Great Rainy Day Activities to Do with Your Children

If you're a parent, you're familiar with this scene. Your child has resolutely placed himself in front of the window, his face firmly pressed against the glass as the rain plummets down. His mood is slowly deteriorating in unison with every drop that falls from the sky. Simultaneously, your wits are nearing their end. Inevitably, and probably over and over, you hear him call out, "I'm bored," and "When is it going to stop raining?"

Rain can certainly take a day full of outside activities and wash it right into your gutter's downspout. But with some advanced planning and a little ingenuity, a drizzly, damp day outside can be turned into an enjoyable and pleasant day inside. And more importantly, your kids will be occupied, and your sanity will remain in place.

What are a few indoor activities that we can roll out on a soggy day? There's no end really to what we can come up with, but here's a few time tested favorites for those of you who can't quite get your sense of imagination and inventiveness going. Hey, the rain gets all of us down from time to time.

Get out some blankets and sheets, grab all the pillows, pull the chairs together and build a fort. The fun with this activity can be had, not only in the end result, but in the designing and erecting of the fort. Believe me, what looks like a giant pile of laundry to you is the Pentagon to your kids. Use clothes pins or even chip-clips to keep the sheets and blankets in place. Larger cardboard boxes with one side cut out work great as a door. Before you know it, the fort will have become a castle, a spaceship or a secret cave, and all of your kid's stuffed animals will be a resident at some point.

If you have the time, and are prepared to manage a potential mess, get your children involved in the kitchen. Busying them with baking their favorite cookie or dessert is a great boredom buster. Cookie cut outs and flour sifters will be flying! Kids love getting their hands right into those big mixing bowls, shaping the cookies and of course, licking every last morsel off the wisks & beaters.

Be prepared with another lively activity though because after they eat their creations they'll be buzzing around on a sugar high. They could help clean up. Easier said then done to be sure. Other things they could make are a salad with all the fixins, or maybe a homemade pizza. They'll want to use every assorted topping that can be found in your fridge. If your tummy can take it, then go ahead!

Here's another option. Break out the digital camcorder and roll some film. Your family could put on a talent show and rate each other's performances. I'm sure you've got either a singer or ballerina if you have girls, or maybe a superhero boy who will demonstrate those saving powers on his sister's drowning Barbie.

Moms and dads, you have to play too. Get out the old jewelry, feather boas, giant belts, old suits and whatever other behind-the-times thing concealed in the corners of your closet. Dress up and let your inner actor take over. Be a kid with your kids! They'll laugh with you, love it now, and hate it later when you pull out the documentation for a most embarrassing review.

Here's a game too that is fun to play, especially with younger children. Take some small paper bags, choose a number of different items with different textures and smells, and place them inside. Based on your child's sense of smell and touch, they have to identify the item.

You can get innovative, and a little gross with this game if you'd like. Try shoving an old, dirty sock in one of the bags. Or pull a couple of cotton balls apart and call it a spider web. A little piece of pickle can feel just like a smushed bug. Putting shaving cream in there will get their imaginations going. You'd be amazed at how an everyday, around the house thing can feel like something completely different, especially if your child's thoughts are allowed to wander.

Here are a few other great ideas for that rainy day:

Have an egg hunt. Those colored gumball eggs that prizes come in or old hosiery eggs work great. You can give the "getting warmer, getting colder" clues to help them out.

Play school. Your child will take attendance on all the stuffed animals and then start teaching them about running with scissors, hot stoves, the alphabet, etc. It's a riot to watch, although you'll probably have to sit in as a student. If you have a little chalkboard or dry erase board, then definitely get it out for this.

How about an indoor circus or fair? You can take this as far as you'd like really, or just make it an all day affair. Various games can be made up, like a beanbag toss, knocking down the pins, or variations of other midway classics. Stuffed elephants, lions, ponies and others can be put into "cages." The courageous lion tamer, your son of course, will demonstrate his mastery by having them jump through rings or defy belief by placing his head into the ferocious beast's mouth. String out some yarn and tape it to the floor for your daughter's high wire act. Then get out a little makeup and dad's oversize shoes for the clown routine.

Think outdoors while stuck indoors by making a string of popcorn, dried fruit, nuts, or berries, or check online for a homemade suet recipe your kids can help create. The birds will love it. Or you can make easy birdhouses out of milk cartons or plastic gallon jugs.

And don't forget about the old stand-bys like coloring books, crafts, play dough, paper snowflakes, puzzles, cards, paper airplanes, models, etc. All are great activities to keep those rainy day blues away.

With a recipe of a little imagination and creativity, some patience, and a bit of humility because hey, it takes guts to sing on camera, even if it's just in your living room, you can turn those rainy day blahs into nice memories.