Rainy Day Activities for Kids

You know an easy way to raise your stress level? Try to keep a hyper kid entertained on a truly soggy rainy day!

My boys have always been HIGH energy, but as soon as bad weather kept us inside, they took “bouncing off the walls” to new levels. Rainy day books + activities that focused their energy saved me and helped fill hours!

Five books for keeping kids busy on a rainy day

1, 2, 3, Do the Dinosaur

(and others in this Kane Miller series)

For toddlers and preschoolers with wiggly bodies, this series is the perfect wet-weather choice. As you read together, kids will be prompted to move their bodies just like the characters in the book. This helps kids:

• develop gross motor skills and balance

• improve comprehension and listening skills

• practice following sequences + directions

• get out their energy!

Little Children’s Dough Play Book

For hands-on tabletop play, a trusty rainy day activity is to break out the play-dough! The Little Children’s Dough Play Book from Usborne Publishing provides easy prompts for bridging sensory play time and creative storytelling. The age-appropriate prompts, best for toddlers and preschoolers, require nothing more than just playdough and little fingers! This is a great option whenever you would like to bring noise and energy down a notch.

Yoga Animals at the Seashore

and others in these Kane Miller series

When your kids want to keep moving on rainy days, but you don’t want anything too high-key, Yoga Animals at the Seashore can help funnel that movement into a calming activity. Bonus — your kids will start to learn great relaxation and emotional intelligence coping skills, too!

Each book in this series features a gentle story and charming illustrations. Kids enjoy doing the same movements as the animal characters, and start to build knowledge of common yoga moves in the process.

Never Get Bored books

For what feels like seemingly endless rainy-day ideas, the Never Get Bored book series from Usborne Publishing offers hours of entertainment and creative play. While some options are done with nothing more than their bodies and brains, others require easy-to-find materials that you already have around your home. I love that just a single page in this book series can eat up an entire soggy afternoon!

There’s Science in Salt

Ideal for a rainy day activty for elementary schoolers, There’s Science in Salt from Kane Miller features ten simple experiments. There are six books in this series, each focusing on an easy ingredient. I love that these books feel like play, keeping your rainy day entertainment fun, yet still have kids learning with educational science projects.

Hands-on felt board play for rainy days

While this bonus item on my rainy day activity list does have a book, the real star of this playset from EDC Creative Learning is the stand-up felt board and felt pieces! My Town comes complete with a large, double-sided felt board featuring outdoor and indoor city scenes. The 30 felt pieces allow kids to create their own stories as they mix, match, and move around the characters. If kids need some nudges with their innovative thinking, you can read the enclosed book for prompts that can get their creative juices flowing. Added perks: felt boards like My Town help kids improve their fine motor skills, while the prompts help encourage conversation for added language development.

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