Rainy Day Craft Kits: 8 Indoor Activities For Wet Half-Terms

A British half-term is roughly four days of rain and one good morning. The craft that saves it is the one with a beginning, a middle and an object at the end - not an open box of materials and a hopeful look.

Eight below, with how long each actually holds a child and how much of your kitchen it takes over.

Craft kits that make something usable

• Paint your own mug. Mess stays on one tray, it takes about an hour, and at the end there's a mug the family drinks out of for years. Best rainy-day-to-keepsake ratio there is.
• Salt dough decorations - flour, salt, water, a low oven. Free, and handprints made now get hung on the tree in December.
• Shrink plastic keyrings: draw, cut, bake for three minutes, watch it curl. The baking is the best bit.
• Friendship bracelets with embroidery thread, which suit the seven-plus age group and travel well afterwards.
• A decorated storage tin or pen pot, using up the wrapping paper drawer.
• Paper mache bowl over a balloon. Two-day project, which is the point during half-term.
• Homemade cards for birthdays coming up, using leftover craft scraps. Saves money later too.
• Pressed-flower bookmarks, laminated or taped, from whatever survives in the garden.

Mess, age and how long it lasts

• Mug painting: low mess on a tray, ages 4+, about an hour, plus drying time.
• Salt dough: medium mess, ages 3+, forty minutes making and an afternoon baking.
• Shrink plastic: low mess, ages 5+, thirty minutes and three thrilling minutes at the oven door.
• Friendship bracelets: no mess, ages 7+, an hour or an entire week depending on the child.
• Paper mache: high mess, ages 4+, two days including drying. Cover the table properly.
• Card making: low mess, all ages, twenty minutes per card.

Making a wet day work

• Set up before they know it's happening. Half the battle is the table being ready when the rain starts.
• One craft per morning, not three. A finished thing beats three abandoned ones.
• Put a cheap wipe-clean tablecloth on before anything comes out, and everyone wears a jumper you don't care about.
• Give the finished item a job - a mug for grandad, a card for a friend's birthday, a bookmark for school.
• Photograph everything. Then, weeks later, you're allowed to quietly recycle some of it.
• Finish with a walk in wellies, however wet. Crafting and fresh air together see off an entire day.

Shop kids' cards

How to write it so it lands

• Keep one unopened craft kit in a cupboard for the worst day of the holidays.
• Date and initial everything before it dries. In ten years you won't remember who made which.
• Let them give the finished thing away. Making for someone else holds attention longer than making for yourself.

Where to shop next

• DIY teacher gifts kids can make
• Homemade Father's Day gifts
• Crafty hen do ideas at home
• DIY gifts for grandparents
• Pottery painting at home
• Cheap date night ideas
• Date night at home ideas
• Date nights that keep the spark going
• Date night ideas for parents
• Date night ideas in the UK
• Rainy day activities for kids
• Teacher thank you gifts
• Hen party at home
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Birthday cards for kids
• Funny Father's Day cards
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What are good rainy day crafts for kids?

Ones with a clear finish: paint-your-own mug kits, salt dough decorations, shrink-plastic keyrings, friendship bracelets, paper mache bowls and homemade cards. Each ends with an object, which is what keeps children going.

What craft keeps children busy the longest?

Paper mache over a balloon, because it runs across two days, and mug painting, which takes about an hour of real concentration because the result is permanent and they know it.

How do you do crafts without wrecking the kitchen?

Work on a tray so the mess has an edge, put down a wipe-clean cloth first, choose kits with contained paints rather than loose pots, and do the messy craft before lunch so there's time to clear up.

What crafts can a 4 year old do?

Mug painting on a tray, salt dough shapes with cutters, sticker collages and simple card making. Anything with small pieces, sharp scissors or hot glue needs an older child or a very hands-on adult.

Do you sell craft kits or mugs?

No. We design and print greetings cards, enamel pin badges, prints and party decorations, all posted from the UK. Any craft kit or mug kit mentioned here is an outside recommendation, not something we stock.