Indoor Rainy Day Play Ideas for Kids

I live in the south and we have our fair share of rainy days. I remember one summer when my boys were little it rained nearly every single day. There was rarely enough sunny days between the rainy days to dry the ground enough to play outside without sinking into the mud.

We all know what days on end of rain or snow can do our sanity, right? Those endlessly rainy days required me to get creative with the rainy day play to keep us all remaining, er, civilized toward each other. (And by “us all” I mean “me toward the children”. I do not envy those of you with long, snowed-in winters and small children.)

Below are some of the activities that the boys enjoyed over and over without getting bored of them. I also asked some of my favorite bloggers to share their best rainy day/snow day indoor activities for kids.

Glitter and Glue are Great for Rainy Day Play

Hands down my kids’ favorite indoor crafty activity was glitter and glue! Okay, this isn’t an entirely original idea. I’m sure most of you already let your kiddos get creative with glitter and glue. I can’t be the only one who enjoys vacuuming glitter for weeks after an afternoon of glitter fun, right? What? No? Oh.

Well, in that case, the focus here should be on the genius glitter dispensing and storage method I use. Yes, those are salt shakers and yes, they have changed glitter and glue time forever.

No more coaching the boys on how to sprinkle “just a little bit” while they dump “just a whole lot” as soon as my back is turned. Now they sprinkle with ease.

Lay it on thick! This took two weeks to dry. (At least that’s how long I gave it before slipping it stealthily into the garbage one night after everyone had gone to sleep. Do not judge me.)

Glue and Feathers are Fun for Rainy Day Play

Feathers and glue! Another of the boys’ favorite rainy day activities. This is a little less messy than glitter and glue because the feathers stick easily with just a little glue from a glue stick.

A fun and fuzzy activity. And this one is much easier to clean up.

Shaving Cream is Perfect for Rainy Day Play

So, it’s not an all-natural experience, but desperate times call for desperate measures, mamas. Shaving cream has been a sanity saver for this mama more than once.

The truth is that playing with shaving cream is an excellent activity for sensory play. I have a child who is a sensory seeker and one who is a sensory avoider. They both loved playing with shaving cream, although my sensory avoider needed a towel close at hand to wipe off excess shaving cream and washed his hands several times throughout the play.

If your child is learning to write the alphabet having them write the letters in shaving cream with their fingers is good practice.