What We Did on Rainy Days Before Screens Were an Option
Baking came up more than almost anything else – it’s a good rainy-day activity, and I’d argue it’s secretly a math activity too, between measuring and counting and fractions. Crafts filled in the rest: family painting projects, painting glass jars into jack-o-lanterns around Halloween, a family puzzle-and-music afternoon, card games when everyone needed to sit still together for a while.
If I’m honest, the seasons did most of the planning for me. I’d build rainy-day activities around whatever was coming up next (a holiday, a season’s colors, that kind of thing) rather than trying to invent something new every time. Over the years that’s meant making chapstick, Epsom salt soaks, cookies, bread, marble paint art, salt dough ornaments, paper loop chains in seasonal colors, and plenty of air-dry clay and Play-Doh sessions along the way.
It never took special equipment or anything I had to buy. Just picking one thing from whatever season we were already in and making an afternoon of it.
If you want more structured options beyond “bake something and follow the season,” here’s a fuller list split by energy level.
Burn energy
- An indoor obstacle course – couch cushions, a taped-down “balance beam,” and a blanket tunnel between two chairs
- Freeze dance: music on, dance until it stops, freeze in place
- Balloon volleyball over a string of tape on the floor as a “net”
- An indoor scavenger hunt: a short list of household objects to find and bring back
- “The floor is lava”: pillows as safe islands across the living room
Settle it back down
- A blanket fort with flashlights and a few board books inside
- A giant piece of paper (a flattened grocery bag works) taped to the floor for open-ended drawing
- A sticker scene: a plain piece of paper and a sheet of stickers to build a picture
- Sensory bin play with whatever’s in the pantry: dry rice, beans, or pasta and a few scoops
Somewhere in between
- Homemade play dough, plus rolling pins and cookie cutters
- A pretend indoor picnic: a blanket on the living room floor and a simple snack
- Water play at the sink or in a shallow bin with cups for pouring, with a towel underneath
Rotating which two or three of these you pull out, rather than trying all twelve in one day, tends to work better. A toddler’s attention span for any one activity is short, and a slower rainy day with three good stretches of play beats a rushed one with twelve half-finished activities.
For more independent-play ideas, see quiet time activities for 2-3 year olds, the sensory bin list by age, and zero-prep outdoor activities for a change of scenery.
Names and identifying details in this post have been changed to protect my kids’ privacy. “Annie Hart” is a pen name for the same reason.