Rainy Day Activities for Kids
Ideas for Indoor Children’s Crafts and Games
Use everyday items around the house for entertaining the kids.
Got those rainy-day, my-kids-are-stuck-in-the-house blues? Too miserable outside to even rent videos for your kids to watch? Take a good look inside your house. You can amaze your friends and entertain your children with simple household items, turned into hands-on projects for kids of all ages.
If your kids look at pipe cleaners, construction paper and Popsicle sticks and say, “Been there, done that,” these ideas are for you. You probably have most of the supplies in your house already.
A Roll of Masking Tape and Thou
Playing with masking tape won't hurt your carpet, as long as you use regular, cheap masking tape and your carpet isn’t too fluffy. Move some furniture so you have a big area free to be creative.
- House plan: Tape out squares for different rooms, leaving spaces for doorways. It should look like a drawn house plan or a cross-section aerial view of a house. Then put a bunch of play kitchen toys in the “kitchen,” stuffed animals and pillows in the “bedroom,” baby dolls in the “nursery,” and riding toys in the “garage.” Kids love walking in and out of the doorways. Even macho little boys will like this version of playing house.
- Hopscotch: Tape out a hopscotch outline and play indoors.
- Names and Pictures: Let the kids write their names in block letters with the masking tape. Or let them make shapes or pictures with it.
- Bean Bag Toss: Tape out squares of various sizes on the floor. Tape out a strip where your child should stand. Standing on the strip, have him toss a beanbag or Beanie Baby, trying to hit the squares.
Is it a Liquid or a Solid?
It’s neither. And both. Cornstarch is one of the most fascinating things to a child. When mixed with the right amount of water, it changes forms from liquid to solid and back again, depending on if it’s kept moving. Playing with cornstarch will keep your kids fascinated for hours and makes a great, last-minute science experiment.
Mix together 1 heaping cup of cornstarch with ½ cup water in a plastic container or bowl. Add a few drops of food coloring and stir. Pick the goop up in your hands. While you’re working with it and it’s moving, it’s a solid. Stop moving your hands and it turns back into a liquid. (Mixture will keep in the refrigerator, but only a couple of days. It gets moldy.)
Fruity Putty
Your kids want to play with Play-Do, but you open the lids and it’s all dried out. Never fear! You can make your own modeling dough with kitchen ingredients. And this one smells good.
Mix a 3-ounce package of sugar-free fruit-flavored gelatin, 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt and 4 tablespoons cream of tartar in a pan. Add 2 cups boiling water and 2 tablespoons cooking oil. Stir over medium-high heat until the mixture forms a ball. Place the ball on waxed paper to cool. Store in an airtight container. Use different flavors to make different colors and smells.
Permanent Sand Castles
Remember last summer when you made that beautiful sand castle on the beach and then had to watch the tide come in and wash it all away? You never have to say goodbye to this permanent sand castle. It looks like the real thing but stays forever, just like a sculpture. Get the sand from your sandbox, or buy play sand at the hardware store.
First get an old saucepan or one that can withstand scratches from the grittiness of the sand. In it, mix together 1 cup play sand, ½ cup cornstarch, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, ¾ cup hot water. Cook over medium heat on the stove until it gets so thick that it can’t be stirred anymore. Cool slightly. Using sand moulds, sandbox toys, margarine containers or just your hands, mould the sand mixture into a castle or whatever you want your sculpture to be. Let dry for several days.
B-I-G Paper
Most newspaper production rooms have end rolls of newsprint paper that they’ll sell to you for a few dollars. Stop by your local newspaper office and buy a couple rolls to have on hand for a rainy day. Your kids won’t need any prompting to have fun with a big sheet of paper on the kitchen floor. Here are some big paper craft ideas.
- Murals: Unroll the paper as large as you want it. Give your kids crayons, markers, paints or whatever you have. Old stencils, cookie cutters, stickers and stampers get new life on this big paper.
- Wrapping Paper: Brush tempera paint onto your child's hand and have him make handprints on the paper, to make adorable wrapping paper. Use red and green paint for Christmas wrap, blue and silver for Hanukkah, primary colors for birthday wrap or pastels for baby gifts. You can also cut shapes out of sponges and sponge-paint them onto the paper.
- Life-Size Portraits: Have your child lay on top of the paper and trace his outline with crayon. Now he can draw on his face, color in clothes and draw on hair. Get creative – glue on scraps of fabric cut to look like clothes, and yarn for hair.
For more indoor activities for kids, see:
