A rainy day might make you feel trapped in your household, but with it come a lot of opportunities worth taking advantage of. Give your negative POV a positive spin and start preparing yourself to experience some moments of fun and pleasure with your little kids. Options for indoor games are plentiful and will bring the restlessness in you and your kids to a calm.
Your free hours will be filled with fun and creativity, as you will also get the opportunity to increase your family bonding. All the fun-filled rainy-day games that we’re going to mention can be played with ease, as they don’t require any additional investment in terms of props or money.
Get ready to see your child’s level of creativity and imagination rise to new heights. Not only do these fun indoor games teach your kids some crucial aspects of basic learning, but they also make them grab some important life lessons as well. Consequently, their levels of emotional and social intelligence will also witness a boost. So without further ado, let’s dive into the best fun activities and games to play with kids on a rainy day.
1. Simon Says
It’s always best to start off with some classics, and it couldn’t get any better than mentioning Simon Says as the first rainy-day game to cover. It has been a classic favourite for ages, so mentioning it becomes a compulsion. To play it, an individual becomes the leader named “Simon” and calls out different actions using the phrase “Simon Says” that all other participants have to follow.
All those attending this game need to stand in a circle or in a line, and they need to follow all the commands of the leader named “Simon” that start with “Simon Says.” Those failing to do so will be out of the game. If the leader says “touch your cheeks” without uttering the phrase “Simon says” and the players do such actions, they will again be considered out.
This is really an interesting game that not only keeps your kid busy for hours but also aids them in increasing their listening skills and the ability to follow directions. With time, their decision-making ability will also improve a lot. To make it more challenging and interesting, just include some actions such as dancing, running, or jumping, and see your kids becoming more habitual about playing it rather than indulging themselves in electronic gadgets.
2. Card games
Just grab a standard deck of 52 cards and never count on that slow-ticking clock. There are a number of card games that you can play with your kids, such as Go Fish!, Crazy Eights, War, Old Maid, Snap, I Doubt It, Slapjack, and much more. All these card games have the potential to challenge the minds of your little ones and create hours of fun without much effort.
In case the child gets bored, make up a new game in your mind that they are unaware of and let them learn it right away. To make it more interesting, you can always bring in playing cards that are especially made for kids. This will allow them to cherish the fun of this game even more.
From simple to complex ones, all these card games are really helpful in improving your child’s abilities in arrangement, number identification, logical reasoning, and colour segregation. Plus, if played properly, these fun games can make your child learn so much stuff, such as arithmetic, strategy, shape recognition, social skills, and much more.
3. Puzzles
Not just one or two; the interesting puzzle game has so many variants. Wooden puzzles, chunky puzzles, cube puzzles, frame puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, alphabet puzzles, logic puzzles, peg puzzles, rebus puzzles, and firetruck number puzzles are some worthy mentions that need inclusion for sure. If you run out of options, you can always look up on the internet for some online word search puzzles.
Getting engaged in these interesting games will make it easier for you to spend more time at home with your kids. It will also give you an opportunity to exercise some of your problem-solving, cognitive, and creative muscles. To add some more creativity to the whole scenario, you can always allow your kids to make a puzzle of their own instead of going for the store-bought one.
Being inexpensive as well as educational, these interesting games not only capture your kid’s attention, but they also sharpen it. Plus, solving any sort of puzzle gives your kid a sensation of achievement while boosting their problem-solving skills. With these, they also learn the importance of patience and persistence, along with experiencing a boost in their eye-hand coordination and motor skills as well.
4. Dominoes
Not only your kids, but this fascinating game of dominoes can be played with the whole family. This is such a gem of a game that works wonders for enhancing your child’s numeracy skills. There are so many variations of this one single game that one can play to make the most of their time on a rainy day with their kids.
Mexican Train, Spinner, Game, Draw, Concentration, Jungle dominoes game, Muggins, and Bendomino are some of the most popular dominoes variations that kids of all ages love to play. The infatuation that comes from seeing the stacked-up dominoes fall over can’t be described in words at all. Many people even refer to it as the best logic and reasoning-boosting game for kids.
The traditional way of playing dominoes might prove to be a bit hard for kids at first. Thus, it’s recommended for parents to first start things off with some simple domino games that they can play with even preschoolers. Not only does this game boost their concentration levels, but it also elevates their spatial awareness and hand-eye coordination and gives them a sense of accomplishment at the end.
5. Treasure hunt
Take advantage of your time at home by turning anything into a treasure and hiding it. Now assign your little ones a task to find the hidden treasure; that is a sure-short way of keeping them entertained. There might be different variations of playing this game called Treasure Hunt, but all of them eventually lead to finding a hidden treasure that needs to be found.
The difficulty of the treasure hunt task that you are going to assign needs to be based on the age of the child. If your kids are old enough, mark them with some written clues, but in case they are much younger, taking a photo of the next place to find or wooden pegs based out on various coloured dots and pegs around the house will do the job.
