We try to get outside to play as much as possible but sometimes the weather just doesn’t cooperate. Or my kids just don’t want to go outside. Instead of sitting around watching too much TV, we like to have indoor ideas to help keep us occupied.
Whether it’s raining or too cold, it’s nice to have list of activities for kids that keep them entertained. Banish the bored with this list of 101 rainy day activities.
The Ultimate List Of Rainy Day Activities For Kids
- Baking
There are so many things that you could bake with your kids; cookies, muffins, soft pretzels, cupcakes, ect. A great way to bond with your kids and get some yummy treats!
{Check out this post on 8 Tools Your Kids Need To Be Confident In The Kitchen}
- Playing Board Games
- Heat Sensitive Color Changing Slime
- Indoor Tent
We like to set up a tent either in the living room or their bedroom and they love it! They “pack” for their camping trip and bring a flashlight. Sometimes we invite the neighborhood kids for extra fun.
- Puzzles
- Make Calm Down Glitter Jars
We made calm down glitter jars for all the teachers at our school with a group of friends over the summer and the kids had so much fun doing it.
- Library
Our local library has a lot of fun activities scheduled throughout the year. You can usually find out what activities the library has scheduled by checking their website or Facebook page.
We got our kids a Fort Magic Kit one year for Christmas and they love it. They use it all the time and have spent many hours building forts. I love watching them come up with different creations.
This is probably in our top five best Christmas gifts ever list!
Make your own DIY Drive-In Movie out of cardboard boxes and pop in a movie. You could even make a concession stand and use play money to “buy” snacks.
- Air Dry Clay Magnets
- Puppets
Make your own puppets and have a puppet show.
- Glowing Dragon Eggs
- Indoor Car Track
Use masking tape or Race Car Tape to make a homemade car track. Set up some cars and maybe even make a town using Tupperware or other household items.
- Paper Plate Ring Toss
- Dress Up
- Salt Painting
- Yoga
There is a Free Youtube channel that has yoga for kids. It’s called Cosmic Kids Yoga. If it seems like my kids are especially restless, I like to put this on to get them moving.
How fun is this? We love escape rooms and I really like the idea of creating one for your kid. This summer our local library did a Willy Wonka Escape Room for kids. They did it with some friends and had a blast.
What kid doesn’t love slime? This unicorn slime is so colorful and fun.
We’ve been making moon sand for years. We usually grab some kitchen utensils so they can “bake.” It keeps them entertained for hours. It’s two ingredients and its a great sensory activity.
Get your kids in the kitchen and make some adorable snacks using these kid snacks ideas.
- Soapy Sea Foam
- Make Your Own Board Games
Sometimes we’ll just give the kids supplies and they come up with their own board games. We’ve played some interesting games that they’ve come up with. It’s a lot of fun and a great thing to do when it’s a rainy day!
- Magnetic Slime
- Homemade Puffy Paint
- Perler Beads
- Finger Knitting
- The Floor Is Lava
Do you remember playing this as a kid? So much fun. My kids have a lot of fun playing this game.
- Fun Beaded Wind Chimes
- Cardboard Painting
We get a lot of boxes from Amazon so sometimes I grab some boxes and put either paint or crayons/markers in them and let them create a masterpiece.
Kids love anything fun they can do in the bathtub so why not add some DIY bath paints to their bath? You could even get their swimsuits on to paint while they’re in the bathtub.
- Milk Paint
- Indoor HopScotch
Create an indoor hopscotch with masking tape.
This is another Youtube Channel that we like. They can sing, dance along to silly tunes.
- Dance Contest
Put on some music and see who is the best dancer. We like to listen to Moose Tube on our Amazon Alexa and dance to silly songs like Peanut Butter In A Cup.
- Homemade Flubber
- Don’t Let The Balloon Touch The Ground
Another classic indoor game for your kids to play.
- Colorful Rainbow Weaving Fish
- Friendship Bracelets
- Relay Race
- Bean Bag Toss
- DIY Squishy Window Gel Clings
- Make A Collage
Get tissue paper, magazines, newspapers and make a collage.
- Tissue Transfer Art
- Pillow Fight
- Fashion Show
- Make A Whirlygig
- DIY Robot Hand Steam Activity
- Paper Bag Coiled Baskets
- Painted Rocks
Grab some rocks and paint and make beautiful creations.
- Hide And Seek
- Flash Light Games
- Obstacle Course
Create an indoor obstacle course. Grab some tape, pool noodles, yarn, streamers, and anything else you can think of and have fun for hours.
- Coloring
- DIY Laser Maze
- Tinker Trays
Tinker trays are great for indoor fun. They are basically loose parts that your kids can use to create things. Tinker trays encourage experimenting, creativity and are very appealing to kids.
{Check out this post on How To Create The Best Invitations To Play}
- Scrapbook
- Jellyfish In A Bottle
- Write A Letter
- Electric Eels
- Finger Paint
- Play I Spy
- Paint Faces
- Fizzing Rainbow Science Experiment
- Karaoke
We have a Karaoke machine that they got as a gift and they love it. Who doesn’t love singing along to their favorite songs? It’s a great rainy day activity!
- Card Games
- Giant Shape Match
- Read A Book
- $1 Giant Dry Erase Mat
- Orbeez
- Fluffy Slime
- Build Stuff
Legos, building blocks, Magnatiles, and K’nex are just some examples of things that your kids can build with. I like that building toys are open-ended and allow for so much creativity and imagination.
We love Magnatiles. One year we had the grandparents pool together to buy our kids this Magnatiles set. It was one of the best gifts they’ve ever gotten. There are so many ways to play with Magnatiles and it is really great for open-ended play.
- Shaving Cream Bathtub Paint
- Make Hand Puppets
- Tape Resist Watercolor Painting
- Paper Airplanes
- DIY Indoor Air Fort
- Make A Book
My kids love to make their own books. We got them this bookmaking stapler and they use it almost every day.
- Crystal Egg Geodes
- Paper Chain
- Red Light, Green Light
- Racing Pom Pom Balls
- Origami
- Indoor Bowling
- Balloon Rockets
- Marshmellow Toothpick Building
Turn building and creativity into a marshmallow toothpick challenge. See what they can build and who can come up with a creative design.
Being stuck indoors doesn’t have to be boring. With these ideas, you’ll have hours of fun for your children.
Do you have any rainy day activities that you like to do?
