20 Rainy Day Activities At Home

I don’t know too many people who are fans of a rainy day. However, I also don’t know of too many children who let a gloomy day get in the way of their need for activity and adventure. This motherhood journey has taught me many things. One of them being the need to come up with some tried and true rainy day activities at home!

I’ve often thought of how wonderful it would be to bottle up just a tiny bit of my children’s energy to slather on myself! I can only imagine how much more productive I would be each day if I was running on a full eight hours of sleep and explosive amounts of energy!

Our kiddo’s oodles of energy and enthusiasm require an outlet of some sort, whether it be through sports, a creative project, or simply staying active chasing each other around the yard or house.

20 Rainy Day Activities At Home

Below I’ve listed 20 of our favorite rainy day activities at home. These are also perfect for those chilly winter months when cabin fever begins to kick in!

As a stay at home and homeschool mom, I do try to get us out of the house for an outing each day if at all possible. A change of scenery can do wonders for us all. But there are days when we’re not able to or have no desire to go out in such dreary weather. Enjoying some fun indoor activities for kids is a must at our house!

1. Build A Fort

Gather up some blankets, pillows, chairs, couch cushions, etc and get creative building a fort/tent together! Bring a flashlight, pile of books, and even make some indoor smores for a fun “camping” treat.

2. Create an Obstacle Course

This one can be done a thousand different ways. Just use what you already have around the house such as buckets to jump over, hula hoops to hula in, cones to zig in and out of, a tunnel to crawl through, jump rope etc.

You can even keep it extra simple without any props needed. For example: begin at one location of the house and give instructions each step of the way until they reach the finish line. Run around the coffee table x amount of times, do 10 bunny hops, 3 somersaults down the hall, 20 jumping jacks, etc. You get the idea…basically just wear them out 😉

3. Glow In The Dark Hide N Seek

This has been a favorite of ours for quite some time now. Obviously it will need to be dark in the house to get the full effect. You can purchase glow sticks from the dollar store to wear as bracelets.

One person counts while the rest hide. And then the person counting searches throughout the house for wrists with the colored glow sticks, hoping not to get startled in the process. The limited visibility makes for extra giggles and surprises!

4. Play “Pig” or “Horse” Basketball

This rainy day activity for toddlers is super simple, but a classic that can also be enjoyed by the older kids too. If you don’t actually have a basketball hoop that is okay! A laundry basket or box will work perfectly. You can even use a pair of rolled up socks in place of a ball if need be.

One player shoots from their desired location. If they make a basket then the other players also have to shoot from that exact spot. If they miss they get a letter (“P” for Pig or “H” for Horse). The person with the least letters at the end wins.

5. Talent Show or Skit

I think sometimes, as parents, we unintentionally neglect to praise our children for their God-given talents or even a simple interest in hobbies. Our children need to know that we are proud of their abilities and accomplishments.

Have a talent show and encourage them to perform a favorite activity for you. Or go in together to act out a scene from a favorite family movie.  Capture it all on video, if at all possible, for some extra memories and laughs!

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6. Photo Shoot

This one can be serious or just for fun- completely up to you! Let the kids dress up in a fun costume/ outfit and pose in goofy ways.

If you’d prefer to take some serious good quality photos instead, then get dressed up, find some props, and use the daylight to your advantage! You can even download a free photo app (such as Lightroom) to edit the pictures to your liking.

7. DIY Project

If you’ve never done a DIY project before I suggest you give it a shot! You won’t be disappointed. There’s something special about putting your own creativity, skill, and elbow grease into a project, and then gazing upon the finished product.

Invite your children to do a project with you! You could even take a trip to a local thrift store to find a small piece of furniture needing some love. Lamps, end tables, night stands, and picture frames are a good place to start!

If you’re looking for more of a challenge find an old coffee table and bring it back to life with some chalk paint to be used in a playroom.

8. Put Together a Challenging Puzzle

Work together on completing a higher piece puzzle. My daughter and husband just finished up a 500 piece puzzle, and are onto a 750 piece challenge now! If your children are too young for a complicated puzzle you can work on some simple ones together or hand them the pieces and tell them where to place them in the bigger puzzle to make them feel as if they’re contributing.

9. Make a Hot Wheels Car Ramp

My daughter is a master craftsman of all things cardboard. One day recently we had the idea of attempting to create a Hot Wheels ramp out of nothing but old boxes and duct tape. My determined little girl ended up doing the bulk of the work herself. The finished product was a nifty ramp that lit up her little brother’s face and clearly made his day! It’s a sure winner for any Hot Wheels fans out there!

If you’re not quite up for the cardboard challenge you can make a simple “tape track” on the floor instead. Make a track or neighborhood out of colored masking tape complete with parking spaces, shops, restaurants, and monuments (made out of Legos).

