Rainy Day Games and Indoor Activities for Little Ones

One of the benefits of homeschooling is that by having such a small class, you’re able to get more schoolwork done in a shorter amount of time. This leaves you with more time for other things, including play time—which has been shown to be vital to healthy development for young children.

Play time can mean freeform time to play with toys or just run around, or—especially indoors—more structured activities.

Need some direction for structured indoor fun? Try these:

Sock Volleyball

Divide the playing area with a sheet, or even just a strand of yarn, and take turns batting a clean pair of balled-up socks over the “net.” You may find that nobody even care to keep score—just have fun!

Building Forts

The fun outweighs the mess. Allow the kids an afternoon of taking the couches apart for the sake of fort building. Or use chairs covered with sheets and blankets, held together with clothespins. It can even be as simple as a sheet draped over a table.

Paper Basketball

Set up a makeshift indoor basketball court with empty laundry baskets. Set it up on a table, couch, or even just on the other side of the room. Then make crumpled balls of paper and see who can toss the most into the basket.

UNO

Introduce your preschool and kindergarten kids to card games with a simple game like UNO. You’ll be simultaneously working on such early skills as recognizing colors and numbers, following directions, and hand-eye coordination.

Paper Airplane Races

Look up different ways to fold paper airplanes. Decorate your planes with crayons or markers. Race the airplanes to see whose is faster, or whose goes farthest. Experiment to see which type of airplane flies the best. Look up the world record.

Hide-and-Seek

What kid can resist a game of hide and seek? It’s a good chance for them to practice counting, too.

Sit-n-Scoot Tag

Try a slower, indoor version of tag by adding a rule, like everyone has crawl, or everyone has to stay sitting on the floor while they play, or everyone has to move in slow motion.

Action Songs

Very young children love singing songs with motions to them. Try some classics like “Head and Shoulders” or “The Hokey Pokey,” or search for online videos for new, fun songs. For kids a little older, break out their favorite CDs, grab a spoon for a mike, set up a “stage” and do some karaoke style.

Red Light, Green Light

It’s simple but kids love it: Stand on the opposite side of the room from your kids. When you say “Green light!” they can run toward you, but every time you say “Red Light,” they have to freeze in place. If anybody moves after “Red Light,” they have to return to the starting line.

Would You Rather…?

Try playing word games with your kids, like “Would You Rather,” where you take turns offering the other person a choice, like “Would you rather fly in an airplane or ride in a submarine?” or “Would you rather have no elbows or no knees?” Check out this list of 130 great questions.

Enjoy your rainy days!

Throw a Puppet Show

Playing with puppets isn't just fun, there is an abundance of educational benefits. Before the show starts, you'll need to plan out the performance. Puppets help children use their imaginations which develop their creative skills. Most importantly, puppets facilitate communication and social skills. Communication may be easier through a puppet, and kids get the chance to explore what its like to be in someone else's shoes.

Here is a great list of puppets with some DIY information near the end.