Ugh!! Rainy day weather is the worst!! If you are pulling your hair out trying to keep the kids entertained as it pours outside, check out our list of rainy day activities for kids.
Do you remember what life was like when it rained before you had kids? You would check the weather report and see that it was going to rain. Rainy day weather in Brisbane was snuggly weather. Cuddling on the couch watching a movie. Lazy breakfasts, huge mugs of steaming hot coffee, heading back to bed to listen to the rain on the roof. Whole weekends lost to the lazy cosiness that comes with not having a lot to do but having plenty of time to do it in.
It’s like a distant, peaceful paradise, isn’t it? All cream-coloured knit jumpers and feet up on the table. Staring dreamily out the window at the grey sky delivering rain drops that beat rhythmically against the glass.
Housebound – a parent’s worst enemy
You’re marching to a different beat now, aren’t you?
The couch is now a fort with fiercely protected boundaries peppered with dirty nappies and suspiciously sticky hand-prints. Lazy breakfasts have been replaced with all-day grazing to the tune of constant whinging about the quality of food you have dared to provide.
Hot drinks are a thing of the past – all your mugs are broken and you can’t even do a wee by yourself, let alone selfishly consume a beverage within a half hour. No one’s going back to bed because no one went to bed in the first place.
The rain outside is forcing you all to stay inside and the walls feel like they’re creeping closer and closer as dreaded cabin fever sets in. You put on your cream-coloured knit, now a distinctly unfashionable mottle of miscellaneous stains, and pray for the rain to stop so your children can calm their farms.
Whether you are looking for indoor rainy day activities for kids or things to do in Brisbane on a rainy day, we have you covered with our detailed list:
Things to do in Brisbane on a rainy day
Check out our detailed list of places to go and things to do in Brisbane on a rainy day to keep you and your little ones busy and having fun!
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GOMA – Children’s Art Centre
Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art including their Children’s Centre is the perfect place for rainy day toddler activities!
- The Corner State Library
- Queensland Museum
- Sciencentre
- Mt Cootha Planetarium
- Discovery Centres
- Local library
- Indoor heated swimming pools
The best indoor rainy day activities to do at home
Stop hiding in your cupboard, get out of the bathroom and climb out from underneath the sink. There’s no need for rainy days to turn into mammoth migraines anymore. We’ve compiled a… creative approach to dealing with being trapped in the house with toddlers with our list of rainy day activities that don’t involve the words Paw or Patrol.
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Ain’t no party like a cleaning party!
You are about to get your Mary Poppins ON. Use your trapped, tantruming children as little cleaning pinwheels. If your toddler insists on flopping around on the floor like his world is ending because you dared to suggest that chocolate is not a breakfast food, see it as a cleaning opportunity.
Attach cloths to his feet and hands and see that floor sparkle in no time. Send your pre-school child into the depths of your closet and tell them to play dress ups. When they come out looking like a weird mid-90’s scarecrow they’ll be helping you clean out some of that old gear you haven’t seen in ages.
Are flared jeans back in fashion yet? Because I just found three pairs!
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The show must go on
Know what I love? Musical theatre. Know what I love even more? Children in musical theatre. You know what I love THE MOST? When those children are mine. Shine, baby, shine.
Bring out your inner-pushy-stage-parent and suggest that your progeny put on a performance. The winner is the person who spends the most time working on their act. Bonus points for costume, backdrops and coordinated dance moves. You may have time to enjoy that coffee while your little Liza Minnelli gets her siblings in line with fierce high-kicks and Vaseline teeth.
Break a leg, babies. (Not literally)
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Arty party
We went to see the Mister Maker stage show when it came to town. Besides being surprised by the number of song and dance acts, it also reminded me of how much potential lies in the pieces of crap ( mean stuff) hanging out around your house. These crafty rainy day activities are the best!
Is that a paper plate or a monster mask? Is that a tumbleweed of dog hair that someone should have picked up or a new wig for a doll? Is that an old newspaper or an attempt at me half-remembering how to do papier mache? (I should have googled that first, big mistake!)
Help your kids create Renaissance art works out of rubbish and see what they come up with.
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Hide and Go Sleep
Ok, don’t think badly of me for this one. Sometimes when we’re trapped inside I play hide and seek with my son. When I’m seeking, I somehow seem to take longer and longer to find him. I suggest that hiding under beds and under covers is clever and that he needs to lay very, very still. I’ve eventually ‘found’ him snoozing away in a little blanket cocoon under the couch about five times now.
Perfect for nap refusal time! Just make sure they’re safe and snuggly and you’ll feel like an absolute parenting mastermind.
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I’m with the band
This one’s old school. Open the kitchen cupboards. Get all the pots, pans, baking trays, wooden spoons, whisks and ‘safe noisy stuff’ you can find. Place child and items safely in the middle of the floor. Back away.
The rest is going to take care of itself. Your child will suddenly transform into a hard-core death-metal head-bangin’ baby for at least twenty minutes. Put your ear plugs in and zone out in another part of the house.
Jumpers, uggs and rock and roll.
Let us know how you go with our ‘professional’ boredom-buster rainy day solutions. If you’ve got any other ideas for things kids can do on rainy days let us know in the comments.
