Have Fun on a Rainy Day

Are you bored just watching the rain? Do you wish desperately you could go outside? Instead of drowning in boredom, find something fun to do inside!

Steps

Entertaining Yourself

1. Cook something. One of the best ways to keep busy during a rainy day is to Basic Cooking Skills. This keeps you busy and lets you use some of those ingredients in your pantry you've been wanting to try. The best part is that you end up with a tasty result at the end that everyone can enjoy!
   • Make comfort food like chocolate chip cookies, or try a fancy cupcake recipe you found online. Try making bread from scratch.
   • Find an old family recipe and try to make it. If you have kids, teach them how to make grandma's famous biscuits or your treasured apple pie recipe.
   • Try making an ethnic dish you've never tried before. Go outside of your comfort zone and have fun in the kitchen.
2. Knit, crochet, or sew. A rainy day is a great time to get caught up on your knitting or crocheting projects. Maybe you might also want to sew that dress or pair of pants you've been wanting.
   • Find a tutorial online that teaches you how to knit, crochet, or sew. Spend the day learning if you've never done these things before. Find a fun pattern and create a gift for someone.
   • There are many things to knit or crochet: finger puppets, blankets, hats, small animals, scarves, and so much more.
3. Read a book. Spend those rainy days engrossed in a good Pick out a Book to Read. Reading is a great way to go on an adventure without having to leave your house. Find a book on your bookshelf, go to the library, or download a book onto your electronic reader.
   • No matter what your interests, there is a book for you. Do you like western adventure novels? Romance? History? Suspense? Horror? You might have to spend a few minutes looking at dust jackets or summaries, but you can find the book for you.
   • If you feel adventurous, just pick a random book off the shelf and start reading. You might surprise yourself with liking something you never thought you would.
   • If you've seen a movie adaptation lately, read the book the movie was based on.
   • Catch up on your classics. Pick up a book you've always wanted to read but never had the time to.
4. Write a story. Open up your imagination and write a story. Find the idea of your story and start writing. Have fun with it as you create your own world.
   • Write a fictionalized version of something that happened to you. Write a scary story or a romance story. Push yourself outside of your comfort zone and try to write something in a genre you've never thought about writing in before.
   • If you're not a writer, try drawing or painting a picture instead.
5. Clean your house. Cleaning is something we always promise ourselves we'll do, but sometimes we ignore that because of our busy lives. What better way to use a rainy day than by doing chores? Clean and organize the parts of your house that really need maintenance. This way, you won’t have cleaning and organizing to worry about when the sunny weather returns.
   • Pick a room to tackle. Or go methodically from room to room.
   • Work on some projects you never seem to have time for. Clean out your closets, organize the pantry, or clean out the garage. Gather clothes and items to donate to charity. Vacuum, wash the windows, and clean the bathtub.
6. Go for a walk. If you're not scared to get wet, take an umbrella with you and go for a nice long walk. Walk to a park near your house or visit a friend who doesn’t live right around the corner. Take in the different way the world looks around you in the rain. Visit a local state park or wildlife reserve. If you live in the city, take a tour around the city with an umbrella.
   • One advantage rainy days have is that less people will be out. You can have a nice walk and explore some local sites without crowds of people around.
   • Rainy days also give you an opportunity to wear your rainy day clothes. Don that trench coat you never wear and the boots gathering dust in your closet.
   • Being outside for a while and moving helps makes you feel like you did something useful with your day.
   • If you're into photography, make sure to take your camera along - you might get some inspiration along the way!
7. Have a movie marathon. Gather friends and family together and host a movie marathon. Choose classics the kids haven't seen, rent a bunch of new releases, or rewatch favorites.
   • Have a rainy day theme with films featuring rain, storms, or the word rain, like Singing in the Rain.
   • Choose a genre and watch a bunch of movies from it. Have an action-packed day, scare yourself with horror movies, or have a laugh with some classic comedies.
   • Instead of a movie marathon, try a TV show marathon. Pick a TV show you've been wanting to watch, or catch up on shows you haven't had a chance to watch because you've been busy.
8. Have a game day. Gather your family, invite your friends, and sit around the table to play board games and card games. This is a great way to catch up with your loved ones, talk, laugh, and enjoy being together.
   • Try strategy games like Risk, Settlers of Catan, or Ticket to Ride. Play classic games like Monopoly, Scrabble, Clue, or Life. If you have enough people, play Spades, Euchre, or Whisk. For larger groups, try Poker, Phase 10, or Skip Bo.
   • Get caught up on your video games. This is great if you are alone. Invite your best friend over and play some video games together, or get online and play with people online.
9. Enjoy the rain. Sit out on your porch or balcony with a mug of hot chocolate, tea, or coffee. Listen to the sound of the rain and watch it as it falls. Take the time to relax and focus on the weather instead of life.

