The Best Rainy Day Activities For Kids
Our Round Up of the Best Rainy Day Activities for Kids
Here at Lincoln Rocks, we LOVE nothing more than to head outside to explore all the lovely places around the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside and city of Lincoln. Some days though, we know the weather can be a little unpredictable, meaning we might have a weekend at home watching the rain through the window. The rain doesn't need to stop you all having fun though, so we've rounded up some of our favourite fun rainy day activities, with some indoor and outdoor activities too!
Fun Indoor Rainy Day Activities
1. Indoor Scavenger Hunt- you can make your own indoor scavenger hunt by making a quick list of objects for children to locate. They're free and just use things already found in your home. We like this idea from Hey Let's Make Stuff but you could also try an ABC scavenger hunt where you look for items from each letter of the alphabet.
2. Duplo Games- We are big fans of Duplo. Lego Duplo have some brilliant play ideas on their YouTube channel.
3. Playdough- Playdough is a great activity for a rainy day and it will often keep children entertained for a while. Not only is it fun, it's also great for helping children develop their fine motor skills, and you can use it to help with colours, counting, letter formation, imaginative play and creativity. Why not make a dinosaur, ocean or space scene in a shoebox using some playdoh or try making your own playdough?
4. Try a Kids Exercise Video- We have lots of ideas for fun exercise videos to join in with here including Cosmic Kids Yoga, Tumble Tots at Home, PE with Joe and Live Ballet Sessions.
5. Indoor Ball Games- We love these indoor ball games from Frugal Fun 4 Boys. All her ideas use the lightweight plastic ball pool balls and there's idea for babies and preschoolers and older children too.
6. Sock Toss Game- Basically, you bundle up a pairs of socks and throw them into a laundry basket and tally your score. Sometimes the most simple things are the most fun!
7. 6 Lines of Tape Games- These ideas come from Hands on as We Grow blog and involve sticking 6 lines of decorators or masking tape in lines on the floor (like steps of a ladder). She shares lots of ways in which children can play with the tape, from using them as stepping stones, to jumping from one to another, seeing how tall you are, how are you can stretch or jump etc. (Be careful with sticking tape on wooden floors in case it pulls the varnish off!)
8. Build a Fort- It's so much fun to build a fort or den, fill it with teddies and cushions and read lots of books with a snack. The perfect way to spend a cosy rainy afternoon.
9. Sink or Float Games- Get a tray or a bucket of water and pick some items to test, make predications about which will sink or float and then test.
10. Musical Pots and Pans- Try different pots and pans from around the kitchen along with utensils such as wooden spoons, a whisk, chopsticks, metal spoons etc and see if the kids can tap out different rhythms or create their own beat. Myleene Klass and her 2 daughters have done a fantastic video all about making your own music using pots and pans.
11. Five Minute Games- Daisy Upton from Five Minute Mum has a wealth of wonderful ideas on her blog. All the activities are educational and take only a couple of minutes to set up, using items you'd likely have around your home.
12. Busy Toddler Games- Busy Toddler blog has lots of fantastic games to play at home to keep little ones engaged. We particularly love their sensory bins, car sorting games and scooping and transferring games.
13. Torch Games- Mom in the Six shares some really fun games you can play with a torch, including a torch scavenger hunt, running to the light and puppet shadows.
14. Toy Rescue Ice Challenge- Freeze your action figures, small toys, dinosaurs etc. in a ice cube trays. Once frozen, explore different methods to release the figures from the ice.
15. Art and Craft Ideas Online- We have lots of art and craft online activity ideaslisted on Lincoln Rocks, which you can find here. These include Thomas and friends activities, The Gruffalo story time with Julia Donaldson, Orchard Toy Activity Sheets and Kids Art and Drawing tutorials.
16. Baking- a rainy day is the perfect time to get creative with some baking in the kitchen, (and then eat it with a coffee afterwards!)
17. Cup Games- There are lots of ideas for cup games to play with kids but some of our favourites include building a cup tower using cardstock and cups, ping pong ball throw into a cup (you can pop some times tables, key words or maths questions on bits of paper inside the cups for them to have a go at if their ball lands in the cup).
18. Film and Snack Platter- Pop on a favourite film and have a fun snack platter.
19. Play Board Games- Lots of fun on a rainy afternoon!
Fun Outdoor Rainy Day Activities For Kids
Of course, there's lots of fun to be had outdoors when it's raining as well! Here's a few activities to try when it's raining, or when there's a few puddles left!
1. Bottle Leaf Boats- We love these little bottle leaf boats from Learning4Kids. You will need a puddle, bottle tops, small balls of blutac or plasticine and a few small leaves.
2. Make a Rain Gauge- Make your own rain gauge using a plastic bottle. Write on measurements up the side of the bottle and let it fill up with rain for you to measure.
3. Rainy Walk and Puddle Splash- Of course, heading out for a walk in your wellies to splash in the puddles is the ultimate outdoor activity for a rainy day! There are lots of ideas for places to explore for a walk which you can find here.
4. Rainy Day Activities- The Crazy Outdoor Mama shares lots of fun ways in which you can embrace the rain and enjoy playing outside when the weather is wet.
That's our round-up of favourite activities to try indoors (or outdoors) on a rainy day. We hope you enjoy these ideas. For more inspiration for activities to do at home, click here.
