It’s raining, it’s pouring…but that doesn’t mean playtime has to be boring! You and the kiddos can still have a great time.
“Rainy days don't have to mean just staying inside,” says Holly Homer, of the Kids Activity Blog. “Mud is awesome and sometimes it is worth a little extra laundry to embrace the weather!”
“Outdoor play is incredibly important for the physical and emotional wellbeing of children, even when it’s raining,” says Rallie McAllister, MD, MPH, a family physician and coauthor of The Mommy MD Guide to the Toddler Years. She encourages kids to play in the rain, as long as they’re wearing waterproof hats, coats and boots.
Here are 101 ideas for turning an otherwise dreary day into a magical adventure for your kids or the kids you're caring for:
1. Jump in puddles! Really, sometimes the simplest ideas are the best!
2. Make mud pies.
3. Make mud creatures.
4. Look for birds. What animals are braving the weather?
5. Make paper boats and have races blowing them across puddles.
6. Have a relay race -- who can get the wettest?
7. Play Simon Says.
8. Put cups or buckets in the front, back and sides of your house -- which one fills up the fastest?
9. Get a waterproof camera and take photos.
10. Take a walk with colorful umbrellas.
11. Make a hot chocolate stand.
12. Have a water balloon or super soaker fight.
13. Go swimming (you’re wet anyway!)
14. Find science experiments that involve water, such as making a rain gauge.
15. Pitch a tent and read inside of it, listening to the rain.
16. Wash your bikes.
17. Try a scavenger hunt. Check out these creative scavenger hunt ideas for a cool theme.
18. Blow bubbles and see how far they go until they pop.
19. Hula hoop in the rain.
20. Create an obstacle course and let the kids have a relay race in the rain.
21. Draw with colored sidewalk chalk -- when wet, it's more like working with paint or watercolors.
22. Use your skimboard through puddles in the grass. Don’t forget knee and elbow pads and a helmet.
23. Get the Slip 'N Slide out -- or create your own with a tarp or thick plastic drop cloth.
24. For older kids: set up the Slip 'N Slide on a hill.
25. Play “statues” -- much trickier to hold still when you're wet.
26. Create your own mud run course.
27. Head to your local pond to see what animals are braving the rain.
28. Go water sledding! Cover a large piece of cardboard with a trash bag and slide down a grassy hill.
29. Dig for worms! The wetter the ground, the easier it will be to find these little squirmers.
30. Have contest to see who can find the longest, wiggliest, etc. How many different categories can you come up with?
31. Once you have a bunch of worms, find a pond or lake and do a little fishing. Some fish may be easier to catch during or after a light rain.
32. Make a miniature boat out of household items/recycling. See if it floats. Attempt to put very small toys in the "boat" to see how much weight it can hold.
