Just because it’s cold and rainy outside, doesn’t mean your kids have to be bored. Turn off the television, shut down the computer and unplug the video games and have some fun! There are dozens of rainy day indoor activities for children your family can enjoy without driving you crazy in the process.
Rainy Day Indoor Activities for Children: Board Games
Board games make great rainy day indoor activities for children. Candy Land is a perennial favorite for kids of all ages. Up to four players can play and children as young as three can play this game. Chutes and Ladders is another classic board game that even young children can play without adult supervision.
Rainy day indoor activities that will keep older kids away from the television and out of your hair for hours include games like Monopoly, Yahtzee, Boggle, Trivial Pursuit and a host of other games geared toward kids in middle school and older. Have a game day marathon. Once a winner is declared in a game, pack it up and get out the next one
Rainy Day Indoor Activities for Children: Puzzles
Puzzles also make great rainy day indoor activities for children. Younger kids will love to work a big “floor puzzle” where they can walk around and work the puzzle on the floor. Jigsaw puzzles are available in every theme, size and piece count imaginable, so it’s easy for kids of all ages to enjoy this rainy day indoor activity.
Rainy Day Indoor Activities for Children: Music and Movement
Get the wiggles out when you make music and movement a rainy day indoor activity for children. Put on some music and have a dance marathon. Even young kids can move and sway, jump and hop around in time to the music.
A great indoor game for kids that will keep them active and engaged is Twister. Follow the leader and Simon says are also great rainy day indoor activities for younger children.
Give kids paper and crayons and have them create masterpieces while listening to music. Vary the tempo and theme of the music for art work that reflects the mood of the kids as they listen to the various musical selections. Music and movement are economical and easy rainy day indoor activities for children.
I Spy is another game that fits the criteria for easy and easy to implement indoor rainy day activities for children. Each child takes turns choosing an object somewhere in the room. The other children have to figure out what the object is by asking a series of questions about the color, the size, the area of the room where the object is located.
Rainy Day Indoor Activities for Children: Arts and Crafts
Arts and crafts are a kid-pleasing rainy day indoor activity for children. Trace your child’s outline on a large piece of paper. Grocery bag opened up and taped together work great, or use a roll of craft paper. Outline the child’s head, arms, legs, etc. and then have them color in their likeness. If kids are old enough, have them use feathers, yarn, buttons, etc. to make “clothes” and shoes for their person as well as add some decorative touches.
Another craft project that falls in the rainy day indoor activities for children and will keep the kids busy for hours is setting up a craft area – you may want to put down a drop cloth under the table! Provide beads, feathers, foam shapes, fabric scraps and even old wrapping paper for the kids to use as decorations. Pull out some paper plates, old shoe boxes and empty paper towel rolls for the kids to decorate.
Give the kids some old magazines and greeting cards they can use to cut out pictures and words. Establish a theme and have them make a collage. Laminate their artwork to preserve it and use it as a personalized placemat.
Rainy Day Indoor Activities for Children: Card Games
Card games are easy, inexpensive and can include only two players, or everyone in the house. Playing Go Fish, Old Maid, Crazy Eights, Uno and a host of other card games is a great rainy day indoor activity for children. Older kids may want to play Spades or Rummy, too.
Rainy Day Indoor Activities for Children: Get Lost in a Book
Set the timer, turn on some quiet music and tell kids it’s time to read. Older kids can read to younger ones, or everyone can spend quiet time with their own book. Reading is one of the least expensive and under-rated activities a child can participate in as a rainy day indoor activity or an any-day, any-time adventure.
With this many options for rainy day indoor activities for children, you’ll be hoping for a rainy day real soon and inviting all the neighborhood kids down to boot!
