How to keep your kids entertained when it's raining outside

This time of year the risk of being stuck in the house increases, more often than not there's reason to stay indoors. But that means that you need to have things in the house that will keep the kids entertained so you're not climbing the walls by the end of the day. In my many years of parenting I've had my fair share of rainy days which means I've managed to gather a few ideas to keep them entertained when it's raining outside. 



Movies are great when it's raining outside


The first port of call when it's raining outside is a good movie. There are plenty of kids' movies to choose from, like my boys' top 10, but if you have older children I'd recommend scrolling through Netflix or Amazon Video, there's some great movies there to choose from and I have no doubt you'll find something the kids will like. 


How To Keep Your Kids Entertained When It's Raining Outside | A TV set up with tall speakers in lounge.
Get the TV ready... it's movie time!



When you're planning a movie day it's easy to have popcorn and other goodies on hand but when it starts raining outside that's harder to plan for. I keep a multi pack of popcorn in a cupboard just in case, or even have a box of un-popped popcorn that you can just put into the microwave. The boys love freshly popped popcorn.



Keep your kids entertained with sticker books


These books come in really handy when there's nothing else to do. You can buy them fairly cheaply on Amazon, I've seen prices from £2 to £8, and there's all sorts of different ones to find. LP has always enjoyed the Lego themed sticker books, I think he had 5 or 6 of them now. The best bit about these is that they not only have the sections where you put particular stickers in the right place, but they have pages for your kids to create a scene using lego stickers. 





The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. 

Albert Einstein





The best thing about sticker books though is that there's something for everyone. From Lego to Peppa Pig, Disney Princesses to learning about Dinosaurs - no matter what your kids' tastes you'll be able to find something they'll love. 



Raining outside? Let your kids play console games


On rainy days being stuck in the house can give you - and your kids - cabin fever, especially if there's not much to do. Letting them play on the consoles for a short time will make them happy and you can sit and have a coffee. My boys play on the Xbox One, Fortnite and Overwatch are a couple of their favourite games, but when they were younger they liked playing on the Wii U and there were plenty of Lego games (my favourites) they played.


How To Keep Your Kids Entertained When It's Raining Outside | A white Xbox One sits on a table beneath a large TV.




It may be raining outside but you can play board games together


A family favourite here we have quite a collection of games now and the boys love it when we say it's game time. LP has been playing board games since he was 4 years old (he's now 9), we used to team up and he would listen to our strategies and be involved. It's how he learned how to play and now he's quite the strategist. He's an expert in the games we play these days and actually he beats me at Scrabble more often than not!



Activity Books can keep your kids entertained for hours


Both BP and LP have had lots of activity books in the past, and themes have been Dinosaurs to holidays and everything in between. The thing with Activity books is it's not just one thing for them to do, there's a range of activities to keep them entertained. Crosswords, wordsearches, colouring pages, depending on the book you get you could end up with hundreds of pages of activities. The themed activity books are great, when they're off school at Christmas and you're in need of some activities for them to do a Christmas Activity Book is a perfect distraction. It's Christmas themed and will keep them busy even when the rain is pouring outside.



Coding can distract them from the rain outside


This is a new one, but something that kids are encouraged to do at the moment. LP likes the idea of programming - I think it comes from his dad being a programmer - but he's interested in it and we're trying our best to help him find things to do. So far there's a couple of things, the first is Scratch - which I don't know much about other than it's something kids can use to create their own games. LP has also been trying out Apple's programming stuff, I think it's called Swift. He bought his own iPad and Apple Pencil so he could try out the new things they have for kids to learn coding. Apple also run sessions in their stores, which are free, for kids to learn about programming - we've yet to attend one but it's on our list to do soon.


How To Keep Your Kids Entertained When It's Raining Outside | Get your kids to learn coding.
Are your kids coding yet?


Keep the kids entertained by teaching them about drawing


BP is quite a creative boy and loves drawing, so when he's given a challenge he enjoys going for it. LP likes to draw occasionally too, but for LP it's more following instructions that he likes. That's where "how to draw" books come in handy. Again there are plenty to choose from, Amazon have a great selection, and when he puts his mind to it he really enjoys himself. 

Give the kids a pencil, a piece of paper, and something to draw and they might show you a talent you never knew they had!





Colouring


Colouring books, colouring pages, or even telling them to colour in the drawing they've just done, it'll keep them busy while the rain hits the window outside. Have a selection of coloured crayons (wax or pencil) to hand and it'll keep them busy for hours (if you're lucky).



Get them writing about the rain outside


BP enjoys this one more than LP, he enjoys being given a sentence to start with or some line that will inspire him and then he's off. Some of his writing has truly blown me away and I hope he continues with it. LP likes writing sometimes, but does need a lot of encouragement and this is where I would say to try writing a story for a character they like - like someone from Fortnite. Younger kids would find it more interesting to write about a character they already know. 





There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds. 

Gilbert K. Chesterton





Sometimes it's fine to let the kids find they're own way too - don't give them anything to do but give them restrictions. Perhaps they're not allowed to play console games but should do something else. These kind of restrictions will often get them thinking about what they want to do. I've tried it on LP a few times and he often ends up playing with older toys he's been neglecting - and then will tell me how much he's enjoyed himself during the afternoon because he'd forgotten how much he enjoyed playing with his toys. That's always nice.



So when the dark clouds roll in and you hear the pitter patter of raindrops on the window there's no need to panic. With just a few ideas on your list it'll be easy to keep your kids entertained when it's raining outside.



How do you keep your kids entertained when it's raining?