The sky has turned grey, the kids are already bored, and it’s not even 9am. We’ve all been there. Rainy days with little ones at home can feel like a long stretch but they don’t have to.
This list is full of things that actually work: activities that keep toddlers and primary-aged kids genuinely busy, not just occupied for five minutes before they’re back asking what’s for lunch. Most of them need nothing more than what you already have at home.
Jump to a section: Movies & Stories | Games & Puzzles | Creative & Craft | Get Moving | Learning & Discovery | Kitchen Fun
Movies, Books & Stories
Have a family movie morning (or marathon)
Pick a feel-good film, make a big bowl of popcorn and commit to it properly — blankets, pillows on the floor, the works. If you want to stretch it out, pick a series and settle in for a marathon. Toy Story, Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon and the Harry Potter films are all great for primary-aged kids. For little ones, anything from the Pixar catalogue works a treat. Here’s our list of our favourite family movies.
Curl up with a good book
A rainy day is genuinely one of the best times to get kids into reading. Do a book swap with a neighbour, download an ebook from your local library app (it’s free with your library card), or dig out a book series they haven’t started yet. Kids who get hooked on a series — think Treehouse, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, or Dog Man — will happily read for hours. Here’s a list of kids book series.
Listen to a kids podcast
Podcasts are brilliant for kids who find it hard to sit still — they can listen while drawing, building LEGO or just lying on the floor. There are some genuinely great ones made here in Australia. Check out our picks for the best podcasts for kids.
Make a family movie
Give the kids your phone or iPad and let them make their own film. They’ll spend ages on the plot, the “acting” and the editing. iMovie on Apple devices is easy enough for primary schoolers to figure out. The finished product — however chaotic — will be something they want to watch over and over.
Games & Puzzles
Pull out the board games
A proper board game session is one of the best things you can do on a rainy day. For toddlers and preschoolers, Snakes and Ladders, Hungry Hungry Hippos and simple memory games are perfect. Primary-aged kids can handle Uno, Jenga, Cluedo and Monopoly. If you’re not sure what to get next, check out our guide to the best board games for kids and families.
Play cards
A standard deck of cards goes a long way. Snap and Go Fish are easy for little ones; older kids can learn Rummy, Crazy Eights or even basic Poker. If you don’t have a deck, now’s the time to get one — it’s one of the most useful things to have in the house.
Do a jigsaw puzzle
Simple puzzles (under 50 pieces) work well for kids under five. Primary schoolers can handle 120, 250 or 500 piece sets. If you’ve done all your own puzzles, do a swap with friends or neighbours — most families have a stack gathering dust.
Play video games together
If you have a Nintendo Switch, PlayStation or Xbox, a rainy day is a perfectly valid time to use it. Co-op games where kids and parents play together are especially good — Mario Kart, Overcooked and LEGO games are all fun with mixed ages.
Creative & Craft
Get the craft kit out
Keep a basic craft kit stocked up for exactly these days — coloured paper, textas, crayons, stickers, glue and a few bits and pieces. You don’t need anything fancy. Paper towel rolls, old magazines, aluminium foil and cardboard boxes can all become something with a bit of imagination. Little kids especially will stay busy for a surprisingly long time.
Give them a big cardboard box
If you have any large boxes from deliveries, don’t put them in the recycling. A big box is gold for toddlers and preschoolers — they can colour it, climb in it, turn it into a car, a boat or a cubby house. Fridge boxes are the holy grail.
Learn origami
All you need is paper. Search YouTube for beginner origami tutorials — cranes, frogs and simple boxes are good starting points for primary schoolers. It’s surprisingly absorbing once they get into it, and it builds fine motor skills without feeling like homework.
Build with LEGO
LEGO is the classic rainy day activity for good reason. If they’ve run out of ideas with their existing sets, search “LEGO challenges” on Google or YouTube — there are hundreds of prompts and project ideas that will keep older kids busy for hours.
