Rainy Day Activities for Kids: 50 Ideas

Rain all day, kids bouncing off the couch, and it’s not even 9 a.m. The good news: a rainy day is a great excuse to slow down and play together. Here are 50 rainy day activities for kids — active games, crafts, simple science, forts, kitchen fun and ways to play in the rain — sorted by age.

How to plan a rainy day at home (so it doesn’t fall apart by 10 a.m.)

A long day indoors goes better with a loose rhythm than a strict schedule.

• Alternate energy levels. Active, then quiet, then a snack. Repeat.
• Build a rainy day box. Painter’s tape, balloons, yarn, cornstarch, paper plates, glue sticks, watercolors and one new puzzle. Keep it on a high shelf and only open it when it rains.
• Let kids choose. Write ideas from this list on slips of paper and put them in a “rainy day jar.” Kids pull one when boredom hits.
• Plan screen time on purpose. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests about one hour a day of high-quality programming for children ages 2 to 5, ideally watched together.

Active indoor games to burn energy (1–10)

Start here. Kids who move in the morning settle into quiet play more easily later.

1. Indoor obstacle course — couch cushions to climb, a broom across two chairs to limbo under, a blanket over the table as a tunnel. Time each run, then let kids redesign it.
2. The floor is lava — scatter pillows and towels as stepping stones. Add a new rule each round.
3. Painter’s tape hopscotch — tape a hopscotch grid, a balance beam line or a road for toy cars.
4. Laser maze — zigzag yarn or crepe paper across a hallway and tape it wall to wall. Kids crawl through without touching the “lasers.”
5. Balloon keep-up — the balloon can’t touch the floor; count the hits together. Pick up popped pieces right away, since balloons are a choking hazard for young children.
6. Freeze dance — play music and pause it at random. Everyone freezes like the animal you call out.
7. Sock basketball — roll socks into balls and shoot into a laundry basket. Take one step back after every basket.
8. Living room bowling — line up six to ten plastic bottles (a little water inside keeps them steady) and roll a soft ball.
9. Sardines — reverse hide-and-seek: one person hides, and everyone who finds them squeezes into the hiding spot.
10. Indoor scavenger hunt — “something soft, something red, something that starts with B.” Use pictures instead of words for kids who can’t read yet.

Arts and crafts for a rainy afternoon (11–19)

Tip: an old shower curtain under the table makes messy crafts manageable.

11. Salt and watercolor raindrops — draw drops with white glue, sprinkle salt, then touch each one with a wet watercolor brush and watch the color spread.
12. Paper boats — fold a fleet, decorate the sails, then test them in the bathtub (or in a puddle later, idea 46).
13. Cardboard box city — big boxes become a car, rocket or house. An adult cuts; kids paint.
14. Rain cloud mobile — cotton ball clouds glued to a paper plate with blue paper raindrops hanging on strings.
15. Homemade playdough — 2 cups flour, ½ cup salt, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar, 2 tablespoons oil and 1½ cups boiling water (adult job), kneaded once cool.
16. Bag painting — squeeze paint into a zip-top bag, seal it with tape and stick it to a window. Mess-free squishing for toddlers.
17. Mini comic book — fold one sheet into an eight-page book. Kids create their own rainy day adventure.
18. Magazine collage — cut pictures from old magazines and catalogs to build a “my dream day” poster.
19. Salt dough handprints — 1 cup flour, ½ cup salt, ½ cup water. Press a hand in, write the date, and bake low (about 250°F) for 2–3 hours until hard.

Science and STEM experiments (20–27)

These experiments use kitchen staples and suit kids 3 and up, with an adult nearby.

20. Rain cloud in a jar — fill a jar with water, top it with shaving cream “clouds,” then drip blue food coloring until it “rains” through.
21. Measure the rain — set a straight-sided jar outside, mark it with a ruler and check every hour.
22. Walking water — line up cups of colored water and empty cups, connected by folded paper towels. The colors travel and mix.
23. Fizzy colors — cover a baking tray with baking soda and let kids drop colored vinegar on it with a spoon or dropper.
24. Oobleck — mix about 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water. It feels solid when you squeeze it and melts through your fingers when you let go.
25. Sink or float — gather ten household objects, predict each one, then test them in a tub of water.
26. Wall marble run — tape paper towel and toilet paper tubes to a wall or door to make a path for marbles or pom-poms.
27. Building challenge cards — with blocks or LEGO, set a 10-minute timer: the tallest tower, a bridge between two books, a boat that floats.

