My son and I love rainy afternoons! We like to snuggle up and play games or read together, and we especially love to do crafts and bake. Sometimes a rainy or snowy day means an automatic pause to put plans aside for the day and enjoy some quality time together. Sometimes, though, your kiddos need some
Here are some of our favorite ways to spend a rainy day (or any day, really, where you need some indoor fun).
Best Slime Making Activity
Ultimate Slime Do It Yourself Kit
We love the Original Stationery Ultimate Slime Kit. It comes with slime ingredients for four different types of slime - Marbelized, Pastel, Butter and Sparkle. Believe it or not, it's not a mess maker and kids love squishing and creating with the fun colors! Your little one can make it on a rainy day, and play with it rain or shine!
This slime kit is the ultimate kit for your favorite DIY slime maker and a great way to spend a rainy afternoon.
Everything that you need to be a master slime maker is included. Moms and dads love it because there's no reason to gather anything from the store since it's all-inclusive.
There are endless combinations and types of slime your kids can make: floam or fluffy, cloud and glittery, it's in there. If they want to make glow-in-the dark or butter or even a non-edible chocolate or fruit-flavor, your child is only limited by their imagination.
Original Stationery is a leader in Ultimate slime kits, and this kit is a great way for kids to explore their senses while it stimulates their imagination. They can practice developing their fine motor skills using the smaller beads and glitter games, and it's easy for them to fill several hours without ever even thinking about a screen because the concoctions are endless.
If you want kids to have access to additional online videos, though, they are available, as well as clear written instructions with extra tips and tricks for the best slime.
Key Features:
- Extensive opportunities for creations
- All-inclusive pack for every slime need
- Multiple slime recipes
- Lab-tested and approved for USA and EU standards
Best Rainy Day Activity For Hand-Eye Coordination
Whacky Wheels STEM Challenge
One of my little guy's favorite indoor toys is the Wacky Wheels STEM Challenge from Learning Resources. This STEM toy challenges him to build and test his own ways to get the balls through the hoops, using various types of math and science concepts. This game provides him with a hands-on lesson about angles, speed, and distance. It comes with activities, and my son loves those, but he also just enjoys experimenting with different methods and doesn't even realize it's a physics lesson!
For rainy days, this stem-focused activity offers unlimited potential to work with their hands and their eyes together and create challenges based on the booklet's instructions or their own. They'll giggle as they send the balls flying through the hoops and nothing sounds better on a rainy day than, "Look! I did it!"
Key Features:
- Physics-based learning activities
- Kids learn concepts of speed, angles and distance
- Instruction booklet offers challenges or they can create themselves
- Best for kids ages 5 and up
- No batteries or screens needed.
Best Game For Dexterity
Go Cuckoo
This fun game from HABA is kind of like Jenga meets Pick-up-sticks and is great for concentration and physics! Kids build Kiki Cuckoo a nest for her eggs, but they have to be able to think ahead about what will happen when they move sticks and be sure to get all the wooden eggs safely in the nest. It takes focus and finesse and we literally sit on the edge of our seats as we move sticks when playing!
Because of the patience and agility kids need to have when they're playing, Go Cuckoo is a fun way to develop fine motor skills and focus but kids just think they're being A-level players. It's a game that 2-5 players can play so it's a great way to fill some time for several in your house on a rainy afternoon.
HABA is has always been committed to making toys that stimulate kids minds, but in an environmentally conscious way, and these wooden sticks are another way that they show kids how good, old-fashioned fun (with a twist) can still be both exciting and educational.
Key Features:
- Good for building patience, attention and fine motor skills
- For 2-5 players ages 4+
- Eco-friendly
Shop Now
Best Way To Get Kids Moving
Magic Moves Exercise Wand
Who says you can't be active just because it's raining outside? We love this Magic Moves Exercise Wand from Educational Insights. It has 90 commands and gets kids moving and grooving to the super cute music. We love when the surprise "Let's Dance!" command comes on and it's great for working on kids' attention spans and direction-following skills in a fun and original way!
The worst part of a rainy or snowy day is there's probably less opportunity for kids to move around and get energy out. That's why the Magic Moves Wand is great--it gives kids opportunities to move and jump and be kids with easy-to-understand directions and fun. It utilizes kids' sensory systems because it has them listening and motor planning as they execute their moves, and they even develop vocabulary if they're littles playing with it because of the responsive language facet. It's the winner of several toy and parenting awards, and a great way to give your kiddo independent time inside.
Key Features:
- Offers 90 physical commands in randomized patterns for kids to follow and get fit
- 26 light shows for interest
- Command surprises keep kids playing
- Develops gross motor coordination and listening skills
- Keeps kids fit with fun movement
Best Baking
Whisk & Wag Pet Treats Baking Kit
My son loves to bake and we love our dogs! So, baking dog treats that are healthy for our pets (because they are family, of course!) is something fun that we love doing but often don't get to unless we have some time indoors. These mixes from Whisk & Wag are adorable and are made with limited ingredients that are so easy to mix and bake. I like teaching my son about healthy choices for the whole family, and he loves pulling out the bone-shaped cookie cutter and watching our doggies go crazy for these yummies. Win-win and our pups love it too!
The best part is that this kit from Whisk & Wag makes baking an easy and fun thing to do--they just might choose to do it on random days because they love it so much (that's a win!). Making two dozen individual dog treats means that your kids are involved with caring for another creature and have active roles in doing something special for their furry loved ones. That means they're developing social intelligence skills and empathy and it also is an easy way for the whole family to bake together without having to have mega-messes afterward.
Key Features:
- All-inclusive jar of bake with cookie cutter
- Only needs oil and water
- Makes 2 dozen treats
- No wheat, corn or preservatives
- Made in the USA
Code Screen Free
Botley Coding Robot
It's a coding kind of world our kids are growing up in, and as mothers, we dance a fine line of keeping them up to speed with the world in which they are growing while also keeping them little like they are. That's why I love Botley, a coding robot kids love and that is completely screen-free. Kids won't even know they are 'coding,' though they will be in minutes, and they'll have a blast unlocking Botley's hidden features. He helps build critical thinking and logic skills and is stinking adorable to boot!
This next-generation Bot allows your kids to sequence up to 150 steps and discover 16 different interactions and now includes music, light and movement that will keep kids intrigued and engaged without having to use screens--no tablets or phones or any other type of device but their brains and imagination. Botley has a remote programmer and several starter coding challenges to get them going but kids as young as 5-years-old will be able to get Botley coded and moving with ease. It's a new world they live in, and this is a gentle way to help keep them in the scheme of life without too much screen exposure off the bat.
Key Features:
- Next-generation Coding Robot requires no screens
- Includes 40 coding cards and a starter guide with coding challenges
- Now has coding styles that include music, lights and movement
Photo: Sharomka
We are committed to finding, researching, and recommending the best products. We earn commissions from purchases you make using the retail links in our product reviews. Learn more about how this works.
