Indoor + Outdoor Rainy Day Activities to Enjoy with Toddlers
Imagine looking at every day with wonder like our kids. What if we emphasized their feelings of awe and opportunity by not shying away from so-called bad weather and embraced it as something to enjoy (even if it’s raining and we decide not to get wet?! Rainy day play is important for our children because it’s a mindset and value shift to help them see the fun in every weather.
Why is outdoor play important in early childhood?
Whether it’s choosing to full-on embrace playing outdoors in the rain or preferring to shelter inside and find a fun alternative activity, our kids get to see the moment as an opportunity even if it changes the day’s plans.
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Go Puddle Jumping
It’s one of the classic outdoor rainy day activities for a reason. So no, it’s not new, but it’s definitely worth the mess. My baby girl thinks splashing in the water is one of the best things she can do. Bonus points for splashing mom. Double bonus points for splashing the camera (Am I right?).
Look for bugs and their traces
Especially the day after a nice rain when it’s still wet, we love to go looking for bugs, worms, and snails. Those slimy worms and slugs, the caterpillars with water droplets all over them, and spider webs that glisten… just some of the beautiful views after a rainstorm.
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Build an Indoor Fort in your living room
What a fun rainy day adventure to build the best pillow pile of couch cushions and build the imagination of your toddler or older child through fort building. Blanket forts filled with pillows, cozy blankets, toys, and loving snuggles are just another great classic on rainy days, enjoy a few our your favorite books, make shadow puppets, and just giggle.
Add in some cardboard boxes and you can do an all-out castle! And all of this could even culminate in an epic dance party.
Cook up some homemade hot chocolate
Homemade hot chocolate just warms the soul. I like to make it with one part sweetener to two parts cocoa, a dash of salt and cinnamon, and a little milk.
Make a stage for puppets/finger puppets & create a story
Even if you have the smallest of kids, they can enjoy a few puppets and a creative story told by their caregiver. It’s a great way to spark imagination. On days that it’s storming, it’s always fun to make up stories that incorporate the thunder and lightning!
Decorate an umbrella!
This is a fun way to talk about the rain and be creative. You can even buy the umbrella (white or clear) ahead of time and let your kiddo know that they get to decorate it the next time it rains. For the clear plastic umbrellas, glass acrylic paint works great! For the white fabric variety, fabric markers are a wonderful option.
Play with water as a sensory activity
As long as it is not too cold outside, take your water sensory tubs outside! Catch the rain in a rain gauge, a bucket, in a cup, on our tongue! Talk about the sights, sounds, tastes, and feelings. There are also other ways to play with water inside like this fun temperature sensory bin.
Make it a classical music marathon during storms
Even as a child myself, I would LOVE to turn on classical music during intense thunderstorms. It was both calming and a game. I loved when a big bolt of lightning would strike at the same time as a big musical number would reach its peak! I would love to guess when it would happen and get so excited if it did!
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Collect rain water
While you can’t do much until after the rain passes, collecting rain water is a fun and sustainable activity. Whether just in a small bucket or bowl, or a large scale rainwater system , you can have fun guessing how much water you are going to collect. You can talk about why it’s important to collect it (if legal in your area), and use it to water any sort of garden you might be growing with your little ones.
Get dirty and play in the mud
This is a great time to build an entire mud kitchen or at the very least bust out the old and beat up kitchen gadgets, funnels, pots & pans, and even some shovels to make mud pies and cook up some fun. Of course it could just be to splash in too, let them use their imaginations to enjoy the mud! (As far as rain boots, those are a must of any variety but for rain gear, we love Muddy Buddy rain suits!)
Just soak it in
Some days the best thing to do a rainy day is to relax. Know that it’s raining and listen to its gentleness on your roof. Enjoy the blessings of rain and not do a thing.
There is no such thing as bad weather so enjoy your rainy days with the whole family!
How do you play when it rains or get rid of boredom after multiple rainy days?
Kara is an author and advocate for positive, grace-filled parenting. She is homeschooler to her 6 children living on a farm in New England. She believes in creative educational approaches to help kids dive deeper into a rich learning experience and has her degree in Secondary Education & Adolescent Childhood Development. She is passionate about connecting with and helping other parents on their journey to raise awesome kids!
