Rainy days with children can easily turn from cozy to chaotic.
One minute, everyone is happily listening to the rain pouring down the windows. The next minute, one person is bored, one person is asking for a tablet, and one person has turned the couch cushions into a mountain range.
Best of all, rainy day activities for kids don't have to mean sitting in front of a screen. With just a touch of ingenuity, some everyday household supplies, and perhaps a baking box or two, you can make a day stuck inside a day you look back on fondly for years to come.
Enjoy these 7 screen free indoor activities on a rainy day, a quiet weekend, a spring or winter break, or a cozy afternoon at home.
1. Bake Something Fun Together
Baking is one of the best screen-free activities for kids because it combines a project, a game and a treat all in one.
Kids can pour, mix, stir, decorate, sprinkle and proudly display their masterpiece! You can bake cookies, cupcakes, brownies, muffins, cake pops or do a HomeBaker baking kit.
Rainy day baking is even easier when you have a kids baking kit because all of the hard work is done for you! You don't have to go looking for a recipe, measure all of the ingredients, or run to the store for one missing ingredient.
HomeBaker kits still give kids the joy of creating a tasty treat, but gives parents less prep time and less worry.
Give me something to do while it rains outside: Have a small decorating station ready with icing, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and candy eyes so the kids can decorate their treats as they please.
2. Build the Ultimate Indoor Fort
There's no better reason to make a fort than on a rainy day.
Get cozy Bring out the blankets, pillows, couch cushions, chairs, flashlights and stuffed animals. Let your kids build their own comfy space in the living room, bedroom or playroom.
Once your fort is constructed, decorate it as a reading nook, snack station, mini bakery, campsite, or clubhouse.
One of the easiest indoor activities for kids because it doesn't require you to have any special equipment!
For additional fun: Have a "fort picnic" with popcorn, fruit, cookies, or muffins you baked together.
3. Host a Cookie Decorating Challenge
For the kiddos who love a good contest, you could have a contest over who decorates the best cookie.
Provide each person with a plain cookie and a few toppings. Pick a theme: animals, rainbows, silly faces, monsters, flowers, "most colorful cookie," etc.
You can give out fun awards like:
Most sprinkles
Funniest cookie
Most creative design
Best use of icing
Cookie most likely to make someone smile
Nobody needs to be perfect. In fact, the more I mess, the more I love the cookies.
So, if you have some rainy day time to fill this is a wonderful activity that will have your children engaged and be inspired from beginning to end.
4. Create a Living Room Obstacle Course
Instruct children with extra energy in how to stay active indoors when outdoor play is not an option.
Make an obstacle course using pillows, painter's tape, hula hoops, stuffed animals, chairs, and blankets. Have children crawl under tables, jump over pillows, walk along a line of tape, toss soft balls into a basket or crab-walk across the room.
This allows you to work on burning energy without a big room or special equipment.
Parent tip: Involve the kids in the design. Remember how much time you would spend making a course and how much time you'll spend playing in it.
5. Make a Rainy Day Craft Station
Arts & Crafts are Timeless For a reason, arts & crafts are a proven way to keep the children busy, having fun, and loving what they're creating!
Bring to set: Construction paper, markers, crayons, stickers, glue sticks, scissors for children, paper plates, cotton balls, yarn, or recycled boxes.
Fun rainy day craft ideas include:
Paper plate animals
DIY greeting cards
Sticker collages
Painted rocks
Cardboard box houses
Paper crowns
Rain cloud art with cotton balls
You don't have to plan a fabulous craft. Sometimes your most wonderful setup may just be to put supplies out and let children make whatever they want!
6. Have a Family Game Caf
Transform your kitchen table into a family game caf.
Select some board games, card games, simple puzzles or age appropriate "guessing" games. Serve hot chocolate, snack, muffins, or cookies and set up the "event" to make a rainy day a special day.
For the younger set: opt for faster-paced games with fewer rules For the older set: go for strategy, trivia, charades, or even a challenging puzzle!
This might be one of those at home family activities that seems really easy but actually is an awesome way to connect.
Cool idea: Have children create a mini menu for the caf with some snacks and drinks.
7. Start a Rainy Day Memory Jar
This can be done as a fun and inexpensive activity with a sweet ending.
Provide kids with a jar, slips of paper and markers. For each fun activity you do on a rainy day, jot it down and drop it in the jar.
Examples:
"We baked cupcakes."
"We built a fort."
"We made the funniest monster cookies."
"We had a living room picnic."
"We played games in our pajamas."
Read back on the memories at the end of the month or the season.
A friendly reminder that when it's rainy that doesn't mean it has to be boring. In fact, a rainy day can be one of the coziest family moments.
Why Screen-Free Rainy Day Activities Matter
Screens are fine now and then, but a rainy day is also an opportunity to put aside the screen and do something a bit more tactile.
Activities for kids without screens encourage creativity, patience, confidence, and connection. Baking, building, decorating, crafting, and playing games are great ways for children to let their imagination run wild and to have a sense of accomplishment.
What is the goal? Not to have the day be filled to the brim. The goal is to have a few meaningful moments to anchor the day.
5 Reasons You Need Home Baker Kits in Your Life Why Home Baker Kits Are Ideal for the Rainy Days
Home Baker baking kits are perfect for just those types of days.
When everyone is stuck at home, and you want an activity that's simple, fun, and memorable, our baking kit has everything you need to begin. Kids get to bake, decorate, create, and eat delicious treats. Parents get an indoor activity that doesn't require hours of preparation.
It is eye-opening, practical, and packed with sprinkles of joy, smiles, and sweet memories.
Frequently Asked Questions
What to do when bored on a rainy day?
Rainy Day Activities for Kids: Baking, decorating cookies, building a fort, making arts & crafts, playing board games, creating an obstacle course and filling up a memory jar.
What are some non-screen indoor activities?
What can I do with my kids indoors without a screen? Indoor Activities to Do with Kids Without Screen Time (Oct 2023) Baking With Kids. Good Old-Fashioned Puzzles.
Arts and Crafts.
Pretend Play. Building a Fort. Playing Board Games. Sensory Play.
Decorating Cookies/Cupcakes.
Are baking kits good rainy day activities?
Yes. Baking kits make for an excellent, interactive, creative, inexpensive, and easy activity to do on a rainy day with something yummy to look forward to.
What Do Kids Do Inside When Not on Screens?
Activities that keep them writing or creating, moving or building: Easy ideas include baking kits, craft activities, obstacle courses, cookie decorating, and building blanket forts.
Final Thoughts
Rainy Days Are Not an Excuse for Kids to be Bored and on their Devices.
With a few simple indoor activities, you can turn a gray day into something fun, cozy, and memorable. Bake together. Build a fort. Decorate cookies. Make crafts. Play games. Laugh at the mess.
And when in doubt, open a HomeBaker baking kit and let the rainy day fun begin.
Because sometimes the best memories are made when the weather keeps everyone inside.
