Living in England there’s one thing you can guarantee – rainy days! While we are used to it, there’s nothing more frustrating than being stuck in the house with the kids complaining they are bored. We try and get the kids out the house as much as possible but when the weather just doesn’t allow it, we need to come up with some ideas to keep them entertained within the house.
Here are 10 ways to keep the kids entertained on a rainy day.
Free Online Games
Gaming has many advantages for kids, such as improving visual-spatial skills, problem solving and creativity. There are some fantastic free online games suitable for kids. Mortgage Calculator have some brilliant online games, and a lot of them are educational too.
There are so many to choose from and I like that you don’t need to download an app, you can play them straight from their website. There are money games and simultation games alongside games such as Happy Snake which is a variation of the game I used to play on my phone as a teenager!
My daughter particularly loves the Supermarket Numbers game. It’s a fun arithmetic practice game designed to enhance mathematical skills. The goal is to match a target number by picking different blocks with numbers and math symbols. At the start, you mostly work with addition blocks, but as you go, you’ll see blocks for subtraction, multiplication, and division too. As you choose blocks, an equation updates to show your current total, making it easy to see how close you are to hitting the target.
My daughter is constantly trying to progress to the next level and I’m happy that the game she’s playing is helping her numeracy skills. It’s a great way to sharpen her math skills while she has a good time.
Crafting
I’ll be the first to admit I’m pretty useless at crafting which is a shame because my kids love it! It doesn’t need to be that complicated though. You can find free crafts online which make life a whole lot easier. There’s anything from colouring to creating bookmarks or calendars. The kids love it.
Read A Book
I’m a massive bookworm and my kids are used to seeing me with my head buried in a book. It’s great to have half an hour or so where we have quiet time and settle down with our own books. My eldest isn’t a big fiction reader but loves reading about facts so we have plenty of non-fiction books to keep him entertained.
Indoor Treasure Hunt
My kids love doing this! It can be as simple or as complicated as you like. We usually use coloured card to write little clues which will then lead to the next clue and so on, until they find the “treasure” at the end. If you’re feeling more creative you could create a treasure map for the kids to follow.
Science Experiment
There are plenty of fun and easy science experiments you can do with the kids at home. The famous volcano explosion experiment, for example, is so easy to do and most of the materials we already have at home. Plus the kids love it!
Virtual Zoo
One thing we’ve loved doing during lockdown is watching the live feeds at various zoos. Paignton Zoo have live webcams showing flamingos, meerkats and Sulawesi crested macaques. The kids love watching what the animals are doing. I know other zoos have shown online tours of the zoo and have filmed feeding times, all of which can be found on Youtube.
Jigsaws
We love jigsaws in our house. It can be a solitary activity or you can get all the family involved. We have a big jigsaw board we can lay on the floor so there’s plenty of room for all the kids to take part.
Have A Dance Party
It’s fun, it’s free and the kids love it! Simply draw the curtains, pop some music on and let them dance away! We have a disco ball that the kids love but it’s not essential. You can play games such as musical statues and music bumps for the little ones. Plus it gets the kids active without them even realising.
Indoor Picnic
If the weather isn’t nice, you can still have that picnic you planned – just have it indoors! Lay a blanket down on the floor, get out your plates and cups and have your picnic in the comfort and warmth of your own home. The kids always love having a picnic indoors, even if it’s just food they could easily just eat at the table. The novelty makes it fun.
Play Games
My kids love traditional board games like Scrabble, Monopoly and Twister. However, if you don’t have any and aren’t looking to spend money, there are plenty of free games you play. Hangman and I-Spy are always fun and there are so many word games you can play without having to spend a penny.
Conclusion
These are just a few ways to keep the kids entertained on a rainy day. What do your kids like to do when the weather isn’t great? Let us know in the comments!