
Rainy Day Activities for Kids
Bake delicious treats – Baking and cooking in general are excellent ways to practice math skills. Adding and multiplying fractions in real-life situations makes more of an impact than any worksheet ever can. Baking also warms up the house and fills it with delicious smells. It just makes a home extra cozy.
Tea with poetry – Take those home-baked goodies and set the table for tea with poetry. We have tea with poetry year-round, but it always seems especially relaxing when the weather outside is gray. If you want someone to do all of the poetry teatime planning for you, check out the options by Literary Adventures for Kids. The Poetry Teatime: Around the World is a great option for any time of year.
Roast marshmallows over a candle – My kids get all the credit for this idea! Our power flickered a few weeks ago, and they ran to get a lighter and a bag of marshmallows. I thought they were just being silly …until they managed to actually roast marshmallows over our kitchen table candle!
If you read a marshmallow story, you achieve the rainy day trifecta – cozy candlelight, sweet treats, and a book! Just be sure to remind little ones of fire safety rules.
Make a fresh batch of play-dough – I love play-dough and will be really sad when my kids don’t want to sculpt with it anymore. You can, of course, use store-bought play-dough, but I prefer to make our own. The Art Kit blog has some really creative play-dough activities!
Paint new artwork – My kids love painting, and I love displaying their artwork. It can be hard to carve time out of a busy homeschool day to paint, but rainy days provide the perfect opportunity to stay indoors and let your inner artist out. Pinterest is FULL of kid-friendly art projects.
Read – Reading is one of my favorite pastimes, so of course I love to curl up with a good book when rain is beating on the windowpanes. I want my children to enjoy reading too, so we read. A lot. Research has shown that reading aloud is beneficial for kids of all ages. A Kindle and a library card mean that you always have access to new books.
Play a board game – Board games are a great after-dinner family activity. They are a fun way to build reading and math skills while also teaching strategy. We are always adding to our collection.
Build with Legos – Building with Legos is a great way to spend an afternoon. You can leave your kids to create freely and practice their engineering skills, or you can incorporate a lesson or two. We recently recreated a battle between William the Silent, the Sea Beggars, and the Spanish Militia using Legos and play-dough. It was awesome.
Try a science experiment – One of my favorite rainy day activities for kids is to do science experiments. There are so many experiments that can be done at home using things that you already have on hand.
Take a virtual field trip – Virtual field trips are the perfect rainy day activities for kids who don’t want to leave the house. Travel all over the world from the comfort of your living room!
Set up an obstacle course in the house – All you need are a few pieces of furniture, pillows, and maybe blankets, and you can set up an amazing obstacle course. I like to set up obstacle course tracks through the entire house to burn up as much energy as possible. My kids are naturally competitive with each other, so sometimes I time them. They always end up needing to sit and rest for a few minutes afterward.
Hide-n-seek – Hide and seek can tire kids out AND get you a few minutes of quiet. That is a win, especially for an activity that requires NO preparation! If you are playing with toddlers, I recommend limiting the play area to a smaller section of the house. Toddlers are small and can fit in tight spaces you wouldn’t think to look. When Ben was 2, he fit into a tiny spot in his closet…and fell asleep! He didn’t hear us call for him, and we had trouble finding him. I think that gave me a few gray hairs. With older children, set some ground rules. I always make my bedroom and office off limits. Kids must stay inside unless we are specifically playing outside.
Burn off some energy on the treadmill or elliptical – When all else fails, put the kiddos on the elliptical. They actually seem to think it is fun! Challenge them to go a certain distance or burn a certain number of calories in five minutes.
Visit the library – What isn’t to love about libraries? They offer free books and entertainment. Libraries frequently host storytimes and other children’s programs. Many libraries are now offering play areas for young kids, too. There is something for everyone!
Check out a new museum exhibit – Homeschoolers love museums. You can get out of the house and learn something, too. We were fortunate to have the Smithsonian museums so close by when we lived in VA, but we can still find a variety of museums within an hour or so. Do a Google search for ‘your city’ + museums and see what turns up. We found a really cool Nordic history museum within an hour’s drive from us through Google. The education curator even let me rent a box of educational materials to play with at home!
Run around a children’s museum – Sometimes you need to get out of the house and go somewhere you can run and be a bit loud. Children’s museums fill this need nicely. My kids are getting a little old for children’s museums (they tend to be geared towards preschool and lower elementary), but I’m hoping to squeeze a few more visits on rainy days.
Go to a coffee shop for a writers’ workshop – Going to a coffee shop to write while sipping a hot beverage makes my kids feel very mature. I like it because we get out of the house but still get schoolwork done. Scope out a coffee shop with plenty of tables and maybe a cozy feature like a fireplace. You get bonus points if it is locally owned!
Swim in an indoor pool – There is very little that tires children out like swimming. If your children can swim, you don’t even have to get in the pool (assuming there are well-trained lifeguards present). This is my secret weapon when they have a TON of energy, and I have none. Visiting our local indoor aquatic center is one of my family’s favorite rainy day activities for kids.
Build something – Kids of all ages love to build. The trick to keeping it interesting is switching up the building supplies. I keep a rotating collection of Magna-Tiles, Legos, wooden blocks, castle blocks, and bristle blocks. They are not available at the same time, so that the kids stay interested.
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Fine motor practice – One of my favorite rainy day activities for kids is to practice fine motor skills. Lately, that has involved using pipettes or eye droppers to drop vinegar on a tray of baking soda. Other fun activities are stringing beads and lacing cards.
Play in the rain – Playing in the rain isn’t really that bad as long as you are properly dressed. Raincoats and boots go a long way towards keeping your little one dry. Worst-case scenario, they need dry clothes and a cup of hot cocoa when they come inside.
These rainy day activities for kids are also helpful when it is too hot to play outside.
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