How to Keep a Toddler Entertained Indoors During Rainy Days?

[kirensa89]

I'm looking for creative and fun ideas to keep my toddler entertained on rainy days when we have to stay indoors. We've tried coloring books and building blocks, but I'm hoping for some new suggestions that might spark their interest and help keep them engaged for a while. Any tips on indoor games, activities, or crafts that your little ones love would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance for your help!

What age toddler are we talking? I gave a 4 year old and an 18 month old and haven't really found anything that really engages them for any length of time. Recently we've been doing a lot of playdoh / sticker books / colouring / baking. Over the Easter holidays I ran out of activities a bit and gave my eldest and old Amazon box and some PVA glue and she decorated it by sticking craft bits all over it. You can pick up craft kits really cheap. Paint sticks are also good as an alternative to colouring. But I feel you the rainy days indoors do feel long! Other answer which I'm sure someone will be along with soon would be to dress them up in waterproofs and go out anyway but I understand that isn't always possible!

A long afternoon bath! Cup, jugs, sieve etc or turn out the lights and give them glow sticks.

Make a tent with sheets and dining chairs.

Go collect cones and twigs and make wind chimes... I have just packed away in our dc's keepy box the ones ds made years ago.

How do you give them a long afternoon bath in a tent? 🤔

Or make a tent in a tent using chairs and a sheet? That particular one is madness.

My dgc loves drawing on the glass doors and windows with those glass pens you can get, also pasta/potatoes pictures.

I think some posters missed the camping bit but it’s hilarious 😂

MN suggestions for toddlers indoors are always a bit mad though.

In a tent!?

I would go off site and find a soft play place.

After exhausting the opportunities for being out and about in wellies etc. And declaring a truce on iPad cartoon watching restrictions .

If it’s summer and warm, just stay out in it in swim suit and get wet on beach.

Usual small toys.

Depends on the age, but at toddler stage it is difficult to find anything that works for very long. Here are some of the things we did - some were more successful than others!

play doh,
painting,
finger painting,
kinetic sand,
cutting and sticking,
sticker books,
colouring in,
water painting,
lego,
train set,
magnetic tiles,
books,
blocks,
cars,
"clean" the shower/windows/kitchen cupboards,
big tray with lentils/water, tubs, funnel, scoops etc,
"assault course", with things to climb over, jump off etc.

Or, waterproofs and wellies and go puddle splashing. Have a trip on public transport and watch the rain out the window. Or head to a local museum, shopping centre, supermarket, leisure centre, library etc...

Build an assault course inside the tent 🤣🤣 love it

Ah - this is in the camping section? Well...I think you just need to go out to be honest. Some of these might work in a tent, but not as well as just going out would....

The only things we've found work for any length of time are stickers, magic colouring (the water or mess free ones, less frustrating than pencil crayons etc and easier to pack) and having a little tub of figures like the Happyland kind of things. The people go on all sorts of adventures around the tent!

We've done it before where we've just headed to the nearest supermarket for a mooch, picked up a snacky treat and a kid magazine with a tat toy on the front and just crossed our fingers the weather eases off enough to go and find some puddles to splash in by the time we get back.

Sticker books, aquadoodle pads and orchard games are all good.

Ultimately, I'd get a good rainsuit and go out anyway. Nothing like a splash in some puddles. Lots of campsites have a family bathroom for warming up with a bath after.