Rainy days are cozy, quiet, and calm—unless you’re a parent. In that case, they mean only one thing: the kids are stuck inside and they’ll be ravenous for entertainment.
When weather keeps the kids inside, it can be overwhelming to think about keeping them entertained. And while boredom can be beneficial for kids, it can also cause complaints.
However, rainy days don’t have to be something to fear—they can even be something you look forward to! Spending time indoors gives you precious time to reconnect with your kids and have fun as a family. All it takes is a few fun rainy day activities for kids.
Without further ado, here are 100 of the best rainy day activities for kids that will keep spirits high, even as the rain pours down.
One Hundred Rainy Day Activities for Kids
- Play a board game. Monopoly, Trouble, Life, oh my! Board games are a great way to keep the whole family entertained.
- Invent your own board game. Not sure what board game to play? Try inventing your own!
- Play a card game. Cards are the perfect accessory for a rainy day; after all, there are so many games you can play with a standard 52-card deck.
- Make an indoor scavenger hunt. When your kids can’t explore the neighborhood, why not explore the house? Click here for some fun at-home scavenger hunt ideas.
- Listen to music. Good music can entertain anyone. You can even host a sing-along to your family’s favorite album for a guaranteed good time.
- Have a dance party. Pull out your child’s Troomi phone and pump up the tunes. The first one to stop dancing loses!
- Paint a masterpiece. Watercolors and gouache are great mediums for early-painters.
- Finger paint. Who needs a paint brush when you can use your fingers? As an added bonus, finger painting is a great way to help kids develop their fine motor skills.
- Get out the crayons and color. Coloring is a great way for kids to express their creativity, whether or not they stay in the lines.
- Draw a self-portrait. Many of the world’s greatest artists were accomplished self-portrait painters—now it’s your child’s turn to try.
- Host an at-home read-a-thon. A rainy day is the perfect excuse to cuddle up with a new book. Break out the blankets and snacks, then get your kids started on their TBR list.
- Sculpt a masterpiece with Play-Doh. Help your child get in touch with their inner Michelangelo as they sculpt.
- Bake a new treat in the kitchen. Kids make the best kitchen helpers. Even the little ones can help with whisking, scooping, and stirring.
- Make and decorate delicious cupcakes. Have your child help whip up some frosting, then top the cupcakes with all manner of sprinkles and sweets.
- Make smoothies. Who said healthy food has to be boring? Add yogurt, fruit, and maybe a bit of spinach to zest up your family’s rainy day breakfast.
- Get out the craft supplies. Search for a new craft online, or let your child’s creativity guide them as they create!
- Make a picture collage using photos from old magazines. Cutting out photos and pasting them on a piece of paper is great fine motor skill practice.
- Roll out your mats and do yoga. Yoga is amazing: it’s a stress-reducer, strength-builder, and all around fun time for people of all ages.
- Do a bit of indoor exercise. If yoga isn’t your child’s thing, pull up a kids exercise video on YouTube.
- Play hide-and-go-seek inside. Alternatively, if your kids are tired of hide-and-seek, play a round of Sardines. In this game, one person hides and everyone else seeks!
- Make some gooey slime. Also known as oobleck, this science experiment is easy and fun. You might even have the materials in your pantry! Click here for the instructions.
- Listen to an audiobook together. Spending your rainy day listening to an audiobook is a great screen-free alternative to family movie night.
- Make music using homemade instruments. Banging pots and pans might not sound too pleasant, but boy, is it fun.
- Host an at-home fashion show. Help your kids put on their favorite outfits and parade around the living room. For some added fun, let them raid your closet!
- Play dress up. What kid doesn’t love pretending to be a prince or a wizard for the day?
- Make homemade ice cream. You don’t need an ice cream maker to make this delicious sweet treat: just a mason jar! Check out the recipe here.
- Play a few rounds of chess. If your kids don’t know how to play chess, use your rainy day to teach them! Playing this classic game helps kids develop their attention span, visual memory, and creative problem solving skills.
- Do an old-fashioned jigsaw puzzle. Puzzles help kids improve their memory, develop fine motor skills, and practice their problem solving. Plus, they’re pretty fun.
- Build with LEGOs. From a spaceship to an entire village, your child can make anything they imagine out of LEGOs.
- Fold origami. Origami sounds complicated, but there are a ton of simple shapes that even the littlest hands can try folding, like these three fun crafts.