33. Use the swings at the park -- they’re bound to be empty (just remember equipment could be slippery!).
34. This is a perfect time to play outside with the dog -- or even wash him.
35. Race with Little Tikes cars on the driveway.
36. Ride bikes through the puddles.
37. Play charades.
38. Play Red Rover.
39. Tie-dye shirts inside and then wear them outside. Do the colors run in the rain?
40. Bring out blocks, legos and other building toys and build on the patio.
41. Bonus! They toys will get clean!
42. Bring out the Little People, My Little Pony, army guys and superheroes and create a mud battle.
43. Then, wash them off of course!
44. Wash any outdoor toys or play sets.
45. Play with shaving cream and food coloring. Watch it rinse away.
46. Do spin art.
47. Have a rain dance party.
48. Play rainy day-themed hangman -- only words like “splash,” “drip,” “umbrella,” etc. are allowed.
49. Pull weeds -- SO much easier in the rain when the ground is wet!
50. Paint the fence with washable paint. Let it get wet. Do it again!
51. Have a talent show -- every talent must involve water.
52. Have a fashion show using all the raincoats, boots and umbrellas you can find.
53. Make it a “trashion” show, using bags and other recyclables.
54. Wash the recycle bins. So much easier in the rain!
55. Put out bowls of flour, sand, sugar and other kitchen substances. Watch what happens when they get wet.
56. Toss toys into puddles (this is more fun/satisfying than you could ever imagine!).
57. Is it getting cold enough to snow? Hide coins or little toys in buckets of water to see if they will freeze.
58. Break out the pool toys. Slide around on the grass, or play bumper cars with the inflatable tubes.
59. Go on a rainy day nature walk -- what's different?
60. Take along beach pails and collect fallen leaves and twigs.
61. When you get home, use your findings, glitter, glue and paint to create a rainy day collage, wreath or other masterpiece to hang on your front door!
62. Play with bath toys in a small blow-up pool.
63. Put out ice cube trays with three drops of food coloring in the rain and see how long it takes for them to fill up. Put them in the freezer to make colored cubes (to use in your bath!)
64. Set up a large glass or measuring cup outside, and measure how much rain you get. Keep track every time it rains.
65. Make nature boats out of sticks and leaves -- then let them set sail in an outdoor pool or your bathtub.
66. Set up a tent and have lunch inside of it. Rainy picnic!
67. While inside the tent, have a sing-a-long or tell spooky stories.
68. Throw a parade. Line up and march around the house with umbrellas and toys, singing as loudly as you can.
69. Play in the sandbox. The rain makes the sand perfect for sandcastles!
70. Have a contest to see who can build the biggest or most impressive castle -- winner gets to choose the afternoon snack.
71. Make hot cocoa and sip it under your umbrellas.
72. Put a few drops of food coloring in puddles, and watch as the colors mix and run.
73. Splash ‘n dash! Take a dip in the pool or kiddy pool, and then jog around the lawn.
74. Bring out the boogie boards, and pretend to go surfing.
75. Make a rainy day playlist.
76. Make a summertime playlist, to keep your mind off the gloomy weather!
77. Listen to the rhythm of the rain! Try to guess what the rain is hitting against.
78. Where does the water go when it’s raining? Explore what happens to those raindrops.
79. Get paper and sprinkle it with powdered tempera paint. Bring it out to the rain and it will mix, creating your rain masterpiece
80. Make a video clip to the song “Singing in the Rain”.
81. Listen to what the rain sounds like, then create a rain stick to mirror the sounds.
82. Have a puddle jumping contest. Whoever jumps in the most puddles in 30 seconds wins.
83. Play card games under a tent in the backyard.
84. Play hot potato in the rain.
85. Write your name in mud.
86. Figure out how many words you can rhyme with “rain”.
87. Make a lean-to out of sticks, leaves and branches.
88. Grab some soap and wash the car.
89. Make up a song about the rain.
90. Get crafty and make your own paper umbrella or parasol.
91. Bake a rainbow cake, so you have something to look forward to after playing in the rain.
92. Reenact your favorite movies scenes (extra points if these scenes involve rain or mud!).
93. Grab some snorkels and masks and pretend you're swimming while running around in the rain.
94. Have a water balloon toss and see how many times you can throw them back and forth before they break.
95. Take some more water balloons and have a contest to see who can throw them the farthest distance.
96. Cover yourself with face and body paint and see how long it takes for the rain to wash it off.
97. Test different paper strengths -- see how much weight different papers can hold, while wet, before breaking.
98. Make a sugar cube tower by stacking as many of them as you can and see how long it takes for the sugar to dissolve in the rain.
99. Then, see how many ice cubes you can stack on each other and see how long that lasts in the rain. Which one lasts longer? Sugar or the cubes?
100. Play Frisbee! Does the rain make it harder to toss?
101. When the sun comes out, search for rainbows.
But while it may be fun to play in a little light rain, you do need to be careful. If it starts to rain hard or there's any chance of lightening, head right back inside.
And here are 101 Indoor Activities to keep the fun going.
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