Rainy-day ideas for kids

A rainy day with children at home can feel long. With a few good ideas, it can also be one of the best days of the week. Here are seven ways to fill an afternoon without a screen.

1. Build something big

Pull out every building toy you have and build a whole city on the floor. The wooden block set, 100 pieces, makes towers and walls. The magnetic building tiles, 60 pieces, fold up into houses and rockets. Lay the wooden train with tracks through the middle, and the city comes alive.

2. Open a café

Pretend play keeps children busy for hours. Set up the wooden play kitchen as a café. One child cooks, another serves, and the grown-ups order. The wooden tea set is perfect for a tea party with the teddy bear and the plush rabbit as guests.

3. Paint a picture

Cover the table with old newspaper, fill two glasses with water, and open the watercolor paint set. Paint the view from the window, a favorite animal or a made-up monster. Use thick paper, so it doesn’t curl. Hang the results on the wall like an exhibition.

4. Do a puzzle together

For the youngest, the wooden puzzle with knobs, farm animals, is a first success. Older children can try the puzzle 500 pieces for kids, with its cheerful zoo. Start with the edges and sort the pieces by color.

5. Play a game

A short game fits any afternoon. The board game Farmyard Gang takes about twenty minutes and mixes luck with a little counting. The card game Farmyard Swap is even quicker. Dominoes in a tin box work as a game, and as a long chain to knock over.

6. Build a den

A few chairs, a table and some blankets make the best den in the world. Add a fleece blanket on the floor, cushions and a clip-on reading lamp, and read a book inside.

7. Go out anyway

Rain isn’t a problem with the right clothes. Put on the kids’ rain jacket and the kids’ rain boots, and go puddle jumping. Ten minutes outside in the rain often does more for a restless child than an hour inside. Back home, hot chocolate is waiting.

Whatever you choose, join in for part of it. Children remember the afternoons when their parents built the den with them.