- Play I Spy with My Little Eye. I Spy is not only fun, it also helps kids practice their spatial awareness skills.
- Play 20 Questions. This classic road-trip game can keep kids entertained in and out of the car, making it a rainy-day essential.
- Build a blanket fort. Here’s a world class fort-building tip: couch cushions make amazing walls.
- Go on a digital museum tour. Has your family ever been to the Louvre or the Met? Use the rainy day to take your kids on a digital tour of these amazing museums!
- Watch a family favorite movie. Turn the den into an at-home movie theater complete with popcorn, blankets, and your family’s favorite flick.
- Build an indoor obstacle course. Kids can get restless when they’re stuck inside all day, so help them release some energy by creating a quick obstacle course!
- Have an indoor campout. Roast marshmallows on the stove, tell spooky stories by the fireplace, and nap in the tent to really beat the rainy-day blues.
- Create a cardboard diorama. Help your child make a diorama of their favorite book scene, a historical event, or their favorite biome (complete with animals, of course).
- Put on a play. It’s not Broadway, but your kids will get a kick out of costuming, directing, and acting in their own play. Just be ready: you might be recruited to perform.
- Make a shadow play using shadow puppets. Check out this article from WikiHow for some helpful shadow puppet how-tos.
- Craft some sock puppets and put on a show. Let your child’s imagination run wild as they create their very own sock puppet characters.
- Have a paper airplane competition. You can even host an awards ceremony after!
- Write a letter to a neighbor or family member. Everybody loves receiving mail. Who knows, your child just might get a letter in return!
- Go through old family photos. Rainy days are the perfect time to reminisce about all the fun you’ve had together as a family.
- Make a scrapbook. Make copies of your favorite photos and help your kids create their own, personal memory book.
- Watch home videos. Prepare to smile, laugh, and maybe even shed a few tears as you relive your favorite family memories.
- Draw your family tree. Help your kiddo trace their ancestry with this fun art project that combines creativity with genealogy.
- Write and direct a homemade movie. Most smartphones double as a video camera—including those from Troomi!
- Create a music video. Pump up the tunes and help your child direct and star in their very own music video.
- Tie-dye an old t-shirt. Don’t throw away your child’s old t-shirts; instead, revitalize them with some tie-dye!
- Play imagination games. Put on your thinking cap and shop until you drop at your child’s store, book a reservation at their hotel, or do your homework for their imaginary school.
- Make friendship bracelets. Bond with your kids as you braid, weave, and bead bracelets for each other.
- Do an at-home science experiment. Check out this article from Good Housekeeping for some great experiment ideas.
- Put together an impromptu party. Your kids don’t need an excuse to throw a party—spending time with family is reason enough!
- Make pet rocks. Paint, pipe cleaner, and googly eyes are all you need to create your child’s new pebble pal.
- Host a homemade pizza night. Ask your kids to help you roll the dough into fun shapes, then let them load the pizza with their favorite toppings.
- Make a salt painting using glue and colored salt. Help your child draw lines with the glue then pour colored salt over it to create beautiful and creative images.
- Help your kids write a family newsletter. Include sections on Sports, Entertainment, and Comics. After their work is finished, send the newsletter out to family and friends.
- Get creative with cardboard boxes. Help your kids make any leftover cardboard boxes into a rocketship, a house, or an entire city. The only limit is their imagination!
- Keep a balloon in the air as long as you can. You can even make this a competition: whoever keeps their balloon from touching the ground the longest, wins!
- Write a story. Let your child’s creativity guide them as they write a fun (or serious) story.
- Write a poem. Click here for some tips that will help your kids craft the perfect poem!
- Play a few rounds of charades. This classic party game is entertaining for all ages—even the littlest kids can join in the fun!
- Learn how to knit. From scarves to socks, there are all sorts of things kids can knit. Don’t fret, even the smallest hands can learn how to maneuver knitting needles.
- Clean the house. Make cleaning fun by turning into a competition: whoever completes the most chores wins!
- Host a tea party. Help your child design invitations and set the table for a stuffed animal-filled tea party. Don’t forget to dress in your teatime best.
- Have an at-home movie night. Pop some popcorn and pull out the snacks as you enjoy one of your family’s favorite movies.