Entertaining Kids

1. Go puddle jumping. Put on rain coats and galoshes, or a bathing suit and flip flops, and go jump in the puddles on your street. Have contests where you try to splash each other, or play hopscotch as you jump from puddle to puddle.
   • Get down on the ground and make mud pies. Bring out small boats and float them in the puddles.
   • This doesn't have to be a kids activity. Puddle jumping is fun at any age.
2. Have a treasure hunt. Set up a series of clues throughout the house. Have each clue lead to the next clue. This keeps the kids busy as they work towards finding the treasure.
   • The treasure can be a toy, a treat, a fun activity, or small reward.
   • The kids can play against each other, or they can play in teams and work together to find the treasure.
3. Create an indoor obstacle course. Set up a series of obstacles that the kids have to go through. This can include just about anything - crawling under tables, walking in straight lines along tape on the floor, throwing stuffed animals into buckets, hopping along the hall, forward rolling across the room, or picking up stuff with their teeth. Brainstorm with your kids to figure out what is suitable for your house and what you own.
   • Make medals for the winners out of construction paper.
   • Make sure the obstacles that you place in the house are safe. You don't want your rainy day fun resulting in injury.
4. Get crafty. Pull out your craft supplies and get creative. Decorate pine cones, make hand puppets, draw pictures with watercolors, make leaf collages, and use felt pieces to make a picture story. The only limit is your imagination.
   • Let the kids choose their own crafts. This way each kid can do something that interests them so they don't get bored.
5. Make a blanket fort. Rainy days are great for building blanket forts in the living room. Set up some chairs and drape blankets between the chairs and the couch. Have a picnic lunch under your blanket fort.
   • Turn it into an indoor camping experience. Put sleeping bags in the fort and blow up air mattresses. If you have a small tent, erect it in the living room.
6. Build a cardboard city. Gather scrap boxes and pieces of cardboard. Either cut and place them into 3-D shapes for your buildings, or just cut them for flat, one-sided buildings. Use markers, crayons, and colored paper to decorate the buildings. Make an entire town, including a fire station, school, skyscrapers, apartment complexes, and houses.
   • Use small figures and toy cars with your cardboard city. Or you can make your own cars and figures to live in your city.
7. Host a tea party. Get dressed up in fancy clothes, big hats, gloves, and ties. Brew some tea, set out your fine china, and place doilies on the table.
   • Bring stuffed animals and imaginary guests that the children want to bring. Get the kids to create the guest list.
   • Get the kids to help you bake bite sized desserts and finger sandwiches for the tea party.

Tips

• Many of the suggestions from the first method can be turned into kids activities, just like the second method can be adapted for adults.
• Use a rainy day to catch up on your to-do list. Think of things you say, "I'd do that if I only had the time..." and then do them!
• Choose activities you find fun if none of these sound fun to you. Think of your interests and decide what hobby you can pass the time doing.
• Play with your brothers, sister, or pets.
• Explore your house upside down! It makes you see things from a different perspective - literally! It is also adventurous.

Related Articles

• Have a Good Summer
• Beat Boredom over the Summer
• Beat Boredom on the Weekend
• Make the Best of a Bad Weather No School Day
• Have Fun Outside when None of Your Friends Are Home
• Look Good on a Rainy Day
• Have Fun when You're Bored
• Create a Rainy Mood in Your House

Sources and Citations

See also

• Beat Boredom on the Weekend
• Find Things to Do When It's Raining
• Beat Boredom over the Summer
• Overcome Boredom During the Holidays
• Have Fun by Yourself on a Saturday Night

What links here

• Find Things to Do When It's Raining
• Have Fun Outside when None of Your Friends Are Home