When bad weather keeps everyone stuck inside, there are still plenty of exciting activities to do. Switch it up and see all the fun you can find indoors!
Fun Indoor Activities for Rainy Days
When it rains, it pours—even during the summer months with those later afternoon thunderstorms. And with little ones running and bouncing and jumping and, sometimes, crashing around the house, it can be hard to keep them busy when they can’t be unleashed outside.
Here are some tried-and-true indoor children’s activities to keep your child entertained and having fun all day long!
Creative Projects
There are thousands—and this is no exaggeration—of creative projects floating around the internet. We’ve picked a few of our favorites, but if you want more, Pinterest is your best friend when it comes to fun and creative indoor activities!
Stained Glass Window
You can do the age-old classic, racing raindrops across the window, with a twist. All you need is painter’s tape and washable paint to create your child’s own stained glass window. Design the window however your child wants and then paint different colors in the sections you both created. If the color isn’t exactly right, experiment with water or mixing colors to achieve the perfect look.
Ice Cubes and Color
You’ll have to freeze the ice cubes in a tray before you do this one, but you only need water and food coloring for this fun project. Fill the trays up with water and then drop different colors into the water, they’ll freeze into colorful ice cubes ready for the next day. Once everything’s frozen, pop the cubes out and place the different colors in separate bowls. Carefully put the bowls outside in the rain so your child can watch the raindrops fall into them. As they fill up with water, the ice will melt and there you have it—rainbow puddles!
Slime
Your kids can have fun with science at home! Slime is easy to make, fun to play with, and the most basic recipes only take a few ingredients. Little Bins for Little Hands has some great slime recipes to choose from. Go ahead, grab a recipe, and experiment with your child’s slime creations on the next rainy day.
Cozy Options
Sometimes on a rainy day, it’s best to lean into that cozy rainy day feeling. These are great indoor activities for when the whole family wants to cuddle up and enjoy a day inside.
Build A Blanket Fort
What’s better than rolling up in a pile of blankets? Building those blankets into a fort and then rolling up into another pile of blankets within that fort. As experts on correct blanket fort construction, we recommend using lightweight sheets for your walls and roof and making sure you have some kind of base for the corners of your fort.
Movie Day
Settle in and embrace the rainy day by turning all the lights off and putting on movies the whole family will love. While it’s great for kids to be active, sometimes the best days are all about hanging out with family and relaxing. You can grab some tasty snacks, load down the couch with blankets, and watch a full-length movie. It takes up a solid chunk of time and, who knows, you might even get a napping toddler out of it.
Bake
There’s something about a house filled with the smell of baking that feels even better when it’s dark and rainy outside. Nothing’s better than a warm chocolate chip cookie or a cupcake loaded down with a big dollop of icing, especially on rainy days. We know kids love eating yummy treats, but it’s also a fun activity you can do together! And if they want to do it again, Ready Set FUN! has a cooking class where your children can continue learning the baking 101s.
Adventures and Activity
If you have a rambunctious toddler ready to burn some energy, take a deep breath and read these next tips, we’ve compiled these ones specifically with you in mind.
Dance Party
There are so many kid-friendly playlists on Spotify or Amazon Music. Turn up the volume and have a dance party! You can teach them classics like the sprinkler and the lawn mower, and then see what they have to teach you, too! Next rainy day, play that music loud and dance around the house.
Obstacle Course
Transform your living room into an obstacle course. You’ll want to make sure everything’s safe, but this can be an exciting way to get some exercise indoors. You can turn it into a friendly competition or maybe decide that the floor’s lava, but either way you have all the household supplies necessary to make a fun, safe course for your kids.
Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun take on hiding and seek, but instead of hiding and seeking, your kids will be looking for items around the house. All you need to do is create a list of items for a scavenger hunt. If you go on Google and search scavenger hunt ideas, there are a million different lists already made. We personally love the creative options Good Housekeeping provided. So, start seeking and scavenging, but let’s not forget that hide and seek on its own is also a fun option to play indoors!
Those are some of our favorite children’s indoor activities! We hope you like them and try some out the next time it rains. And, most of all, have fun with it! We’re on Facebook and Instagram, so stop by and give us a follow, and then tag us in any of your activities the next rainy day.
