Rain in the forecast? Get ready to have the BEST day ever with these fun, creative and unique rainy day activities for kids of all ages!
Does the rain get your kids down and unmotivated?
When it rains, and you find yourself searching online for the best ideas to keep the kids interested in learning, stop right here! Cabin fever is no longer a detriment to your day because I have brainstormed and rounded up over 44 ways you can keep your homeschool rockin' and rollin' even if the thunder is rumblin' with these rainy day activities.
So many choices for kids of all ages!
Rainy Day Activities
Get Moving Indoors
Have an indoor dance party. Turn the music up louder than you typically do, and dance in your socks and sweats. Or get competitive and challenge one another to a Disney Dance Party
Try some Youtube exercise videos. There are videos for kids for Zumba, yoga, pilates, cardio, calisthenics and more. Or try this ABC exercise.
Build an indoor obstacle course. Try a book maze, spider obstacle course, crepe paper fun, climb/crawl/do course, or an alphabet maze.
There's nothing wrong with playing IN the rain! Cover up from head to toe in your driest rain gear and have fun splashing in puddles. Exploring the mud with a mud slide, mud painting, or mud soup. Plus kids will love these rainy day bubble wands . A warm bath afterward will make everyone clean again! Or, if you don't want to get messy, take a short walk with the umbrella.
Rainy Day Arts and Crafts
Kids will love looking out the window as they may these craft foam window puzzles or make your own window sticker art.
Or you can bring the rain inside with this adorable umbrella rain craft, bubble wrap rain craft, or make your own rainsticks to hear the rain inside.
Or be the FUN MOM by letting your kids put on their rain coat and boots to try Painting with Rain. or Splatter Painting.
Prefer to paint indoors? Try this simple finger paint project, one of these 45 puffy paint recipes & projects, edible finger paint, foam bubble painting, or mess free painting for toddlers.
Allow your kids to play with your dry erase board, or keep some dry erase activity pads just for days like this.
Sensory bins are a great way to keep your littlest hands busy! Themed ones are such a hit, try something like The Preschool Toolbox's Sea Turtle Life Cycle Bags. Make them more fun by basing them on a favorite book.
Most kids enjoy coloring for pleasure. Provide them coloring sheets and a fresh box of crayons, colored pencils, or markers. Try these pretty bursting blossoms set or find a theme that interests your kids with 350+ FREE Coloring Sheets for Kids.
Keep a bag full of stamps in the art bin, and pull them out on rainy days. Kids can give their notebook covers a fresh look, or create patterns or designs on paper.
Indoor Rainy Day Activities
Create a scavenger hunt (or better yet have an older child do it). The prize can be anything you like, but the steps to follow to get to the prize is what is most motivating.Try this Shapes Treasure Hunt Geography Treasure Hunt, or this Landmarks of the World.
Legos are the classic toy that provides hours of creative play. Dump the box and let 'em have at it! (But put on your cushioned slippers in the meantime to protect your feet)
Hotwheels can stimulate the creative mind too. See how long or fast you can build your track, or create tunnels and turns, loops and hills for the cars to drive through. Create roads with chalk, paint rainbows with cars, or a masking tape car track.
Build an amazing fort like this pool noodle playhouse, cave of stars, easy-to-use princess tent with glow-in-the-dark stars, DIY teepee, wrapping paper fort, construct-a-fort, or cardboard box medieval castle
Playdoh sculpting and learning - with 20 amazing playdough recipes, Alphabet Playdough PLAY Mats, name recognition activity, playdough subtraction smash, shape playdough mats, Number Playdough PLAY Mats, or 100 more Playdough Mats
Create something new out of something old. Take crayon creations, melted crayon artwork, perler bead bowl craft, perler bead picture frame, junk drawer sculpture,
Toys! Don't over think it, you probably have a bazillion toys like we do that don't always get played with. Get on the floor pull out the trains, cars, jack-in-the-box, or dress up and have a tea party.
Watch your favorite movie with a big bowl of popcorn or in a DIY drive in theatre.
Read a Book - cuddle up on the couch, in your bed, on on a covered porch listening to the rain and read a great book like Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Hide. The Pout-Pout Fish, Bear Feels Scared, Jonathan Park (creation radio drama), or one of our book recommendations by grade level.
Bake Cookies - not only is it a wonderful bonding experience, home economics, and great for math practice, but you get to eat the yummy cookies like our favorite melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies or amazing monster cookies.
Board Game - While you are waiting for the cookies to bake (or afterward as you sample your hard work), play one of our favorite board games or try this dinosaur stomp printable board game
Rainy Day Science Experiments
Slime is the latest rage so why not whip up a batch of our two ingredient WOW Slime, gold slime , Monsters Inc Slime, color changing heat sensitive slime, or edible slime.
Do an experiment with the rain by making a rain gauge, find out how big is a raindrop with this easy to try science experiment, or try this investigation to find out how hard it rained, or make a rain catcher.
Make your own thunderstorm science experiment or rain in a jar to help kids understand the outdoor weather or print some free weather worksheets to take it farther.
Try this experiment that will amaze kids as they watch colorful candy science, homemade lava lamp, grow your own crystals, or make plastic from milk.
Go Out!
If all else fails, get out of the house. Try taking a trip to your local library and pick out some new books to bring home.
Go visit someone! If you know someone that would like some company, give them a call and see if you can drop by for a little bit. Take them a homemade treat or a craft the kids made. Or, take a trip to your local church, a nearby children's home or nursing home, food bank or just visit an elderly neighbor, and ask if there's any volunteer work you can do as a family.
If the wiggles have gotten the best of your children, sometimes facing the risk of germs is a necessity. Take an excursion to the mall play area or your local fast food restaurant that has a play place. Just bring along the hand sanitizer.
Rainy days are the perfect days to go visit your local art or history museum, or places like your local Children's museum or Science Center. I bet you'll find some other homeschool families who are remedying their own cases of cabin fever as well!
If the kids are really restless and you want to wear them out completely, take them to an indoor laser tag or trampoline park, or similar arena. They'll have a blast and you can guarantee they'll sleep well at bedtime - maybe even an early bedtime?!
Now that you've got plenty of ideas for your children to do when you're stuck indoors on a rainy day, pick a few and give them a try! When the sun comes back out again, you and your children will feel like you've had a small vacation indoors and will be ready to hit the books. Got any other ideas to add to this? Tell us in the comments below!
Deana Hipwell is a homeschool mom of 3 from North Carolina. After quiting her position as a public school teacher to raise and home educate her own children, she's been The Frugal Homeschooling Mom for 8 years. She is also the founder of the charitable organization, Homeschool Curriculum Free for Shipping, which benefits 13,000+ families nationwide. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, where she enjoys sharing all her free and frugal homeschooling printables and resources.
