10 Ways to Entertain Kids on Rainy Days Indoors in 2024

10 Ways to Entertain Kids on Rainy Days Indoors in 2024

What’s worse than rainy days and Mondays? How about rainy days and Mondays with young children to entertain? Since it rains 159 out of 365 days in the UK, it’s likely that this is a situation you’ll experience again and again.

What makes it particularly challenging as a parent, is that little ones need to find a way to channel their energy, whilst keeping them entertained and engaged at the same time. There are, after all, so many times you can watch Peppa Pig on repeat without going stir-crazy.

Fret not, we have the solution… well 10 of them to be precise! From fun family board games to play to a puppet show, here are our favourite wet play ideas that will also save your sanity.

1. Imaginative play

Imaginative play takes different forms as children grow, but especially for toddlers, it’s a magical world of make-believe. The great thing for parents is that you don’t need to go to great lengths to make an impact, young children can be impressed by the simplest of things. From leftover boxes to sofas, cushions and pillows, how about creating a fort or camp for the children to snuggle under.

As well as getting resourceful for building the fort, it’s a fun way to get creative and let imaginations run wild. Once built, you can use it as a playhouse, a reading spot, for playing board games, or for playing with toys. If your child enjoys hide and seek, then why not ask them to draw a treasure map and get them to find objects around the house. It’s a smart way of getting them to use their drawing and writing skills and help with problem solving too.

2. The Floor is Lava

There’s something about being stuck inside four walls when it’s raining outside, that brings out the explorer in children! Which is why a game of ‘The Floor is Lava’ is exactly the perfect match. You can either create a makeshift lava floor using pillows and cushions and let them loose (hoping for the best).

Then again, if you don’t want your precious soft furnishings ruined, it’s worth investing in the fun family board game version. This comes complete with 25 coloured foam tiles, a spinner and 27 action cards to ramp up the fun. All that’s needed is a dose of imagination to bring the lava to life.

It’s worth investing in this much-loved board game to have in your stock for the many rainy days ahead – if anything think of it as added protection for your sofa!

3. Host an Indoor picnic

Oh the weather outside is frightful… but that’s no reason to stop the fun. An indoor picnic is a brilliant way to keep spirits up and even get the little ones to eat.

The best part of this is that your children can get involved, by helping to prepare the food together. Get them to wash and peel fruit and chose the plates and cutlery, with adult supervision. When it comes to laying the table, give your children some autonomy over seating arrangements, which toys to bring and even the music playlist. t

You’ll find this is a fun way to keep them entertained and perhaps even interested in mealtimes a bit more too.

4. Getting Crafty

Arts and crafts go hand-in-hand with wet play. There’s so many ways you can use this downtime to explore creative themes.

Set up a craft station with all the essentials: paper, kids scissors, glue and so forth.

Encourage little ones to get creative and make their own creations. If there’s a family or friends birthday coming up, this is the perfect opportunity to make a touching home-made card. If not, think about other events on the calendar: Father’s Day, Grandparents Day, etc.

5. Disco Party!

If you followed the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor during lockdown, you’ll remember that kitchen discos were all the rage. Inspired by this, gather the troop and find a room that you can use as a disco.

What an occasion to dress up, put on your best fancy dress and dance like it’s 1999! A dark room with lots of flashlights (or a disco ball if you have one) is the perfect space to let loose and have some fun.

Best of all, you’re using up their energy as they run around – hopefully meaning that when it’s time for bed, you’ll get some much-needed rest, before you wake up and the cycle starts all over again!

6. The Great Puppet Show

It might be an age-old event, but puppet shows are surprisingly popular, especially with preschool age children. In the lead up to the show, get your children to make their own puppets using socks, buttons, paper backs and everyday items from around the home.

It’s amazing at how inspiring they can be with very little resources. Once puppets are ready, stand behind a backed chair, or create your own home theatre using a box. When in doubt, the traditional ‘Punch and Judy’ storyline is always a winner… just watch out, she’s usually behind you!

7. Family board games for toddlers

We are eternally grateful to the inventor of board games, for the endless fun they supply they provide, especially on wet days indoors. Because family board games are designed with specific age groups in mind, here’s two of our favourite choices for toddlers.

The first is an 80s favourite called ‘Hungry Hippos’, you’ve probably heard of it. This four-player game is suitable for children 4+, and is consistently ranked in the top 10 family board games for toddlers. This is possibly because it’ so easy peasy to follow. Join in the feeding frenzy using your Hippo Head to gobble as many balls in one go. It’s a game of fast fingers and speed and promises many laughs.

Our second goes to ‘Smelly Wellies’ by Orchid Toys, the perfect indoor fun family board games to play when its pouring down outside. Suitable for 2-6-year-olds, it’s a simple matching and memory game. Opponents play against each other, taking in turns to turn over the welly cards and find matching pairs. It’s a favourite pastime for young children and helps with their cognitive skills at the same time. Just watch out though, toddlers are fierce cheaters, and you’ll need your wits about you!

8. Family Board Games for all ages

If the children are slightly older, try out one of these top family board games, which are ideal for passing the time when it’s thundering outside.

JENGA! is a classic game that never goes out of fashion, and is always fun no matter what your age. As such, it’s probably one of the best games for families to play together when you’re stuck indoors. In case you haven’t played the block-stacking game, it’s super easy. Players stack wooden blocks into a tower. Then, one by one, they are extracted carefully. It takes patience, strategy and a steady hand to be the winner because one wrong move and it all comes crashing down.

One for the tween in your life, ‘The Sunken Treasure – Exit Game’ is one of the best new family board games with an interactive edge. Focused on sea adventures, the them is about investigating a mysterious shipwreck – but then something goes wrong and you’re trapped underwater. The only way out is to uncode the riddles to recover the treasure and get back to dry land before the timer is up. If you’re forever shouting at your kids to get off their electronic devices, this back-to-basics board game is a good starting place.

9. Movie night

When all else fails, you’ll always have movie night! The crowd-pleasing winner is a great way to keep the little ones entertained, especially if you need five minutes peace to get some work done.

Rather than just put a movie on, why not make an occasion of it? Set up a corner with blankets and pillows, get them in their favourite pyjamas and maybe read a bedtime book to help them get snuggly. Then, of course, there’s hot chocolate, popcorn and treats as the lights go down. Try Netflix, Sky Movies, the Disney Channel, BBC iPlayer and Amazon Prime for a host of some of the best children’s movies available to download.

10. Indoor Bowling

Another fun activity for keeping idle hands busy. Set up a makeshift bowling alley in a spacious spot of your house. Get the kids to use their creative skills, decorating plastic cups which double up as pins, and a soft ball for bowling with. Then it’s time to divide yourselves into teams, with fun names assigned to each. Kids can take turns rolling the ball and keeping score.