It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring... he went to bed with a bump on his head, and he couldn't get up in the morning!
Do you sing this rainy day song to your child? When it's raining and pouring outside, I love to stay in, cozy up, and do absolutely nothing. (Funny thing, I prefer to do the same thing on sunny days as well!) But a day of rain is the perfect opportunity for kids of all ages to have a little bit of fun!
I bet you've already seen my list of Top 50 fun places to go in The Woodlands, and a lot of those places are indoor places that are great for rainy days. But what if you just want to stay home? In your PJ's? With a cup of tea at the ready? And pass the days having simple fun with the family?
Here are some rainy day activities that my family - including the older kids - enjoys. I hope it gives you some ideas the next rainy day you want to hide out indoors.
Give Impromptu Speeches
This might not seem like something your kids will enjoy, but hear me out. Impromptu speeches can be such a delight for the speaker and the audience alike. I started doing this activity with my family before my oldest daughter was in Kindergarten even, and it's something I still like pulling out from time to time. We take turns, and I give each person a speaking topic to use for an impromptu speech. And by "speech," I mean something short - like 60 seconds. The person whose turn it is has to come up with a quick, informative speech. With fun or weird topics like "cough drops" or "mermaid fins," this activity is usually hilarious and helps with mental planning, speaking, and organization skills.
Take a Virtual Field Trip
We LOVE going places together as a family, but there's not enough time in our schedule nor money in our bank account to hit up all the places we want to explore. Taking a virtual field trip is the next best thing. For a simple thrill, visit Google Earth and take turns deciding on which places around the world to "visit." My children like seeing the Eiffel Tower, Manhattan, and Hawaii. Other options for virtual field trips are art libraries, or visit YouTube and watch a guided tour or some behind-the-scenes footage at any number of places. These videos are often more exciting than watching a movie, and sometimes they're educational too. For starters, you can CLICK HERE to learn when you can watch amazing wildlife in action at the San Diego Zoo, or take a virtual tour of the Great Wall of China.
Play one of these fun games
Because my children are all at different stages with different interests, it's tough to find something that we ALL agree on. Add to that a child with special needs who may not be as capable of playing some of the more complex-thinking board games, and we've got 4 games that are super reliable for us - Guesstures (charades), Scrabble, Jenga, and BINGO. Luckily, all these are fun. We especially like BINGO, because I put together little bags of candy for the winners. Sometimes we get real jiggy with it and play a classic game that's adored at home birthday parties - hide and seek, Simon Says, musical chairs, red light green light, etc.
Fly paper airplanes
Pull out printer paper and let everyone have a turn at breathing life into their own paper airplanes. You'll have to help the younger ones, and there are so many different ways to fly a plane that it's always a toss-up on whose will go the furthest. Even older children will enjoy this feat of physics. On more than one occasion, I've visited this Youtube video to learn how to make 5 Easy Paper Planes that Fly Far.
Have a Scavenger Hunt
I don't expect you to want to create witty clues on index cards and hide them all around the house. Rainy days are supposed to be easy. For this hunt, keep it simple, but things can still be fun. Just create a list such as the one below, and challenge everyone to find as many of the items as possible within 5 minutes. Some ideas: a book with an animal on the cover, something sweet, a yellow fruit or veggie, red socks, a cardboard box of any size, something gold, etc. You get the point.
Have a treasure hunt (which is slightly different than a scavenger hunt)
This time, you WILL be hiding the items, and they should all be goodies. What kind of things come to mind when your kids hear the word "treasure?" Candies, fun little trinkets, mini stuffed animals? Whatever (small) things you can think of and that you have on hand, hide them and let everyone have a fun time seeking them out. Most moms have a treasure closet or drawer on hand, for such a time as this. Unopened Kids Meal toys from Mickey D’s and Chick-fil-A are great goodies to use for treasure hunts.
Have a dance party
When my family and I spend time dancing together in the living room, we take turns telling Alexa which songs to play. And to be fair, we all dance to all the songs, even the ones we don’t particularly like. That way, the older kids aren't sitting out on the "babyish" songs. Dance parties are a great way to get moving and have fun. For added excitement, dim the lights and pull out glow bracelets or a disco ball if you have one.