If they successfully complete their hunt for this treasure, give them the task of setting up a hunt for you. Other variations of this amazing indoor game include giving them micro-hunts, such as giving them a matchbox and asking them to fill it up with as many fun-size items as they can in a given time. The benefits that this game will give them are so many, and some of them are patience, teamwork, more self-confidence, and much more.
6. Indoor Bowling
You aren’t the only one who loves bowling, as your kids also deserve to experience the fun of playing it. Now you can’t blame the bad weather for running your bowling plans, as you can create your own bowling alley in your home. This way, you will not only be entertaining yourself and your kids, but you will also be recycling some of the waste from your home, i.e., water bottles.
If you have enough money, get yourself an indoor bowling set, but doing so isn’t a compulsion as we’re covering up games to play some fun games on a rainy day. You can always use the above-mentioned water bottles or use some empty cardboard boxes as bumpers. Combine it with an indoor ball to get the game going right away.
Making this game of indoor bowling more captivating is quite easy; just fill the bottles with enough water to make them more stabilised. This game will make it easier for your kids to socialise themselves in a better way and learn the basics of soft skills as well. Plus, it’ll also keep them active and moving, especially when it has become so hard for kids to keep themselves away from electronic gadgets.
7. Bubbles
See the child inside you come to life again as you participate in the immersive game of bubbles. For many, soap bubbles can really be a pain, as they might disturb their carpet’s elegance. But you don’t need to worry at all, as we’ll be preparing these bubbles in one place only.
For it, you don’t need to bring some sort of fancy additional material, as water, dishwashing soap, and drinking straws will do the job for you. To make it more interesting, create an imaginary competition in which the one with the longest-lasting bubble wins. Teach your kids some life lessons at the early stages of life using this game while playing it.
By blowing bubbles, your child’s mouth muscles will start to grow as they continuously use their lips. With time, you will also see an improvement in their gross motor and eye tracking skills, which will also help in their vocabulary, concepts, and cognitive development. So take your time and blow out some big bubbles with your loved ones.
8. Pen And Pencil Games
All those pen and pencil games never miss out on beating TV any day. Get ready with some pencils and papers to have some fun. Not just for a rainy day, once your kids become habitual of playing them, these simple pencil and paper games can keep your kids occupied at the doctor’s office, restaurant, or even in the car.
The list of the best pen and pencil-based games is quite long, and the most played ones include options such as Dots and Boxes, Tic Tac Toe, Sim, Pictionary, Paper Telephone, and much more. In the beginning, one might feel bored playing them, but gradually, these games tend to become quite interesting when played well.
This game not only allows you to spend some quality time with your kids, but it also helps them develop some potential problem-solving and critical thinking skills. An element of creativity also gets sparked in them that otherwise isn’t much possible. Their social skills are also nurtured very well. So, don’t forget to play this enchanting game with your little ones next time Mother Nature spoils your outing plans.
9. Board Games
Enter the state of euphoria as you bring out those age-old board games right from your drawers. For some, it might be the oldest idea in their book, but to date, it’s the best way to spend some screen-free time with your family. In these sorts of games, usually more than two players can take part, which makes the family time more interesting as well.
Not only that, there are a number of benefits one can reap by playing these games with their kids. At first, these might help your kids build some potential cognitive and social skills, like making the right move when it is their turn. With time, you can host these board games in a tournament-style manner to give them a sense of accomplishment.
So place a table and gather around it to squeeze in a quick round of competitiveness with your loved ones. This will fight and kill the boredom out of everyone’s mind, for sure. Plus, it’ll also teach them a lesson on how to learn to fail, as failure is the very path that leads you to success.
10. Drawing Games
Encourage your kids to try out the old-fashioned game of drawing, but with a modern twist. Being based on a process that almost children of all ages engage in, with time this classic favourite is supposed to uplift a kid’s development graph. Who knows that by nurturing their creativity in today’s time, your young one might turn out to be a future artist adored by millions? As we know, planting the seeds of creativity today will yield a forest of talent tomorrow.
As you hand over the colourful crayons to your toddlers, they will first start off by just scribbling them on the sheets of paper. But eventually they’ll start to learn the cause and effect of their drawing efforts and will try their best to do it in a more controlled manner.
Besides just simple plain drawings, options for games based on this exciting activity are so many, such as noughts and crosses, hangman, battleships, or ‘Pictionary’. Self-expression is one of the best skills that your kids can learn through this captivating game. This way, you’ll be able to entertain your young ones while helping them learn something new.
Final Thoughts
Whether it’s your day off or you’ve got to stay at home because it’s raining outside, the charm of playing indoor games is indispensable. Try recalling the last time you sat with your whole family and laughed your heart out. The same moment can be brought to life just by playing the above-mentioned exhilarating indoor games.
Playing these games will not only keep your kids equipped, but they will also help you in the process of creating some long-lasting memories to cherish forever. So, without any delay, start playing these thrilling games as you watch the raindrops falling on the window, shining like tiny golden beads.
