Buhata
Login Start for Free

Home › Life Terms

Travel and outings with kids

Rainy day activities

Things for children to do indoors when bad weather cancels outdoor plans, ideally mixing active play with quieter projects.

What It Means

Rainy day activities are the games, projects and outings families turn to when the weather keeps everyone inside. The useful ones keep children moving as well as busy, because CDC's guidance for ages 6 to 17 is at least 60 minutes of activity every day, rain or shine, and preschoolersPreschoolerA child from 3 to 5 years old, the age band the CDC uses for its preschool parenting guidance. See more should be active throughout the day. A good rainy day mixes a few bursts of active play with quieter time for reading, building or crafts.

Try It: Build an Hour of Indoor Activity

Slide each activity to the minutes you'd spend on it. CDC's daily goal for ages 6 to 17 is at least 60 minutes. The activities are Buhata's suggestion.

201510
Active minutes45
Still to go for 6015

Short of 60 minutes. Add a few minutes to any activity.

Climbing builds muscle and jumping builds bone, two kinds CDC wants on at least 3 days a week.

How People Say It

  • "It's raining again, what are we doing today?"
  • "Clear the hallway, it's dance party time."
  • "Everyone gets one quiet hour after lunch."

The Breakdown

How to plan a rainy day (Buhata's suggestion)

  1. Clear one space where running and jumping are allowed, and put breakables away.
  2. Plan two or three short active bursts spread through the day, such as a dance party, a cushion obstacle course and a jumping game.
  3. Mix in different kinds of movement. CDC counts climbing and push-ups as muscle-strengthening and jumping and running as bone-strengthening, and wants each on at least 3 days a week for ages 6 to 17.
  4. Put quieter projects between the bursts: building, drawing, a puzzle, baking together or an indoor scavenger hunt.
  5. Keep a short list of ideas on the fridge so the next rainy day starts faster.

Ideas by energy level (Buhata's suggestion)

High energyMediumQuiet
Dance partyIndoor scavenger huntReading together
Cushion obstacle courseBalloon volleyballBuilding blocks or bricks
Tape hopscotchFort buildingDrawing and crafts

Short version to try today. Put on three songs and dance until they end, then build a blanket fort.

Good to Know

CDC's guidance comes from the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition. For ages 6 to 17 most of the 60 minutes should be aerobic, the kind that makes the heart beat faster, with vigorous activity on at least 3 days a week. With children 3 to 5, CDC says to keep them active throughout the day and encourage many kinds of active play. If a child has a health condition that limits activity, ask their doctor what's right for them.

FAQ

How much activity do kids need on a rainy day?

The same as any day. CDC says children 6 to 17 need at least 60 minutes of activity daily, and preschoolers should be active throughout the day.

What are good active indoor games for kids?

Dance parties, obstacle courses with crawling and climbing, and jumping games like hopscotch get kids moving. CDC counts climbing as muscle-strengthening and jumping as bone-strengthening activity.

What can kids do quietly on a rainy afternoon?

Reading, puzzles, building, drawing, crafts and baking together are calm choices. Buhata's suggestion is to slot them between short active bursts.

Do It in Buhata

Weather, Focus

Check Weather in Buhata the evening before, and use Focus's interval timer for a dance party: 60 seconds of dancing, 30 seconds of rest, for 10 rounds.

Open Buhata

Related Terms and Categories

  • Indoor play place

    An indoor venue with climbing structures, slides and soft play areas where children can run and climb out of the weather.

  • Unstructured play

    Play a child chooses and directs, with no adult-set rules, lesson or goal, like making up a game in the yard or building whatever comes to mind.

  • Benefits of boredom

    The idea that unstructured, unfilled time can help children build creativity, problem solving and the ability to entertain themselves.

  • Zoo membership

    A yearly membership with a zoo that covers admission for the people it names, and at many AZA zoos brings free or discounted entry at others too.

Travel and outings with kids

Sources

CDC, "Child Activity: An Overview"; CDC, "What Counts for Children and Teens"; CDC, "Making Physical Activity Part of a Child's Life"

Last updated .