What To Do On A Rainy Day – Activities For Kids

You don't have to dread when your kids are stuck inside on a rainy day. Sometimes it seems like the kids just burn through the indoor activities available and come hang around you asking to do all kinds of things you'd rather they didn't do. That to-do list you have seems be impossible to get done and you have no idea what to do on a rainy day. Here's an idea: why not get the kids involved in spring cleaning? You can bust boredom and get cleaning done at the same time! Here are some ideas.

Find It!

Kids usually love to find stuff – hence the game “hide and seek.” Tell your children you’re on a hunt to find forgotten and or lost toys (you will!)
, or slip a fun treasure like a gold chocolate coin under the piles of stuff you need to go through. They’ll find the coin at the bottom.

As you find toys, it can be hard for kids to get rid of them; they’re like new again. So maybe this would be a good time to concentrate on organizing rather than donating (for now). Put the newly-discovered items in their own “homes” in the form of bins.

Music Time

Put on fun music and clean to the rhythm! This is a great way to get everyone energized and having fun. You can do fun dance moves as you vacuum, throw things away, wipe counters, mop, etc. It’s also a great workout!

Assembly Line

Play an assembly line game. This works for cleaning out things like kitchen cabinets or pantries. Get your kids in a line (this works with one child, too) with a garbage bag at the end of the line. Pass down old items that need to be discarded and let the last person toss it in. You can switch around so everyone gets a turn to toss the item in the garbage. Set up a basketball-type hoop over the trash if you want to make it even more fun.

Crafts

As you clean out, let the kids get ideas for making something out of one or two items (it’s a good idea to limit it to one or two; kids’ creative imaginations can find reasons to save about anything). After cleaning, promise your children you’ll do a craft with them from the saved items.

Soup can puppets, plastic bottle bird-feeders, and other fun things can be made with recycled items. Some of those old spices and herbs from the kitchen cabinets have interesting containers, too; clean them out and do layered colored salt or sand crafts, or plant seeds in them.

Now you have a bunch of ideas of what to do on a rainy day. You can plan activities for kids that help get your to-do list done and leave time for fun.