This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, I can earn a commission off of products at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclosure here.
I’m one of those parents that doesn’t want my sons to have too much screen time. What I mean by that is I try to use movies or games as a last resort tool. My rule is we can watch a movie on rainy days, which works great until a rainy day arrives. Then, after one video into a torrential downpour, I usually have no idea what to do with the rest of the morning (let alone the afternoon). So, I compiled a list of all the things we can do (either alone or together). I call it my rainy day activity list, and it’s as much a help to me as I hope it is for you.
Items to Have In Your Rainy Day Activity Stash
My first line of defense against boredom is to pull out a trusty stash. I’ve accumulated this stash full of all sorts of items we never play with on a regular basis. Obviously, I don’t pull them out all at once. But, one by one, we dig into whatever it is the kiddos are feeling next. Some things I get from Hobby Lobby, others I get from Amazon. I linked my Amazon favorites below (as an Amazon Affiliate, I can earn a small commission off of products at no additional cost to you).
- Floor Puzzles; this one is my favorite (at only $10!)
- Water Paint Books (in case you have no clue what I’m talking about)
- Stickers/Sticker Books
- Magnetic Building sticks (pricier–$20, but I can’t get over how often my sons ask to play with them)
- Play Doh
- Paint Ceramics
- Finger Paint
- Tie Dye
- Paint By Stickers
- Coloring Books/Crayons
- Paint Rocks
- Suncatchers
- Wax Sticks
- Cross-Stitching thread for Friendship Bracelets–my sons could care less. But your daughter may go crazy with this
- Lite Brites (yes, you can still get these!)
- Dress Up–dinosaur masks, safari animals, superhero masks and capes, vests, etc; these are inexpensive and get played with all of the time. I’ll link a few of my favorites:
My sons love pretending to be different animals.
These vests are also perfect for 4-8 year-olds. On top of that, they encourage pretend/imaginative play that really helps as well.
Rainy Day Activity Ideas To Do Online
Obviously, you’re going to want to do this with your child. And, this also defeats the purpose of limiting screen time. However, these are great educational ideas that will provide some memories as well.
- Pick a Country to research
- Pick a Zoo Animal to research
- Virtually Tour a National Park or Museum
- FaceTime distant family members
Activities To Do Away From Home
Sometimes the best thing for me to do is just get out of the house. The downside is all of these ideas cost money. You can avoid the money argument by setting aside cash for days like this in advance.
- Bowling
- Trampoline Park
- Indoor Playground
- Children’s Museum
- Historical Musesum
Activities You May Need To Help With
These are more organic ideas that may require a bit of your help to set up, but will provide some great memories along the way.
- Act out a Bible Story; perform for Dad when he gets home
- Have a drawing contest between children; post the pictures on social media and ask your followers to vote for their favorites. The winner gets an ice cream cone
- learn origami
- teach your children how to do construction paper weaving
- build a fort
- cook something together
- Watch a documentary about your child’s favorite animal (Social Media short videos have lots of resources too)
- learn magic tricks
- make paper airplanes
- write letters/color pictures to send to Grandma
- turn your living room into a store; the kiddos get to choose what they’re selling–I’ve done pretend food, cooking utensils (my sons got all of my kitchenware out this time), even extra blankets and sheets
- go “camping” in your living room–set up a 2-4 person tent (great for little kids) dig out the sleeping bags, camping lanterns, etc, and let the kids make up their campsite
- plan a vacation–the children get to decide where to go, where to eat, and what to do there
- Dance in the rain
- Make Tamborines from paper plates and beans or rice
- Have your children play church
- Save Cardboard Boxes–build runways, car shops, rockets, playhouses, or mazes
Hopefully this list gives you some ideas of what to do (or have on hand) for the next dull rainy day this summer! Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas to add!
[…] Easily, there are enough simple experiments you can do with your child this summer. Some of these experiments you can do indoors on a rainy day when your children are bored stiff. By the way, if you need other inspiration for activities to do on a rainy day, check out my post here. […]