Activities with children for rainy days

When it rains for a day or two, it usually isn’t a problem to come up with activities for children to keep them entertained when they can’t go to the playground. But when it has been raining for several days in a row, it can be frustrating for everyone at home, and a few tips on what to do on such days would certainly come in handy. We’ve put together a few activities for you that are suitable both indoors and outdoors.

What to do at home with children when it rains

There are countless activities you can do at home when it’s raining outside, and in this case the imagination has no limits. Of course, it depends on the child’s age, but everything can always be adapted. At home with children, you can, for example:

• build with LEGO or any other blocks;
• play a board game or put together a puzzle;
• rescue animals from ice - just freeze small animals or other figures into ice-cube trays and then give the children spoons, pipettes, syringes, anything they can use to rescue the animals from the ice;
• take out old hidden toys; they’ll suddenly seem new to the child and they’ll want to play with them;
• make molds with kinetic sand;
• create with modeling clay, or make the clay at home beforehand;
• read or look through books;
• take out Albi books and use the pen to point out what’s in the pictures;
• try a sticker book or stamps;
• play with a toy train track or build a track for cars;
• play doctors, cooks, repairmen, dentists, veterinarians;
• try finger painting or water painting, coloring books;
• cutting paper, folding paper - both activities develop fine motor skills;
• build a fort or pillow-and-blanket fortress;
• dress up in costumes;
• watch a fairy tale or a movie together;
• cook or bake something together - let the children touch all the ingredients and help you with stirring, pouring, cracking eggs, etc.;
• create an obstacle course - great for developing gross motor skills;
• dance or exercise together following a video, for example yoga;
• camp out in the child’s room or in the living room;
• play theatre;
• focus more on the child’s self-care skills, if they are at an age when they want to do things on their own, and spend time slowly showing them how to do things (getting dressed, undressing, washing hands, putting on shoes, hanging clothes on a hook, brushing hair, setting the table, etc.);
• clean the whole apartment/house together - put on some good music, dance, laugh, so everyone enjoys it.

What to do outdoors with children when it rains

If you want to spend time outdoors with children even when it rains, then make sure everyone is equipped with proper clothing that won’t just get wet right away, so you don’t all end up with an unpleasant cold later. Children’s softshell jackets and softshell pants are perfect for this. Besides not getting wet, they help wick away body moisture, prevent sweating, and have excellent thermoregulating properties, so they simply aren’t cold when it’s windy. Outdoors, you can for example:

• jump in puddles,
• try a new raincoat or umbrella (children love this);
• let the children try for a moment what it feels like when rain falls on their face and hair (of course only if it isn’t pouring heavily and preferably only when you’re heading home, so the child doesn’t have wet hair for the entire time outside);
• go into the woods, where it won’t rain as much;
• look for a buried treasure in the garden based on clues;
• go to the zoo - many pavilions are covered. Of course, it can also happen that some animals will be hiding from the rain, so you won’t see them, but a big bonus will be zero lines wherever you go.

Where to go with children when it rains

If it has already been raining for several days in a row and, as they say, everyone at home has had enough, you can go with the children, for example, to:

• an indoor play area or some parent-and-child center in the city where mothers meet;
• a swimming pool or aqua park;
• a salt cave, which will help children strengthen their immunity;
• an aquarium, where you can see all kinds of fish;
• some children’s activity class with a one-time admission fee - movement activities, Montessori workshops, creative activities with children;
• a library - they usually also have children’s corners where the kids can play while you choose books to borrow;
• theatre, cinema, museums or galleries;
• to visit friends and their children, whom you usually see at the playground, but you don’t feel like being outside in the rain;
• to visit grandmothers and grandfathers.

You can also spend rainy days talking with your children. It’s a great opportunity to catch up on everything you don’t manage to do on other days. These days can bring you closer, if you don’t communicate much or cuddle enough. The cleaning can wait, you can take some food out of the freezer or order it online and make the most of the days when you’re “stuck” at home with the children. It’s possible that you’ll all enjoy it a lot and look forward to the next time it starts raining outside.