Forts and pretend play (28–34)

28. Blanket fort — chairs, sheets and clothespins or binder clips. Add pillows, a flashlight and a stack of books.
29. Living room campout — sleeping bags, flashlight shadow puppets and a tissue-paper “campfire.”
30. Pretend café — kids write menus, take orders and serve snacks with play money.
31. Puppet show — sock puppets and a table on its side as the stage.
32. Fashion show — raid the closet for grown-up clothes and use the hallway as a runway.
33. Home post office — kids write and deliver letters to each family member’s door, or mail real ones to grandparents.
34. Rainy day news report — film a one-minute “weather report” or talent show on your phone.

Calm, quiet activities (35–40)

Use these after lunch or whenever energy tips toward meltdown.

35. Read-aloud marathon — a chapter book or audiobook in the fort.
36. Puzzle on a tray — move it aside and come back to it all day.
37. Board and card games — Candy Land or Memory for little ones, Uno or Go Fish for school-age kids.
38. Rainy day interview — ask five questions and write down the answers word for word. Try our list of questions to ask kids.
39. Listen to the rain — lie still for two minutes and count every sound you hear: on the roof, the windows, the gutters.
40. Look at baby photos together — then tell them the story of the day they were born.

Kitchen activities (41–44)

41. Bake muffins or banana bread — toddlers stir; older kids measure fractions.
42. Make-your-own pizza — store-bought dough or English muffins, with toppings in little bowls.
43. Rainbow snack plate — kids arrange fruit and veggies in rainbow order, then eat the rainbow.
44. Hot cocoa bar — marshmallows, cinnamon and whipped cream. Make it your official rain tradition (more family traditions ideas here).

Playing outside in the rain (45–50)

Getting wet doesn’t cause colds — viruses do — so a light, warm rain can be the highlight of the day. The one hard rule, from the National Weather Service: when thunder roars, go indoors, and wait 30 minutes after the last thunder. Keep dry clothes and a towel by the door.

45. Puddle jumping contest — who makes the biggest splash?
46. Paper boat races — race the boats from idea 12 down a gutter stream or across a puddle.
47. Worm rescue walk — gently move earthworms from the sidewalk back to the soil, then wash hands.
48. Rain symphony — set pots, pans and buckets outside and listen to the different notes the drops make.
49. Rainy sidewalk chalk — wet chalk turns bright and paint-like. Draw before and during the rain and compare.
50. Mud kitchen — old pots, spoons and muffin tins for mud pies and puddle soup.

Rainy day activities for kids by age

Toddlers (1–3 years)

Plan 10–15 minutes per activity: balloon keep-up (5), freeze dance (6), bag painting (16), sink or float (25), a fort (28) and puddle jumping (45).

Preschoolers (3–5 years)

Obstacle course (1), floor is lava (2), scavenger hunt (10), playdough (15), rain cloud in a jar (20), oobleck (24) and a puppet show (31).

Big kids (6–9 years)

Give them a challenge: laser maze (4), measuring the rain (21), walking water (22), marble run (26), building challenges (27) and the home post office (33).

Tweens (10 and up)

Hand over the project: a comic book (17), a short film (34), a harder puzzle (36) or running pizza night (42).

Turn a rainy day into a memory

Years from now, your kids won’t remember the weather. They’ll remember the fort that took over the living room and the day you let them jump in every puddle. Those moments fade fast unless someone writes them down.

Keep it simple: one photo, one sentence about what they said, and the date. The Childhood Milestones app suggests activities for your child’s age and saves each one with photos, voice notes and a short entry, so a gray Tuesday becomes a page in their story. Starting from scratch? These baby book prompts help.

Frequently asked questions