Fun Active Things to Do on a Rainy Day

Games

• Many active outdoor games translate well to the indoors on a rainy day. You can create a beanbag toss game using a large mixing bowl and a soft ball or beanbag. If you do not have a beanbag, use a rolled up sock. Have children toss the ball and see how many times they can get it into the bowl. You can also set up an indoor scavenger hunt. Have children go around the house looking for things that are a specific color or that begin with a given letter of the alphabet.

Music and Movement

• Nothing improves the mood on a rainy day like putting on some music and dancing. Play cheerful music and let your kids dance, jump and spin to the beat. Get a toy microphone and let kids sing karaoke to the music. Play the freeze game where kids dance while the music plays and stand still when it goes silent. The last person to "freeze" when the music stops sits out for a turn. You can even put in a fun aerobic or workout video and let your kids try to imitate the movements. This is a convenient way to get your exercise time in as well.

Building

• A rainy day can be the perfect day to build a blanket fort and play a game. Put large blankets or sheets over chairs or a small table and hide out underneath. Use large blocks to build a city, a castle or even a robot and then knock it all down and build it up again. Build train tracks and drive toy trains around an imaginary city or town.

Other Activities

• Use your imagination when it comes to rainy day activities. Play charades, where children act out concepts and their teammates try to guess what they are communicating. Have children do animal walks where they pretend to move like different animals. Have them move like a monkey, a snake, an elephant or a kangaroo. Get out a box of old clothes, Halloween costumes or fancy dresses that you never wear and play dress-up. Children love trying on old clothes and shoes. Play games like Duck, Duck, Goose, Ring Around the Rosie and Simon Says.