Rainy days are always hard when you have kids stuck indoors! Of course there’s no reason why you can’t go out and splash in puddles enjoying the weather. But even that won’t last too long before everyone is soaked and ready to go inside. So why not grab a hot chocolate and cosy up on the sofa to look through this list of ideas for rainy day activities.
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STEM Activities
If you have kids who love concocting potions or seeing how things work, then this is the section for them. There are loads of amazing ideas of activities using kitchen supplies, but sometimes (especially when you’re tired!) you just need a kit ready to use!
There are lot of science kits to choose from, we tried both the Science is Magic kit and Sparkle Science kits from John Adams. These have everything you need to make a variety of science projects.
Science Is Magic
I’m not sure whether my eldest liked the science or magic part of these activities best?! However the Science is Magic kit was a big hit for him. He had to show his dad a few magic tricks as soon as he was back from work!
Some activities were certainly more a magic trick than science, but there also more scientific based activities. We have only tried a handful of the activities so far, there are over 150 different ones to try! But I can see this coming out often on those rainy days at home!
Sparkle Science
The youngest was gifted a Sparkle Science kit that he loves. This is more of a chemistry kit with mixing of (non-toxic) chemicals and a few kitchen ingredients. It’s sparkly as all the activities create glittery or geode elements to them.
He was very excited to see that he also got a pair of goggles to wear, just like a real scientist! So far he’s chosen to make a lava lamp and a glittery geode necklace to wear. It’s great to see him enjoying chemistry!
5-in-1 Mechanical Coding Robot
If your child is more into electronics and robotics, then this type of kit is more for them. The 5-in-1 Mechanical Coding Robot is great to help kids understand both robotics and coding.
Our eldest loves building things and this is no exception. There are a lot of pieces and kids may need some adult help in places, but the final robot works great.
Once the robot is assembled you can code it to carry out a variety of different tasks. The favourite is being a forklift or writing with a pen! It’s good to see kids trying out coding in different ways to using screens.
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Construction
Some children really enjoy a day constructing different items. They might like to use cardboard egg boxes or toilet rolls, or maybe wooden blocks?! But at some point they are going to become interested in Lego. It’s almost like a right of passage for kids, when they get their first Lego kit, then when they progress onto Technic.
Here are two Lego sets that might appeal to kids. The first is for younger children, the second is for older children who need a bit more of a challenge.
Lego Space Shuttle Adventure Set
Our youngest is almost 8 and loves anything to do with science and space. This Lego Space Shuttle Adventure Set is perfect for him! It’s a simple build with great instructions (as always with Lego!).
There are 3 options to build; a rocket, a space shuttle and a moon lander. It takes a little while to build the kit and of course then there’s the playing with the Lego model afterward! This is the perfect rainy day activity for kids who love building and imaginary play too.
Lego Technic Mobile Crane Truck
Our eldest has been creating bigger and better Lego sets every year. He is really quite talented with his building now, so a Lego Technic Mobile Crane Truck was the perfect way to entertain him for a few hours!
He spent a few hours building the model itself, which can be quite tricky in places. Just make sure you follow the instructions perfectly, keeping all pieces the right way round!
After all that building he could then play with his creation alongside some other Technic kits he has. If you have an older child looking for something a bit more challenging, then this is perfect for them!
Musical Ideas
You can create music with boxes and elastic bands with little kids or blowing through cardboard tubes. It works well with smaller children, but as my kids get older they are looking for a different challenge.
We have various guitars from charity shops, but decided to invest in a ukelele. Ukelele’s are quite compact and fun to use with kids. They are also relatively easy to make music with. The kids have loved trying out there ukelele!
Board Games
We have a whole bookshelf full of board games, but are adding more and more to them over time. This is always a great way to get everyone on the family involved! My favourite thing about board games is that they are sneakily brilliant for education. Almost every board game has something useful, whether it’s adding numbers on a dice, or counting money or working out a strategy to get the most points!
Here are two games we were recently gifted, one is an old favourite and the other is a newer style of board game.
Villainous
Our friends have mentioned Villainous before and I was very intrigued. So I was excited to find the game at Very. It’s basically a game where you are a Disney villain and need to defeat the heroes to win. A bit of a twist from the usual games where you get to be bad!
It takes a little bit of reading the rules to work out exactly how to play and involves building up a card deck to achieve your object. The game pieces are all great quality and it definitely has a dark theme that suits the title of the game.
Choose from being Jafar, Ursula, Captain Hook, Prince John, Maleficent and Queen of Hearts. You can curse heroes and send difficult fates to other players to hinder their progress. I’m excited to play this more with the kids! A perfect rainy day activity, especially if you watch a Disney film too!
Scrabble
You will be able to tell this game easily from the photo above! Scrabble is definitely a classic game for families! It might not be the first game the kids head for, but they actually quite like it as trying to beat parents at points is always fun!
Of course it’s not just a good rainy day game, but also brilliant for practising spelling. The kids want to play again soon but have a plan to try and fit in some toilet humour to the words!
Craft Activities
Lot of kids love to do crafts. There are literally thousands of ideas on Pinterest for every type of interest. So you are bound to find something the kids like. For a simpler craft activity with all you need in the kit I can recommend these fab ideas!
Petal Party Jewellery Kit
My youngest loves a craft kit! So this Petal Party Jewellery Kit was perfect for him to make jewellery for himself and friends. The kit includes all you need to make lots of different designs. There are big flowers, leaves, smaller flowers, round beads and faceted beads amongst others!
We were both quite surprised at the number of beads in the kit. It’s a great selection and would be perfect for making together with friends.
So Sand
Both my children love kinetic sand and were delighted to try out this So Sand Satisfying Sand Case. You make the sand yourself with plain white sand and the coloured sand and glitter provided. From here you can then begin making some awesome creations, with some satisfying slicing of the sand too
The kit comes with a special carry case and a variety of items for creating and slicing the sand. The kids had great fun with this and it’s a good way to add in some sensory play for older kids.
BloPens Rainbow
This is a craft kit that I had something similar to as a child. I remember how fun it was to create spray art style pictures with a simple device and pens. The BloPens Rainbow set was a great and simple way to keep my two entertained for a rainy day activity. I can see this being brought out many times over the winter, it’s a fun and satisfying activity!
The kids were definitely impressed with their creations and enjoyed testing out different colour combinations. My kids are 7 and 10, both particularly enjoyed this despite the box saying 4+. Although it would definitely be easy for younger kids to do too.
Play Sets
Of course for those kids who love to play with little people and animals, then a play set is a great option for a rainy day activity. There are loads of different brands and ideas, but we particularly like the Polly Pocket playsets.
You can get Polly Pocket in small cases that are perfect to take with you on your travels. Then you can also buy bigger sets for rainy days at home. I find these can entertain my 7 year old for hours on a wet day!
The Tiny Mighty Backpack Compact has loads of fun things for the tiny Polly Pocket dolls to play on. With a roller coaster, fairground rides, mini golf, circus and ferris wheel amongst the activities. It’s perfect for children who like imaginary play and easy to move around the house to play too.
This was a huge hit with my youngest and I would definitely recommend to those who love imaginary play.
Other Ideas For Rainy Day Activities
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