10. Karaoke

Take turns singing some favorite tunes to entertain your family. Many songs have karaoke versions on YouTube for your convenience. For some reason my singing seems to bring about laughter from my kiddos. A surprise extra low note here and there can’t help but create giggles. Be silly and have fun!

11. Bake Cookies For A Neighbor

Involving our kids in cooking or baking can teach them so much about responsibility and learning new skills. Find a new recipe and whip up a sweet treat together. Or go with a classic cookie recipe to deliver to your neighbors for no other reason than to simply show kindness.

12. Play A “Camp” Game

There are certain games that are best referred to as “camp games”. You know the ones that every kid loves to play while they’re away at summer camp or at a summer slumber party? Capture the flag was a go to when I was a young girl and one of my kids current favorites is called “What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?”.

Both of these are traditionally played outdoors or in a large area, but can easily be adapted and played indoors. The turnaround “lunchtime” call in “What Time Is It Mr. Fox?” results in giggles and breathlessness every time!

13. Balloon Volleyball

It doesn’t get much easier than this one. Blow up some balloons and have at it. The goal is to successfully volley the balloons back and forth without ever allowing them to hit the floor.

14. Exercise Challenge

This one can be whatever you make of it. The idea is to have some form of activity or exercise involved while timing/tallying each person to see who wins.

Do you remember the early 90s toy “Skip It”? They actually still make those, and this would make the perfect exercise challenge! Or go with how long someone can jump on a trampoline, how many minutes they can jump rope, jumping jacks etc. Make it a healthy challenge!

15. Watercolor Painting

For some reason this artsy idea is always a winner at our house. Watercolor paintings are beautiful! You can either use a coloring page or use your imagination and paint on a blank canvas.

16. Make Handmade Cards

There’s nothing like receiving a handmade card in the mail. Putting the time, effort, creativity, and love into a card or hand written letter can mean the world to those on the receiving end! Encourage your children to make a few cards for their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. or make several to drop off at a nursing home or assisted living facility.

If your local nursing home allows visitors you can make it even more special by preparing some goody bags to go along with the cards and personally pass them out. Many of these residents don’t get visitors near as often as they’d like to. Your kindness could do their hearts a world of good!

17. Homemade Playdough

Playdough is the perfect rainy day activity for preschoolers! I don’t believe you can ever outgrow playing with playdough. There are plenty of great homemade recipes out there to try with many different color options, scents, and textures. Cook up a batch together and then have fun creating once it’s cooled.

18. Go On A Walk (Yes, in the rain!)

I realize that some of you may think I’m crazy, but as long as it’s not storming, a torrential downpour or freezing outside I’d highly suggest you try going on a walk in the rain! It’s actually a bit relaxing. Put on some rain gear, grab your umbrellas, and enjoy the rain. Let you kids splash in some puddles and just be kids.

19. Have a reading Marathon

Cuddling up to read stories with my children will never get old to me. It will forever be a favorite at home rainy day activity of mine, and I sincerely hope that they never lose interest in reading with Mom no matter how old they get.

Gather up some books around the house (or browse at the library) and plop down together for a reading marathon. If your children are old enough to read have them take turns reading to everyone.

20. Play Board games

This one is a no-brainer but one that can also easily be forgotten unless it’s a specifically planned game night. The majority of games will require at least a small of amount of thought or strategy which is a win win in my book. Some of our current favorites include: Sequence, Uno, Sorry, Monopoly, and Mancala.

What Can I Do On A Rainy Day At Home?

If you’re stuck inside because of the weather and are wondering what to do on a rainy day at home, I’d encouage you to do something with your children, instead of seeking some alone time or just keeping them entertained. Our kids truly crave (and deserve) our time and attention.

Invite your children to come along side you to decide on a few fun ideas. Ask them what sounds enjoyable to them. Incorporate their interests and hobbies. Be intentional in the time that you have together, it goes by much too quickly.

What Do Tweens Do On A Rainy Day At Home?

For those of you with tweens (or teens) looking for things to do indoors at home, get them involved in some fun family time too! Lay aside the electronics and make each other laugh! Find a new dessert recipe to bake together, get in some exercise, tackle a DIY project, or play some old fashioned board games to bring back memories.

Each of the 20 ideas listed above are fun options for older kids too, or can be adapted to better suite their preferences. Although we may try to hide it at times, I’m pretty sure that the majority of us are just big kids at heart 😉 .

We’ve learned over the years to get extra creative in our time spent together at home. It is my desire as a mom, that my children will view our home as a safe haven of warmth and love. My hope is that they will always look at our home as a place where they want to be. A place filled with joy. A place full of memories and laughter.

I hope that this list of at home rainy day activities for kids is helpful for you. Instead of allowing the chaos and noise of cooped up children to overwhelm you, please just take a step back, and soak in the precious moments you’re given together. Motherhood is truly a gift <3