Free family fun: rainy day indoor activities for kids

When it's wet and miserable outside, inevitably the kids are grizzling about the house complaining that they are bored and have nothing to do. Don't worry – help is at hand. Here are some boredom-busting rainy day indoor activities for kids from Netmums.

Room tidying competition

We love this one! This involves you setting a challenge for each child to see who can tidy their room in the fastest time. You can count loudly or simply set a timer until they have finished their tidying and the winner can choose what activity you do next. Genius.

Pizza Party

Lay out pizza bases (pitta bread makes an easy pizza base too) plus lots of ingredients and ask your kids and their friends to decorate them. Once they've finished, pop them in the oven and lay a rug or picnic blanket down with some paper plates and cups. Children will love devouring their home-made creations and eating with their fingers.

Movie afternoon

Cosy up together and enjoy a film (or two!). Why not make a huge bowl of popcorn, then sit back and relax.

Board games

Dig out the old board games and have some good old traditional fun. Or find a deck of cards and teach the kids some family card games.

Cook up a storm

Put your pinnies on and get baking. Make fairy cakes or gingerbread men, traybakes or muffins. The best thing is, you get to eat all the goodies later on.

Reading afternoon

Look in the bookshelves or head to the local library or charity shop and grab a heap of books. Then create a cosy corner with beanbags and cushions and curl up for a good read.

Theatre afternoon

Get the kids to put on a show. They can make up their own story, raid the dressing-up box for costumes, make tickets for the audience and then let the show begin!

Rainy day walks

Who says you need sunshine to enjoy a good walk? Get the wellies and brollies out and have a fun splashy walk in the rain. Jump in the biggest puddles you can find!

Decorate a room

Give the kids' bedrooms a make-over. A new lick of paint or just a massive tidy and new cushions will make their rooms look exciting and new.

Make a magazine

Dig out old magazines and help your child cut out their favourite pictures. They can stick them on a large sheet of card to make a collage or make a scrapbook. Another idea is to use different eye/face/hair/body cut-outs and mix them up to make crazy faces.

Still not feeling inspired? There are 30 more ideas over on the NetMums website.