Fun Indoor Activities for Rainy Days

Inside: Don’t let the weather keep the kids from releasing their energy! This collection of indoor activities is perfect for rainy days, or any time you simply can’t get outdoors.

It’s raining outside. The kids have more energy than usual. You glance at the clock. It’s going to be a long day unless you can get them moving. How about some fun indoor activities for rainy days?

I’ve put together some activities we’ve done, as well as activities from my favorite kid bloggers. Keep this post bookmarked for those days when you know you can’t get outdoors.

Fun Indoor Activities for Rainy Days

Recently Melissa & Doug sent me some of their favorite large motor toys to try with our toddlers and preschoolers. We live in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, where we get a fair amount of rain. While we try to get outside whenever we can, there are days when it’s just too cold and wet to be out there.

I am a firm believer in balancing quiet and active time, no matter what the weather is like outside. Children need to move. Because of this, and our unpredictable weather, I make sure to have active indoor ideas on hand. It has saved us so many times! When I feel that energy level soar, we stop what we are doing and start moving!

Here are some of our favorites:

Ball Activities

One of our favorite indoor large motor toys are balls. Seriously, there are so many fun ways to use balls that get the whole body moving!

We are fortunate to have a large indoor gym where we can use balls to toss into our basketball hoop, to kick, and to throw to friends.

Here are some other fun ways to use balls indoors:

Kick the Cup:  This ball theme alphabet activity is fun way to practice identifying letter sounds while kicking a ball. (Mom Inspired Life)

Skee Ball: Let your little one get busy trying to get each colored ball into the appropriate basket! (I Can Teach My Child)

Indoor Counting Croquet: Hit the ball through the hoop in numerical order. (Toddler Approved)

Toss the Ball into the Basket: Grab an empty basket and toss balls (or bean bags) into it. (FSPDT)

Bean bags are another favorite fine motor toy, especially if you have less space. They can’t (usually) travel as far, for one thing. But they are also easy to handle and use in a variety of ways.

Here are some fun ideas to use with bean bags:

Bean Bag Toss on the Stairs: Add some climbing to this fun counting activity. (How Wee Learn)

Shape Toss: Make shapes on the floor with tape and identify them as bean bags are tossed. (Learn, Play, Imagine)

Bean Bag Knock Down Game: Create your own targets using foam board. (Frugal Fun 4 Boys and Girls)

Paper Plate Color Toss Game: Keep track of what color the bean bag lands on! (Buggy and Buddy)

Bean Bag Stop and Catch: Stomp on the board to make the bean bag fly! (I Can Teach My Child)

Paper Plate Bean Bag Activity: Focus your aim so that the bean bag lands on the plate. (J Daniel 4s Mom)

I couldn’t stop there! I’ve included some other fun ways to burn energy indoors using different materials:

Walkin’ in the Jungle: Make big motor movements such as walking, stomping, jumping, and skipping to the song “Walking in the Jungle”.  (Preschool Toolbox)

Balloon Tennis: Keep balloons and fly swatters on hand when your kids have some extra energy to burn! (Little Bins for Little Hands)

Leaping Over Logs: Count how many blocks that need to be stacked and then the children leap over them. (Fun-a-Day)

Giant Alphabet Activity: Draw very large letters to get the whole body moving! (Lalymom)

Ring Toss: This game makes an excellent form of gross motor practice as well as helps with hand-eye coordination. (From ABCs to ACTs)

Animal Charades: Act out the animal card you draw from the pile! (Buggy and Buddy)