Ways to Keep the Kids Happy on Rainy Days

Posted by Coralie on Sep 26, 2011 in News | 4 comments

Now that autumn has fully kicked in, rain will force us more and more to stay indoors. This can actually be quite pleasant, since you could make yourself a nice cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows, settle in front of the TV and watch the last season of your favourite TV series.

If you are a parent, though, this is unlikely to happen. Young children have a wonderful energy and will be looking up to you for fun ideas to make the day brighter. Here are a few to make your rainy weekends easier:

There’s nothing like playing pretend. Make a tent in the dining room using chairs of different heights, blankets, lamp torches and cushions. Let them imagine they are nomads or adventurers travelling crossing the desert. Let them have a special picnic in there too.

Are they learning about a particular historical era/culture at school? Rent or find a cartoon or movie taking using this as a background. This is a great way to make the lessons more ‘real’, and it will probably trigger more questions from them (you might want to do a little revision beforehand too!). Plan on plenty of popcorn and themed food if there is geography is involved. You can even photocopy maps and use as table sets.

Get a few cheap sunglasses and let the kids turn them into fashion accessories with ribbons, sequins. This also works well with old hats.



Make your own Play-Doh. All you need to do is mix a cup of flour with one cup of water, half a cup of salt, half a cup of corn flour and two tablespoons of oil. Then add a few drops of food colouring. This Play-Doh will keep them busy a lot longer and proves cheaper than the usual brands with no chemical involved.

If the kids are invited to a birthday party, buy brown or A3 white paper instead of expensive wrapping paper. Let them decorate it with sparkles, felt tip pens, etc., and then have them write a personal message on it rather than adding a card. This is also a great occasion to teach them about potato printing.

Get the painting set out. It will be a bit messy, but let the kids paint the inside of their hands and then place them on paper. This creates a beautiful effect with colours mixing into each other. Also, like a shadow show, they can draw a dog or butterfly from their shadows and then paint it in. Leave a basin of water and a towel nearby to make clean up easier when they’ve finished.

Collect cute pebbles and shells from around the garden, and let the kids decorate them with bright colours. Add a layer of transparent nail varnish, and you could decorate the garden with them. My five-year-old loves to draw faces on these.



Buy a mix to make you own pizza dough. With glasses of different shapes, make a big circle and two smaller ones, and then arrange them so that they look like a Mickey Mouse head or snowman. Let the children decorate with tomato sauce and their favourite ingredients.

Does your child tire very quickly of new games? Puzzles can be a big help. We print family pictures on cardboard and then cut them in geometrical shapes. The kids never give up, no matter how many pieces are involved.

Recycle old wax crayons. Cut them into smaller pieces and place them into muffin tins or silicon moulds. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and ‘bake’ until they have melted. Let them cool down completely. They will make a block which they can use to colour from again. Mix bits of different colours for a rainbow effect.



Turn a beautiful jam jar into a snow globe. Glue a landscape or character inside the lid. Then pour water, a few drops of washing liquid and glitter. Close firmly, shake and watch.

Turn shopping into a race. Give each child a list of things to find (say 5 vegetables each), time them and let the winner decide what you should have for desert.

Here are a few other ideas I love: no mess marble painting and making edible leaves.

Do you have craft ideas that work a treat? Share with us!

Photography by a Will Graham,mirsasha, Jeff Kubina and Amy Gizienski