Easy Rainy Day Activities for Toddlers
It is pouring here today, and if you have toddlers at home you know exactly how the morning goes. The park is out, the energy is not, and someone has begged to go outside ten times already. On days like this, the TV starts looking really good. But we have a handful of rainy day activities for toddlers that we keep in our back pocket and they buy us a surprisingly long stretch of happy, busy kids.
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A couple of these are free and use things you already have in the house. The rest are toys and games our kids play with constantly, and a few of them happen to be on sale right now, so we linked everything below.
1. Toilet Paper Roll Pom Pom Ramp
This is the free one, and it might be the favorite. Save up a few empty toilet paper and paper towel tubes, grab the painter’s tape, and tape the tubes to a wall, the side of the fridge, or a cabinet door in a zig-zag track. Angle each tube slightly downhill so it dumps into the one below it. Then hand over a bowl of pom poms and let them drop one in at the top and chase it out the bottom.
Our 3 year olds will do this for ages. They test which pom poms are fastest, race two at a time, and when the track gets boring we let them move a tube or two and build a new one. Painter’s tape peels off clean, so the wall survives.
What you’ll need:
- Empty toilet paper and paper towel tubes
- Painter’s tape
- A bag of pom poms (the bigger ones are easiest for little hands)
- Optional: scissors to cut a few tubes in half lengthwise for open slides
2. Yoto Mini Audio Player
If you have not tried a Yoto yet, it is a little screen-free audio player. Kids pop a card in and it plays a story, songs, or a podcast, and they can run it completely on their own. On rainy days we set ours up in a blanket fort or next to the coloring supplies at the table, and it turns a restless hour into a calm one. Our kids are obsessed with it.
The Yoto Mini is on sale right now and the deal stacks, so if it has been on your list this is a good week to grab it. Shop the Yoto Mini here.
3. Bubble Foam Bins
Bubble foam is two ingredients, a hand mixer, and about three minutes of work for a bin of fluffy foam the kids will scoop, pour, and “cook” with for ages. Set the bin in the bathtub or on a towel, add some cups and spoons, and let them go. It is one of those activities that feels like a big deal to them and costs almost nothing. When they are done, everything rinses clean with water.
We shared the full recipe and a few color ideas in our 4th of July bubble foam post. Skip the red and blue and use whatever food coloring you have, or leave it white and call it a snow day inside.
4. Play Kitchen Sink with Running Water
This one surprised us. It is a toy sink with a little pump, so the water actually runs from the faucet, and it comes with play dishes and a sponge. Fill it up, set it on a towel on the kitchen floor (or in a dry bathtub if you want zero mess), and they will “wash dishes” for a shockingly long time. Water play inside on a rainy day feels like a treat to them, and it is the kind of busy that does not need you hovering.
We have the Target version: Gigglescape Kitchen Sink Play Set at Target. Here is the Amazon version if that is easier.
5. Picasso Tiles
Magnetic tiles are the toy that never gets old at our house. They build houses for their little animals, tall towers to knock down, garages for the cars, and on rainy days we set them up by the window so the colors glow on the floor. They are also one of the few toys the 3 year olds and the big kids will happily play with together.
The Picasso Tiles set is on sale too. Shop Picasso Tiles here.
6. Kinetic Sand
Kinetic sand is the sandbox you can have inside. It sticks to itself instead of to everything else, so it molds, slices, and crumbles in the most satisfying way and it stays put on a tray. Dump a bag onto a cookie sheet or into a shallow bin, add a few cookie cutters, a spoon, and some little cars or animals, and you have a sensory activity that keeps a 3 year old busy while you actually drink your coffee.
We keep the plain beach sand because it works for every age and every idea. Grab it at Target or on Amazon.
7. Sensory Rice Bin
A rice bin is the cheapest sensory activity there is, and it is still one of the ones our kids ask for most. Pour a bag of rice into a shallow bin, toss in some scoops, cups, a funnel, and a few little toys to bury and dig back up, and set it on a towel or a big sheet to catch the spills. The pouring and scooping is calming in a way that is hard to explain until you watch a wound-up toddler settle into it.
If you want to make it a little more fun, dye the rice. We walk through exactly how we do it (it takes about five minutes) in our St. Patrick’s Day sensory rice bin post, and the same method works for any color. With little ones, rice will escape the bin but it sweeps or vacuums right up and is worth it for the fun it creates!
8. Easy Board Games and Card Games
Once they hit three, simple games become some of the easiest rainy day activities for toddlers, and a rainy afternoon is the perfect time to pull them out. These are the ones that work for us right now.
Pretty Pretty Princess
The classic. Spin, collect your jewelry, and whoever gets the crown wins. Our girls would play this every day if we let them. Find it at Target or Amazon.
Candy Land
No reading, no counting, just colors. It is the first real board game most toddlers can play start to finish, and that feels like a big deal to them. Grab Candy Land on Amazon.
Matching Games
Memory games are great for this age because you can play with as few cards as you want. Start with six pairs face up and work up from there. The Chuckle & Roar baby animals set is a sweet one. Find it on Amazon.
Go Fish
Go Fish is our first real card game. Little hands cannot fan out cards very well, so let them lay theirs face up on the table or stand them in a muffin tin. Nobody minds. Find Go Fish on Amazon.
Eye Found It! Disney Card Game
A look-and-find card game with Disney characters. Simple enough for a 3 year old, and it keeps the older kids interested too. Find Eye Found It! on Amazon.
Shortcut: the Chuckle & Roar Kids Card Game Set at Target has Go Fish, Matching, and two more classic card games in one box for about the price of a single game.
If You End Up Going Outside Anyway
One caveat: sometimes the best rainy day activity is just going out in it. Puddle jumping fixes a lot of moods. Our sister Emma swears by these Tuffo Muddy Buddy rain suits and pulls them out for every rainy day. They are a one-piece waterproof coverall that zips right over regular clothes, so the kids come back in soaked on the outside and totally dry underneath. Toss the suit in the tub to rinse and it is ready for the next storm.
More Tips for Rainy Day Activities for Toddlers
- Set up one activity before they even ask. A ready-to-go pom pom ramp at breakfast changes the whole morning.
- Rotate. Twenty to thirty minutes per activity is about right at this age, then switch before the meltdown.
- Keep a rainy day box. A few toys that only come out when it rains feel brand new every time.
- Move water play to the bathtub. Same fun, zero mopping.
- Save the Yoto for the afternoon slump. Quiet listening right when everyone is tired works wonders.
Rainy days are long with little ones, but some of our favorite memories are from being stuck inside together. We hope these rainy day activities for toddlers save your next stormy morning. What do your toddlers love to do on a rainy day? Tell us in the comments, we are always looking for new ideas!
Looking for another indoor activity? Try our Homemade Snow sensory activity for toddlers. It is two ingredients and a huge hit.
xo- The Threads Between
