8 Affordable and Fun Rainy Day Activities For Kids

Summer is a great time of year and can be so much fun. But what do you do on those days when it rains? Avoid hearing the chorus of “I'm bored!” Here are ten rainy day activities that you and your kids can enjoy.

1. Cooking/Baking: Most children love baking with their parents. Give them a choice of cookies, muffins, breads, or whatever you have the ingredients for. This is a great opportunity to spend quality time and teach them how to bake. Of course, a lot of fun comes later when you can sample your desserts!
2. Indoor camping:  Make a tent with chairs and blankets (or if you have a tent that fits), bring in sleeping bags and blankets, make your own fake fire, and tell campfire stories. Pretend to hike around the “forest” and carefully roast marshmallows in the kitchen. Your children could even sleep in the tent or fort that night.
3. Indoor Treasure Hunt/Scavenger Hunt: Hide clues throughout the house with the ending clue leading to the prize. Depending on your children's age levels clues could be extremely obvious, very vague, or even come in the form of riddles. Prizes do not need to be fancy; they could be as simple as a couple of chocolate chip cookies or a popsicle. The fun is in the hunt!
4. Food Experiments: Think science experiments, only with food. Decide on a food or drink such as an ice cream sundae, hot cocoa, sandwich, or whatever you choose. Separate the food into small portions and have your children experiment with different combinations. Does hot cocoa taste better with marshmallow fluff or chocolate chips? A spoonful of peanut butter or marshmallows? This can also be a great way to introduce children to new foods.
5. Tag-team stories: This can be a fun way to foster children's imaginations and can be a teachable moment. Begin a story with a prompt and then each child continues the story in a round-robin. You could even write the story as it goes. It can be a lot of fun and give great memories.
6. Indoor obstacle course: Use your chairs, blankets, boxes, toys, etc. to create an indoor obstacle course. Be careful though; you don't want anyone to get hurt. Perhaps stress whoever completes the course “best” wins, not necessarily who finishes first. For prizes it could be as simple as they get to adjust the course or pick the next activity.
7. Have a tea party: This might not apply to all children depending on their age or interest level. But oftentimes young girls love having tea parties. Arrange a blanket in the living room and select tea cups (they don't need to be REAL breakable teacups.). Next make invitations to give to your “guests.” After all, every doll and stuffed animal needs an invite! Make various types of tea, or use water, juice, or milk if your children don't like tea. Arrange cookies or crackers on a platter. You can even practice folding fancy napkins.  Enjoy your party!
8. Make a gift: Is someone's birthday coming up? Or maybe your children just want to show their love for someone. Help them make a gift for their chosen person. It could be their parent, sibling, friend, teacher, etc. Gifts can be as simple as cards, bracelets, picture frames, or more.

There are many great ideas for what to do on those rainy summer days. These are some that won't leave you relying on the TV or video games to keep your children occupied. Rainy days don't need to equal boring days!

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