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100 Screen-Free Things to Do on a Rainy Day

100 Screen Free Things to Do on a Rainy Day

Image Credit: Joshua K. Jackson

If it's the school holidays, a Bank Holiday or just the weekend, it always seems like there is a pretty good chance it will rain!

If you are scratching your head for an idea of what to do and need some great ideas of things to do when it is raining, here are 100 ideas for things to do without resorting to putting on the TV or computer.

100 Screen-Free Things to Do on a Rainy Day
  1. Put on a Play
  2. Try to take a Pet Portrait - trying to get a picture of the Cat or Dog could take hours!
  3. Have a Dressing Up session.
  4. Make an indoor obstacle course.
  5. Pretend that you are a spy and write secret messages.
  6. Make music with whatever instruments you have; grab a tambourine and shake it along to your favourite song if that is all you have!
  7. Make a Puppet Show.

    8. A Cardboard Box. The unlimate plaything.

  8. Find a big cardboard box. Your children will know what to do.
  9. Read a Book
  10. Build a pillow den.
  11. Play The Name Game
  12. Crank the radio up and dance, dance, dance!
  13. Play Simon Says.
  14. Play Hunt the Thimble - or hunt any item small enough to be hidden fairly successfully.
  15. Do a Jigsaw
  16. Start writing a diary.
  17. Read a book aloud.
  18. Play Charades.
  19. Have a room tidying contest to see who can tidy their room the fastest. Yes, they may fall for this one, but only once, so save it for an emergency!
  20. Make Sock Puppets
  21. Do a Wordsearch
  22. Play Hide and Seek
  23. Learn to do some magic tricks. Here are some easy magic tricks for kids to learn.

    24. Science Fun

    Science Fun for a Rainy Day
  24. Plant a Cress-Head in an eggshell.
  25. Make a tornado in a jar.
  26. Build a LEGO Egg Decorating machine. This is awesome.
  27. Make Saving Foam Mountains
  28. Make your own Indoor Volcano
  29. Make a Flying Dragon - an exciting STEM activity.
  30. Find out just How Strong is Spaghetti.
  31. Discover how plants absorb water with this cool Celery Stick Experiment.
  32. Make a Paper Bridge
  33. Make your own Lava Lamp. So Retro!
  34. Do these experiments to find out which side of your body is dominant.

    35. In the Kitchen

    Rainy Day Ideas for in the Kitchen

    Image Credit: Taylor Grote

  35. Have a Posh Tea Party. Get out the best china (depending on your kids age) and enjoy the finer things in life. Crustless sandwiches? Earl Grey Tea? The choice is yours.
  36. Make some Slime
  37. Let the kids play with their food as they make Edible Finger Paint.
  38. Bake a Cake.
  39. Make popcorn.
  40. Make something in 3D with Salt Dough Modelling
  41. Make no-bake refrigerator biscuits.
  42. Try these Wheels on the Bus cookery ideas.
  43. Decorate biscuits.
  44. Make Ooblek
  45. Have an Indoor Picnic
  46. Make your own playdough
  47. Make crayon muffins from old broken crayons.

    48. Crafty Ideas for Rainy Days

    Craft Ideas for a Rainy Day

    Image Credit: rawpixel

  48. Make a Pinata
  49. Make your own Carnival Mask
  50. Write your own newspaper or magazine.
  51. Make a Friendship Bracelet
  52. Make boats out of old margarine tubs - add a lolly stick mast and paper sails.
  53. Make a firebreathing dragon from a toilet roll.
  54. Make a pasta necklace.
  55. Teach your children to knit
  56. Try some origami. For example you could learn how to How to Fold Paper Ninja Stars.
    57. UK Baby Freebies
  57. Make some Postage Stamp Crafts

    58. Get Arty

    Arty Ideas for a Rainy Day

    Image Credit: Tim Arterbury

  58. Paint a Picture
  59. Try making some Coin Rubbings.
  60. Draw a really big picture - use a roll of cheap lining paper from a DIY shop and make a freize.
  61. Have a go at Toy Car Painting
  62. Make a card for a friend with a birthday coming up soon.
  63. Make a Falling back in Space Portrait.
  64. Make Bubble Prints
  65. Have a go at Pebble Painting
  66. Have a really good colouring session. Colouring Pictures
  67. Draw your own comic strip
  68. Make a Leaf Collage
    69. UK Baby Freebies

    Craft Ideas with Recycled Materials

    Crafts using recycled materials
  69. Make your own bangles from a plastic bottle.
  70. Make a wind turbine from a coffee can for when the rain stops.
  71. For older kids - Make a Duct Tape Wallet. This does require some use of a craft knife, so must be supervised.
  72. Make a Tree out of newspaper or cardboard.
  73. Build your own Dinosaur Island from Papier Mache.
  74. Make your own Soup Can Bowling Set
  75. Make and wear a Newspaper Hat.
  76. Make these fab Decorative Storage Containers from Cans
  77. Make a Toy Parachute
  78. Make Egg Carton Turtles

    79. Playtime!

    A child playing with toys

    Image Credit: Markus Spiske

  79. Play paper and pencil games - Noughts and crosses, Heads bodies and legs, hangman or battleships.
  80. Have a Board Games afternoon.
  81. Make your own playdoh and make some models with it.
  82. Teach the kids a new card game.
  83. Make a LEGO Fidget Spinner
  84. Create an indoor Treasure Hunt
  85. Play "I Went Shopping and I Bought....." How long can you remember the list of items?
  86. Find every piece of LEGO in the house and build a massive building. (Bonus - the kids will have tidied up all their LEGO!)
  87. Make a pretend shop.
  88. Have a Letter Sounds Scavenger Hunt
  89. Blow bubbles.
  90. Invite all your toys to a pretend party.
  91. Play I-Spy.

    92. Brilliant Places to Visit on a Rainy Day

    Child in Wellies - Going out in the rain

    Image Credit: Daiga Ellaby

  92. Visit an Art Gallery
  93. Go Bowling
  94. See What's On at the Cinema
  95. Go Roller Skating
  96. Visit a Museum
  97. Go to an Indoor Trampolining Centre
  98. Make mud pies in the rain.
  99. Go to a Hands on Science Centre.
  100. Try out Ice Skating
  101. Go to the Theatre
  102. Go to the Library - it's not just for books remember, there may be special events during school holidays.
  103. Visit your local Indoor Soft Play Centre
  104. Go Swimming

So there you are, 100 things to do on a rainy day. I hope that has given you lots of ideas for next time it rains!

100 Screen-Free Things to Do on a Rainy Day

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