- Take turns telling jokes. Turn your living room into a comedy club complete with snacks and drinks as you share your favorite jokes.
- Play superhero. Your child can make their very own superhero mask using paper, scissors, and string.
- Open the salon. Give each other make-overs and paint your nails for a fun day of self-care.
- Play hair stylist. Help your kids experiment with fun new hairstyles; just keep them far away from the scissors.
- Paint a plant pot. Once it’s stopped raining, take your child to your local plant store and let them choose a new friend to plant in their pot.
- Play some dominoes. Play a round of Mexican Train or make up your own domino game.
- Play bingo. You can even make the game into a craft by helping your children design their very own bingo card!
- Plan a fun trip for when it isn’t raining. Take a look at nearby hiking trails, local attractions, or a not-so-distant city for fun family trip ideas.
- Have a pillow fight. Just prep your kids to help clean up any stray feathers afterwards.
- Make recyclable art. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure—or in this case, their art! Dig into the recycling bin and help your child use what they find to create a zany piece of sustainable art.
- Make a homemade volcano. This classic science experiment is easy and exciting. Just mix baking soda and vinegar to create an explosive eruption.
- Have a picnic inside. Roll out the gingham blanket and pack a basket full of your family’s favorite foods to enjoy on your indoor picnic.
- Sort candy, then eat it! Sorting candy into different colors and shapes helps children practice their creative problem solving and fine-motor skills.
- Build a block tower as high as you can. Building with blocks helps younger kids develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
- Host an at-home karaoke night. Spotify and YouTube feature karaoke tracks to all your family’s favorite songs, from showtunes to pop hits. What are you waiting for, grab a hairbrush and get singing!
- Organize your child’s closet. Donate any unwanted items to a local charity or second-hand shop.
- Create a family recipe book. Ask everyone to submit their favorite recipes, then compile them together in one book.
- Do a crossword puzzle. You can even make it a competition by splitting into two teams; the team that finishes the puzzle first wins!
- Do a word search. Crack open your favorite puzzle book or head on over to Education.com to help your kids create their very own word search.
- Have an unplugged competition. Use the rainy day to unplug and see which family member can go the longest without looking at their phone.
- Host a pajama party. Put on your PJs, build a blanket fort, and cook up breakfast for dinner to make it a rainy day your kids won’t forget.
- Open the at-home spa. Do a face-mask, cover your child’s eyes with cucumbers, and put on some spa-friendly music to get your zen on.
- Learn a magic trick. A magician never reveals their secrets… but you can find all kinds of magic trick how-tos on the Internet anyway.
- Learn to juggle. Even the littlest hands can learn how to juggle. Help your child practice tossing a ball from one hand to the other, then add in one or two more once they get the hang of it.
- Study a new language. Apps like Duolingo make learning a language easy and fun for kids of all ages.
- Practice handwriting. Whether your child prefers print or cursive, dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s helps kids communicate with the world around them.
- Meditate. Rainy days can be stressful, so help your child find stillness and calm with a guided meditation.
- Make a bucket list. Does your kiddo want to see the Northern Lights, climb Mount Kilimanjaro, or write a novel? Write it all down on their bucket list.
- Host a talent show. Practice your arpeggios and brush off your tap shoes because you’ll likely be recruited to perform with your kids.
- Do papier-mâché. Make a mask, a pinata, or a homemade volcano. All you and your kids need to create a fun papier-mâché craft is water, flour, paper, and a big imagination.
- Make pasta pictures. Help your kiddo pull out the dried pasta and some liquid glue to make their very own masterpiece.
- Build a fairy garden. Fill a plant pot with soil, then help your child decorate their fairy garden with sticks, moss, pebbles, leaves, and plants. Then, leave it outside so that visiting fairies have a place to stay.
- Make hot chocolate. A piping mug of hot chocolate is the perfect way to beat the rainy day blues.
Don’t Let Rain Ruin Your Family’s Fun
Rainy days can be pretty overwhelming, but it’s easy to avoid the rainy day blues with these 100 rainy day activities for kids.
Of course, even though it’s raining, your family doesn’t have to stay inside! If you’re feeling a bit too stir-crazy for these at-home activities, help your child pull on their rainboots and head outside. Sail an origami boat in the gutter, go hunting for frogs, jump in a puddle, explore the garden, or do a little jig in the rain. Just don’t forget to take pictures for the scrapbook!