Outdoor Rainy Day Activity Ideas for Kids

When you have a rainy day – don’t spend it indoors! Get outdoors and have some fun in the rain with these outdoor rainy day activity ideas! Most ideas for rainy days focus on things you can do indoors but here’s our favourite things to do OUTDOORS on a rainy day! Playing outside in the rain can be lots of fun and as long as you have the right gear – kids will love splashing and sploshing on a rainy day. Even without wet weather gear, kids love the sensory element of water and getting outside to enjoy the rain! Here’s our favourite rainy day activities for kids…… and you might also like our bumper list of outdoor winter activities for kids.

Best Rainy Day Outdoor Activities for kids

“When life throws you a rainy day….play in puddles” (Pooh Bear)

Winnie the Pooh (A.A Milne)

Rainy Day Scavenger Hunt 

An outdoor activity idea for the rain is to get outside and do a rainy day scavenger hunt! Download your FREE rainy day outdoor scavenger hunt for kids here!  

Splash in Puddles

The BEST rainy day outdoor activity for toddlers, preschoolers and any aged kids is obviously to splash in puddles! 

Make Nature Boats 

A fun thing for kids to do when it rains is to find a deep puddle and make a nature boat to sail across it. Find out how to make a nature boat here, or you can make a boat out of old packaging – raid the recycling bin and see what you can find!

Create a Dam

An awesome rainy day activity for kids is to pretend to be a beaver and make a dam to stem the flow of the water! Just remember to take your dam down when you leave and keep nature as you found it. 

Outdoor rainy day activity ideas

Paint with Mud

What do you get lots of when it rains? Mud of course! Mud is lots of fun to paint with for kids – it’s sticky and gloopy and good for mixing! For more mud play fun check out our bumper list of mud kitchen play ideas.

Make mud pies

Mix up your stickiest mud concoction and make a mud pies – this is the very stuff of childhood! We have tons of mud kitchen potion recipes here too!

Build a shelter 

A good activity for older kids to do in the rain – challenge them to build a shelter to hide from the rain! This outdoor activity works best in a woodland or forest – you can make it more or less challenging by giving the kids nothing to build a shelter with apart from what they can find in the forest! Or, to make it easier you can allow them to use a tarp or bungee cords – we love making dens with these bungee cords.

Outdoor rainy day activities for toddlers

Puddle science

Measuring puddles on a sunny, rainy day is fascinating for kids. Pick a puddle and measure the diameter of it. Record it and add string around the puddle to measure it. Later in the day, return to your puddle to see if it’s shrunk away from your string, record the size of your new puddle.

Rainy Day Crafts for Kids

Rain Drums 

If you have very heavy rain and want to play outside you could make a rain band! Grab some yoghurt pots or glass jars and put wax paper over the top with an elastic band. See what noises the rain makes bouncing off the top of your drums.

Have a duck race 

This might seem a little mad but if you have a lot of rain or deep puddles, try having a duck race! Number your ducks or choose different colours and float them down a river to see who wins! 

Plastic Coloured Ducks – Available Here

Build Puddle Bridges 

Challenge your kids to build a bridge across a puddle to transport a toy! Try using sticks, paper or even leaves to build your bridge! 

Make a Rain gauge 

An easy science experiment to do on a rainy day is to make a rainy gauge; cut the top off a plastic bottle and add measurements along the side with a permanent marker. 

More outdoor science experiments for kids 

Chalk Paint

A quick and easy fun rain activity! If you know that rain is forecast, draw on the pavement in chalk and then watch the rain wash your chalk paintings away!

Rain painting  – Rain Art for Kids

This is best tried with acrylic paints but you can get interesting effects with all sorts of different paints depending on the paint and type of rain. Take some card (or blotting paper/ watercolour paper also produces some interesting effects). Squeeze some acrylic paint onto the card in different patterns. Place your picture out into the rain – watch the swirling effects the rain causes! You can also create a similar effect by leaving your paper on wet grass after a rainfall. 

7 more paint ideas for kids

Mud Exploding Science Experiment

Outdoor Science Experiment Ideas for Kids

Best Rainy Day Gear for Kids

You don’t need any special gear for playing in the rain with kids, just old clothes or clothes that wash will do. But if’s particularly cold or you want some extra protection, these are some of our favourite wet weather gear items.

WATERPROOF Coats and Trousers

Muddy Puddles brand is the best we’ve found for fully waterproof kid’s coats and trousers. You can read our full review of Muddy Puddles waterproofs.

ALL-IN-ONE RAIN SUITS

For toddlers and young kids, all-in-one rain suits are best for keeping little kids dry. We love these splash suits, because they have a transparent good which is good for kids on the move as it doesn’t restrict viewing.

WELLY BOOTS

For toddlers, these welly boots win hands down for being soft and flexible for little feet, not too clumpy and are lightweight and quick to dry.

For older kids, these welly boots are sturdy, with good grip and waterproof, they have a drawstring topper which keeps more water out.

If it’s warm weather but still wet, these waterproof dungarees are perfect for puddle splashing!

What’s more fun in the rain than playing in it?! Hope these ideas give you lots of inspiration for playing in the rain with kids! You can see our little ones playing in the rain over on our Instagram!