I’ve put together 10 tried and tested activities for you to do at home with your little ones on rainy days at home to help reduce boredom and increase fun and laughter!
10 Activities for rainy days
1 – Den building
This was a keen favourite over lockdown (and still is). Using the sofa pillows, throws and duvets to make dens. IKEA came up with this guide on how to make different types of dens which you may find useful if you want to try an alternative to your usually dens. Be warned though, it can be a battle getting the pillows back to normal as mine like to play in there, eat in there and wacth tv in there so there’s a chance they could be off your sofa for the whole day.
2 – Recycle art
Mine both love this. Keep some recycling to one side for the week and then pop it all out on the kitchen table and let your kids get creative. It’s amazing what they come up with. It does mean that you get stuck with a recycled creation in your house that you are guilted into not throwing out, but the joy from watching the kids get stuck in, creating something is worth it. Just.
3 – Toilet roll derby
I saw this on social media and thought it looked fun. Definitely one for us to try! If you wanted to add another level you could introduce a prize for the winner. You each grab a toilet roll and roll it out to the length of the table. Pop a small toy animal / figure on the end and stand at the opposite end with your toilet roll in hand. On the count of 3, you each roll your toilet roll back in and see who can get their animal / figure back to them first without it falling over or coming off the paper.
4 – Animal, vegetable, mineral / Alphabet game
I have no idea what the correct name for this game is but I’m sure this is what we used to call it. It doesn’t really make sense but hey, it was the 80’s and not a lot did! Draw columns along a piece of paper and add categories along the top name, animal, film, superheroes etc etc. These can really be anything you like. One of you will pick a letter of the alphabet and you have to fill in each column with something beginning with that letter for example if the letter is ‘s’ you have to come up with a name beginning with s, an animal beginning with s, a film beginning with s and so on and so on. Points are given for an entry and extra points if you have something different from each other. Why we chose mineral back in the 80’s is a mystery 😂 we must have wanted a challenge!
5 – Making squishy soap
We made this in lockdown from the gorgeous book The Joy Journal by Laura Brand . You make your own soap using liquid soap, cornflour and cooking all, mixing it all together, squidging it to form a ball. It’s a good activity to do together but then it lasts for weeks. Each time your child washes their hands they can bring a bit of their soap off and use it! There are some lovely things to do in Laura’s book so if you love crafting and nature definitely check it out. We did so many of these activities during lockdown and they were always a big hit with all of us.
6 – Making shadow puppets
Using card (I find cereal boxes are good for this), make your own characters and then stick them on to lollipop sticks or any sticks you have. At bedtime, grab a torch, switch off the lights and get story telling using your characters!
7 – Draw with Rob tutorials
We love sitting down and doing a tutorial. I love these from Rob Biddulph (my kids loved the art for kids hub ones too). A step by step guided video on how to draw a variety of characters. There’s so many to choose from so you’re sure to find something to suit your child and I always loved the opportunity to sit down with a cuppa and join in.
8 – Scavenger hunt
This is a great one for buying you some time to sit down and relax with a hot cuppa. You gather some small items and draw around them on a piece of paper. Pop the items back where you found them and give the piece of paper to the children. They then have to figure out what it is and go and find it.
9 – Real life DTI
This is something we play and we always end up laughing. It’s based off a Roblox game, Dress to impress, where you get given a theme and you have to dress up as that theme. One of you is the judge and comes up with the theme and chooses a winner, while the others do the dressing up. We’ve had some random themes over the years but it never fails to make us laugh.
10 – Play your cards right
This really couldn’t be simpler as a rainy day game to get the whole family involved and just includes a pack of cards. One person props six cards up against the wall/shelf and turns over the first one. The players then have to shout out if they think the next card is higher or lower than the first and so on and so on until they reach the end. Bonus laughs if the person dealing the cards can do their best Bruce Forsyth impression 😂
So there you go! 10 things to do on rainy days to reduce the amount of times you hear them say ‘I’m bored’. I’d love to hear what you and your gang do on your rainy days.
If you’d love to capture your rainy days at home, download my brochure for all the info 👇🏼
✨ FREE GUIDE ✨
My free guide to help you to take better photos with your phone.