Rainy Day Indoor Games For Kids: 22 With Stuff You Already Have

It's raining, school's off, and the tablet has been on for an hour longer than anyone intended. What's needed is three or four things that each last twenty minutes.

None of these need buying anything, and they're grouped by how much noise you can tolerate.

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Active, for burning off energy indoors

• The floor is lava, with cushions.
• Indoor obstacle course: under the table, round the chair, over the cushion, timed.
• Balloon keepy-uppy, or balloon volleyball over the sofa.
• Sock basketball into a washing basket, scoring by distance.
• Hide and seek, whole house, lights off if they're brave.
• Musical statues and musical bumps to whatever's on.

Quieter but still a game

• Sleeping lions, the great parental invention.
• Twenty questions and Who Am I with sticky notes.
• The memory tray with kitchen objects.
• Card games: Snap, Go Fish, Cheat, Rummy.
• Hangman, boxes, consequences and battleships on paper.
• Guess the sound - pots, taps, zips, recorded on a phone with eyes shut.

Make something, which counts

• A cardboard box den, which will occupy them longer than any toy.
• Paper aeroplane distance contest down the hall.
• Junk modelling from the recycling, judged at teatime.
• A home cinema: cushions, blanket, torch, tickets they make and sell to you.
• Baking, which is mess plus a game plus something to eat.
• A treasure hunt round the house that they write for you, then you write for them.

For one child on their own

• Patience and solitaire with real cards.
• A jigsaw on a tray so it can be moved.
• A drawing challenge: draw the room, draw the dog, draw yourself in thirty years.
• Writing and illustrating a comic.
• Building the tallest tower from anything in the house, photographed for the record.

Shop cards

How to write it so it lands

• Alternate loud and quiet.
• A cardboard box beats most toys.
• Plan four twenty-minute things, not one big one.

Where to shop next

• Family reunion games
• Christening and naming day games
• Family barbecue games
• Wedding reception table games
• Games for a wake or celebration of life
• Games for grandparents and grandchildren
• Games for a big age gap family
• Camping and caravan holiday games
• Long car journey games abroad
• Sleepover games for 8+ children
• Sunday lunch table games
• Board games hub
• Kids' party games by age
• Christmas games for the whole family
• Free feel good tools
• Shop cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Birthday cards for kids
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What can kids do indoors on a rainy day?

The floor is lava, an indoor obstacle course, balloon volleyball and sock basketball for energy, then a card game, hangman or a cardboard den for the quieter part of the afternoon.

What indoor games need no equipment?

Hide and seek, sleeping lions, twenty questions, musical statues, guess the sound and the floor is lava with cushions. Everything you need is already in the house.

How do you entertain one child on a wet day?

Give them a project rather than a game: a comic to write, a jigsaw on a tray, a drawing challenge, or the tallest tower they can build from things in the house, photographed at the end.

How long does a rainy day activity need to last?

Twenty minutes each. Plan four and you've covered an afternoon - one active, one quiet, one making something and one that involves food.

Do you sell games or party supplies?

No - we make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. Every game here runs with what's already in the house, and the only products on this page are our own cards.