Have a fashion show
Let kids raid your wardrobe, dig out the dress-up box and put together outfits for a fashion show. Add some music, a makeshift runway (the hallway works perfectly) and a judging panel. Toddlers and preschoolers absolutely love this — and so do primary schoolers who think they’re too old for it, until they start.
Make a family time capsule
A rainy afternoon is the perfect time to put one together. Drawings, photos, notes about their favourite things right now, a newspaper or printed-out news headline — seal it all in a box or tin and put it somewhere it won’t be touched for five or ten years. We’ve got a guide to making a family time capsule if you need a starting point.
Make playdough from scratch
Homemade playdough is easy, cheap and keeps toddlers and preschoolers genuinely busy. You likely already have everything you need — flour, salt, water, oil and food colouring. Make a few different colours and let them go. Put down an old sheet or newspaper first if you’re worried about the mess.
Get Moving
Get on GoNoodle
If the kids need to burn off energy and you can’t face the park in the rain, GoNoodle is your friend. It’s free, it has loads of movement and mindfulness videos made for kids, and they’ve probably already used it at school. Available on iOS — search GoNoodle on the App Store.
Build an indoor obstacle course
Set them loose to build their own course using whatever they can find — cushions, chairs, blankets, pool noodles, cardboard boxes. Time each other. Add challenges. It burns energy, requires no screens and keeps them busy for longer than you’d expect.
Have a dance party
Clear the living room floor, hand over control of the speaker and let them make a playlist. Take requests. Try different genres — kid pop, disco, whatever they’re into. If they want to film it for a TikTok or family video, even better. Dancing with your kids is one of those things that sounds daggy and is actually really fun.
Do family yoga
Search YouTube for kids yoga — Cosmic Kids Yoga is excellent for toddlers and preschoolers, with story-based sessions around 20–25 minutes long. It’s calm, it’s engaging and it genuinely settles restless little ones down. Good for that tricky patch just before lunch or before bed.
Set up a Teddy Bears Picnic
For toddlers and preschoolers especially, this one is magic. Get out all the stuffed animals, lay a picnic rug on the floor and serve “tea” and biscuits. Let them be in charge of who sits where and what everyone is having. It sparks imaginative play that can last well beyond the picnic itself.
Learning & Discovery
Do science experiments at home
You don’t need a chemistry set. Baking soda and vinegar volcanoes, homemade slime, walking water experiments and static electricity tricks can all be done with things from your kitchen and bathroom. Cool Science Experiments Headquarters on YouTube has great video tutorials that kids can follow themselves.
Explore space from the couch
The NASA website has live views of Earth from space, behind-the-scenes space station content and STEMonstrations — short demos done by astronauts in microgravity. Primary-aged kids who are into science will be genuinely amazed. It’s educational without feeling like it.
Play “Clean the House”
When all else fails and the boredom complaints are reaching peak volume, announce it’s time to play the Clean the House game. Turn tidying into a timed challenge — who can collect the most toys in two minutes? Who can fold their clothes the fastest? It works, and the house ends up cleaner. Win-win.
Kitchen Fun
Bake and decorate cupcakes or cookies
Baking with kids is messy and worth every bit of it. Let them measure, mix and decorate — the less you intervene, the more fun they have. Cupcakes are good because decorating them takes longer than eating them. Don’t stress about the carbs. It’s a rainy day.
Make rainbow pancakes
Mix up a big batch of pancake batter, split it into bowls and add a different food colouring to each. Cook them up and stack — the result is a rainbow stack that kids go absolutely wild for. Good for a slow rainy morning where you want an activity that doubles as breakfast.
More ideas for days indoors
If you’d rather get out of the house on a rainy day, check out our guide to rainy day activities in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter — including indoor play centres, museums, cinemas and more. We also have a list of 30+ indoor places to take kids across the region.
For more ways to keep kids entertained at home, see our 150+ kids activities for family fun at home and our picks for the best kids movies to watch with your family