Inside: Peek at the best list of over 150 rainy day activities for toddlers. This includes crafts, quiet games, educational activities, indoor places to visit, fine motor practice, free printables and more!
I watched out the window as the water drizzled down my window making a maze of connected water-streams. “Well, there goes our plans to play outside today,” I thought.
I sipped my coffee and squinted as I tried to think of some fun things to keep my toddler and preschooler busy for the morning. The coffee couldn’t kick in fast enough.
If only I had, had this list of the best rainy day activities for toddlers.
Instead, I ran around the house looking through toy bins and craft supplies for inspiration.
Rainy Day Activities for Toddlers
Here, I have collected my favorite activities for toddlers and preschoolers, including crafts, quiet games, educational activities, indoor places to visit, fine motor practice, a list of over 100 kids activities, free printables and more.
Crafts for Kids
My kids cannot get enough arts and crafts projects. To be honest, I couldn’t either as a kid. I would watch Mr. Dress up as a kid and dream about creating all the fun crafts he made. Just hearing the sound of his scissors cutting the construction paper made me smile. Yes. Yes, I did just admit that. 🙂
Silly Scissor Haircuts
For this activity all you’ll need it a few old toilet paper rolls, scissors, and markers. You pre-cut half way down on the rolls to make “hair.”
I use the free printable scissor safety poster to talk to my kids about what we cut, and what we don’t cut. It has worked really well. You can get it here.
Then, I let my kids give the rolls haircuts. It’s so much fun! Click the link to see the complete details of this fun scissor safety craft.
Sesame Street Puppets
Who can resist the Sesame Street Puppets? They are so adorable.
We printed the free puppet templates to make Elmo, Grove, Cookie Monster and Grover. Click the link to see the full instructions for making your Sesame Street characters.
Quiet Games for Toddlers
It’s fun to have a list of games and activities toddlers can do quietly. These quiet games are great for playing indoors, running errands, indoor recess, waiting for appointments or trips to the restaurant.
Here are the top 10 quiet indoor activities for toddlers:
- I Spy
- Velcro Popsicle Sticks
- Puzzles
- Sorting Buttons
- Online Learning Website Games
- Sorting Pom-Poms
- Stringing Beads
- Sticky Notes & Crayons
- Portable LEGO Kit
- Flashcards
You can click here to snag your printable list of all 20 activities or click the link to read more about the 20 toddler games.
Educational Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
I used to be a first-grade teacher so there is a part of my brain that comes up with fun and educational activities that I just can’t turn off. This is a list of some of our favorites which would be perfect for rainy day activities for toddlers.
Exploring Bubble Foam Activities
With just a simple bubble bath and water base, you can do five fun preschool activity ideas for exploring bubble foam. The kids activities include art, play, sensory, literacy, and science.
To make the bubble foam base that can be used for each of the following activities, you’ll want to add 3 tablespoons of bubble bath to 1/4 cup of water, and liquid watercolor (or food coloring).
Next, use a mixer on the highest setting for 1-2 minutes. Then, stir the mixture after a minute to get the water from the bottom mixed in. Keep mixing until it becomes a dense foam.
Then, you are ready to get started on these fun educational activities:
- Bubble Foam Letter Hunt (literacy)
- Galaxy Glitter Sensory Play (sensory)
- Bubble Foam Prints (art)
- DIY Bubble Foam Machine (play)
- Bubble Foam Eruptions (science)
Slime Counting Games
Make math fun again with a glob of slime and a few printable game boards, see how these brilliant number games for kids will have them begging you to play (and learn).
With three levels of difficulty, your preschooler can practice his or her number skills with slime. For these slime number games, you’ll need the printable Slime Counting Number Game Boards, Slime , 2 Dice , and a dry erase marker.
Pre-Writing Skills Activity
This is a fun sensory and pre-writing skills activity. Essentially, you teach kids how to write by first creating the lines needed to make the letters.
They can practice making these lines using the free pre-writing practice printable. Then, they use a Q-tip to trace the lines from the printable template onto the bag.
Indoor Places to Visit With Toddlers on a Rainy Day
It’s nice to get out and go somewhere if you are feeling a little stir crazy. So, I’ve put together a list of my favorite indoor activities for preschoolers.
- Coffee & Play Place
- Trampoline Park
- Open Swim
- Mall Play Area
- Open Gym
- Museums
- Library
- Aquarium
- Classes
- Play Date
Fine Motor Practice for Toddlers
Toddlers fine motor skills revolve around the use of the hands. Mastering fine motor skills allow your child to perform smaller physical tasks independently like washing their hands, zipping their coat, or tying their shoes. Fine motor skills also involve the ability to master hand-eye coordination.
- Building Blocks
- Play Dough
- Make Necklaces
- Filling and Dumping
- Use Utensils
- Sing Songs
- Sticky Items
- Sensory Activities
150+ Activities for Kids
Drumroll, please. Now for the ultimate lists of over 150+ activities for kids.
Summer Bucket List of Activities for Toddlers
The first is a bucket list of 50 summer activities for toddlers. And I bet you guessed it, there is a free printable poster so you can keep track of the bucket list items you’ve tried. So fun, right?!
100+ Kids Activities
Spending time with your kids can be surprisingly fun with these easy kids activities. Not all of these activities are indoor, some are outdoor too. But you can pick a choose which ones would be good to do inside. Topping the list are activities like:
- Build a fort
- Royal Outing – dress in your nice clothes and go somewhere
- Make a banana split
- Plant seeds
- Make personal pizzas
- Make an indoor obstacle course
- Shaving cream writing (video tutorial) (ABC printable template)
- Sensory bin (video tutorial)
Printables!
So, if you’re still with me, you can probably tell I love creating fun printables to pair with the kids activities. Some of the printables included in this post were:
- Sesame Street Puppets
- 20 Quiet Games for Toddlers Poster
- Slime Counting Board Games
- Pre-Writing Practice Lines
- Summer Bucket List
- Scissor Safety Poster
All of these printables and more are included in what I call the “freebies vault.” It’s a webpage where I collect all of the free stuff I create.
You can have access to it by enrolling in my email broadcast list where I send you updates on new printables and kids activities. Click here to get your printables today.
PS – If you enjoyed this article, you might also like 5 Preschool Activities for Exploring Bubble Foam That Will Make You Go “Wow”.