Build a fort or something else with cardboard boxes
What happened to all those cardboard boxes you've been putting away in your garage for a "rainy day"? Today is just the day! Pull them out and let the kids use them to construct something fun. A blanket fort, perhaps? Speaking of fort building, rainy days are perfect for this activity. You'll need lots of blankets and sheets, and some well-placed chairs and other stuff to anchor the canopy into place. Years ago, I bought one of my daughters a Fort Magic set, and it has brought so much fort-building happiness to our lives!
Have a reading marathon
No matter the ages of your children, pull out favorite books with great stories, pictures, and poems, and enjoy read-alouds together. Even my teen girls can appreciate a book from their childhood being read aloud from time to time.
Get moving with an indoor recess.
When everyone is getting cabin fever and the kids are bouncing off the walls, call an indoor recess! They're so much fun to do with the whole family, and while everyone might groan or roll their eyes at first, it's a fantastic way to pass the time on a rainy day. Maybe you'll all jog laps around the house in a follow-the-leader style, or you'll do jumping jacks, push-ups, and ball catching. If you have a large enough empty space, take turns jumping rope and hula hooping! If you're feeling extra creative, construct an indoor obstacle course.
Who’s up for karaoke?
Singing karaoke is a great rainy day activity for a musical family. You don't have to have a bonafide microphone either. A paper towel roll or a hairbrush will do the job just fine! The best karaoke singers know how to put on a show, so encourage your crew to really get into it.
Conduct a Bee or similar educational activity.
Don't let the rainy weather keep you from learning a little something. Practicing math problems with flash cards can be fun and beneficial for your little one. Have him stand on one end of the room, and for each flashcard problem he answers correctly, he can take one small (or giant) step forward. For each one wrong, it's two steps back. How long will it take him to get to the other side? In a similar fashion, you can conduct a spelling or geography bee to provide educational enrichment for your family on a rainy day.
Get creative with art time.
It goes without saying that art time is a perfect way to have fun on a rainy day. Rather than trying to plan a structured art activity, take a different approach. Pull out paper, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, glue, tape, paints, and other supplies like popsicle sticks and paper plates, and let everyone decide for themselves how they'd like to be creative. Free draw? Origami? Coloring in a coloring book? Painting on an easel? Anything goes.
Have a black-and-white snowball fight!
Okay, so it's only raining, not snowing. (Minor detail). Ball up pages of that old newspaper that you've been saving with a promise of one day reading, and make dozens of "snowballs" to chunk at each other.
Have a pillow fight.
It’s the same kind of fun as a snowball fight. The goal isn’t to hurt or get hurt; it’s just to have a bit of old fashioned fun. So pull out some soft pillows and declare war!
Enjoy the rain from the covered porch.
I love the smell of the rain, so sitting on my bench swing is an ideal activity for me when it's raining, and my children usually join me. You can encourage everyone to find a good book or a quiet toy, and then head out to spend quiet time looking at, smelling, and perhaps even touching the rain. If little ones prefer to splash and build mud pies, que sera sera. Good times!
Start a band.
You might be one of those musical families where everyone actually plays an instrument and is good at it. If you are, pulling off this activity will be no sweat! If you're not, things are about to get creative. Make instruments by scavenging for household items, and start creating music. A box of rice can be a maraca. An oatmeal container can be a drum. Use percussion techniques like clapping, slapping knees, and more. Whistle. Sing. Encourage everyone to make music however they choose.
Do a readers' theater.
If your family members can all read, a readers' theater is another perfect rainy activity. You can find free scripts online. Most scripts for readers' theater have a lot of characters because they're meant to be performed by school children in larger classes. So it might be worth the extra effort to hunt for scripts with fewer parts. And then, feel free to assign more than one part to each person. When I do readers' theater with my family, I print out 6 copies of each script, and I go through each individual script and highlight the speaking parts for that person. This makes it easier for everyone to follow along and to remember when it's their time to speak. And I find that classic stories - like The Three Little Pigs or Little Red Riding Hood work best. We all know the story, and there’s a lot of repetition, so the focus now is on delivering the lines and adding sound effects. It's usually such a hoot! Be sure to record your performance.
Final thoughts:
Rainy day fun doesn't have to be fully planned or even done as a family effort. Give your child permission to enjoy free play, and see what he comes up with on his own. For my kids, free play consists of lots of fun activities such as combing doll hair, playing pretend with stuffed animals, and dressing up in princess gowns. For my older girls, free time for them on a rainy day might look like reading books or working on their own creative projects like music production or calligraphy. So basically, when all else fails, chill out and just let the kids be. And enjoy the rain!
