31 Rainy Day Activities at Home That Aren’t Boring
When the weather turns bad, we often turn to television, phones, and computers to pass the time. But, what about other rainy day activities at home that don’t involve devices? It’s always good to try to enjoy the benefits of tech-free days. We don’t want to spend all those hours indoors sitting in front of the computer or television. That invites new problems and doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity to create memories and strengthen relationships.
But, if we’re going to get off devices, we need to have a plan! What do we do instead? How do we make it fun and interesting so that the kids will want to participate? What sorts of things will feel productive, special, and worthwhile and not just busy work to keep kids off their devices? Well, these rainy day activities at home are tried and true, creative, and aim to please. Let’s check it out.
31 Rainy Day Activities at Home
Baking

Baking is one of the best rainy day activities at home. I like to mix it up a bit and bake recipes I usually avoid. Let everyone choose something they want to bake together as a family. It could be cookies, cake pops, muffins, a pastry, pretzels—anything yummy and bake-able! Then, you all work together as a family to get the ingredients, and make something super delicious everyone can be proud of having created together. If you have a big family, you can even do a different baking project every other day until everyone has had a chance to make their favorites, especially those ones unusual ones! Looking for even more baking ideas? Check out our homepage for our Kid Chef Learns to Bake Freebie!
Gardening
When we think of rainy day activities at home, we don’t think of gardening. But, many seeds sprout best when started indoors and some gardening systems are completely indoors. Check out Iceland’s geothermal greenhouses.
Gardening is a very useful skill, and can be a lot of fun to get into. You can start a little vegetable, herb, or flower garden depending on the space you have. When your little plants are large enough, you can transplant them outdoors. If you have a lot of space, everyone can have their own little plot where they can grow what they want as well! Gardening is a great way to show your kids how patience, hard work, and perseverance can pay off in big ways!
Story Time

To get the whole family involved in a favorite story, try acting it out instead of just reading it! Everyone will become part of the story, and you will all have an amazing memory to look back on forever. Bonus points for going all in with costumes, funny voices, and homemade props!
Board Games
Sometimes just a relaxing day of playing board games is a great way to pass the time. If you want to add a little something extra, try making up some new rules and change the same old games up a bit! You can also create your very own games like themed charades, or scavenger hunts like the ones included in the free download below! Unleash your creative side, and play by your own rules. 😉
Craft Day

Coloring, collages, slime making, painting, etc. are all examples of super fun crafts you can do with your family as one of your favorite rainy day activities at home. Art is something that can be therapeutic, so make sure this is a positive experience with no bad ideas or critiques. Art styles are all different, and there is no wrong way to be creative. Just have fun! Need inspiration? Visit Pinterest, or you can go to Fun Family Crafts for some great ideas.
Pizza Night

All you need is dough, toppings, sauce, and an oven to have your very own family pizzeria! Everyone gets enough dough for a personal sized pizza, and they can top it however they want. Then, you just bake and enjoy! This makes personal pizzas truly personal, and makes for great bonding time with food and fun!
Pillow Fort

One person can make a pretty awesome pillow fort, but a whole family can make an epic pillow CASTLE! Use cardboard boxes, blankets, couch cushions, pillows, and more to create a huge pillow fort to hang out in. This may become one of those rainy day activities at home that becomes an everyday activity!
Movie Marathon

(This is a great add-on to pillow fort day) Get comfy and watch a movie series for a day with lots snacks and finger food. Stay in your pajamas for extra coziness!
Learn Sign Language
Sign language is a very useful language to know, and it is actually a lot of fun to learn. You can use books and/or online tutorials, help each other practice, and even try going a whole day communicating with just sign! Find more about learning sign language here.
Film For A Day 

Use your phones, or an old camcorder to document a whole day with your family as one of your rainy day activities at home. Then you can watch it back and even edit it into a fun family movie if you want to! As the years go by, it will be fun to look back and remember what a fun day you had, and how you lived at that time.
And there’s 21 more rainy day activities at home you can try! Grab a calendar of all 31 activities and 10 indoor scavenger hunts so your kids actually look forward to rainy days.
