How to Entertain Your Kids Indoors on Rainy Days
Fun activities
Many parents dread seeing rainy days in the forecast. But bad weather is an excellent opportunity to get creative and come up with some new ways to entertain the kids. From video games to science experiments, there are no limits to the fun — and often educational — activities you can do indoors. Here are a few great ideas from The Heart In Art to get those creative juices flowing.
Play Video games
This suggestion may surprise you, particularly if you want to keep your kids away from the TV. But research shows that video games can have some fantastic benefits for developing minds! For example, Today’s Parent explains that video games can teach kids important life skills including problem-solving, critical thinking, conflict resolution, and decision-making. Online games can also help kids practice their social skills and gain a greater sense of self-confidence.
Playing video games can also serve as a great way to bond with your little ones. You’re bound to have some fun playing family-friendly games like Overcooked, Minecraft, Rocket League, and Mario Kart. Just make sure your home internet service is fast enough to support gaming and anything else you need to do online, like working from home.
Make Art
When your kids have had enough screen time, break out the arts and crafts. Set up a little art space in your home where your kids can get creative and let their imaginations run wild. Provide a wide variety of materials — paper, painting supplies, drawing materials, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, colored tape, clay, stamps, stickers — and let your kids create whatever they want. You could also get your kids to join a class at The Heart In Art where they can create and explore using different materials in a social setting.
Conduct a Science Experiment
Are your children budding scientists? Set up some fun experiments in your kitchen and give your kids a chance to learn about biology, chemistry, and physics with a hands-on lesson. You could make slime, grow salt crystals, construct a popsicle stick catapult, grow seeds in a jar, or make a homemade lava lamp in a water bottle — your options are nearly endless! Remember to explain the mechanisms behind the experiment so you can keep it educational.
Plan active games
As you likely know, kids have boundless energy. They need a chance to exercise and burn off energy every single day, even when it’s pouring outside. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to get your kids active in the house. For example, find a storybook that includes a lot of action and read it out loud while your kids act it out. They could even dress up as the characters in the book. Hide and seek, indoor obstacle courses, and living room dance parties are also excellent options
Explore the Backyard
No matter how much indoor fun you pack into those rainy days, everyone is bound to start feeling a little restless and irritable after being cooped up inside for too long. Suit up in your rain gear and get your family outside for some fresh air. Rainy days are best spent exploring your own backyard.
Play in the mud, float boats in puddles, hunt for worms, frogs, and other critters that come out in the rain, and — most importantly — have fun!
While you ride out the rainy spring and wait for sunny summer days ahead, try out some of these indoor activity ideas to keep your kids entertained, active, and learning at home. Experiment with scientific ideas, create art, learn a new video game, and get moving. You may even want to venture outside for some rainy-day fun.