Screen-free rainy day activities for kids: Puzzles, painting, stories and more

When rain has put a stop to outdoor plans, you don’t need an elaborate timetable to keep children busy. A good rainy afternoon can move from curious questions to puzzles, drawing, hands-on play and, eventually, a story curled up somewhere cosy.

The trick is having a few different kinds of screen-free activities ready. One child might want to solve something; another might be happiest with a pencil, paintbrush or stickers. And sometimes the most interesting rainy-day activity is simply finding out why it is raining in the first place.

Start by getting curious about the rain

If everyone is already watching drops race down the window, make the weather part of the entertainment.

First Questions and Answers: What makes it rain? turns familiar questions about the weather into a lift-the-flap exploration. Children can investigate questions about wind, winter and rain, as well as discovering weather facts and simple forecasting tips.

For children who would rather leap into an adventure, Supersquirrel and the Crazy Rain Maker gives the rain a rather more dastardly cause. Dr. Drizzle is plotting to submerge Fleaville, and readers help Supersquirrel tackle brain-teasing puzzles throughout the story. It is part story, part puzzle challenge and a neat way to make a grey afternoon feel a little more heroic.

Reach for a pencil when everyone needs something to do

Sometimes the best rainy-day activity is the one you can start in seconds.

Rainy Day Activity Book mixes different kinds of challenges, from doodling faces on clouds and spotting dinosaurs to matching pictures and making a paper octopus. That variety makes it easy to dip in for one activity or keep going when the rain shows no sign of stopping.

Older puzzle fans can tackle Lots of Pencil and Paper Puzzles, where a pencil is all that is needed for mazes, hidden pictures and puzzle games. There are also two-player games including boxes, spaceship and Os and Xs, so siblings, friends or a grown-up can join in without needing to set up a board game first.

Turn a blank page into something brilliant

A rainy afternoon is an excellent excuse to cover the table with paper and pencils.

Step-by-Step Drawing Cute Things breaks pictures down into clear illustrated stages, with everything from cupcakes and clouds to cats, burgers and bunnies to draw. There is space in the book for children to try the pictures themselves, but the idea can easily spill over onto spare paper too: once you know how to draw one smiling cloud, why stop there?

For children who like adding their own details, Enchanted Forest offers scenes filled with fairies and forest creatures to colour. Gold and silver pencils are included, and the pages also leave room for extra drawing and contain things to spot, giving children more to investigate once the colouring has begun.

Just add water for a splash of colour

Painting sounds ambitious on a wet afternoon. Water-painting books make it much simpler.

In First Magic Painting Mermaids, children brush water over black-and-white pictures to reveal the colours hidden in scenes of mermaids singing, exploring an underwater palace and diving for pearls. A brush is included, and a waterproof back flap can be tucked beneath the page being painted.

Magic Colour Under the Sea has another trick up its sleeve. Add water and underwater pictures fill with colour; let the sturdy board pages dry and the colours disappear again, ready to be rediscovered! Across six reusable double-page spreads, children can meet sea creatures including clownfish, squid, sharks and whales again and again.

Stick, move and invent your own stories

For children who would rather arrange a scene than draw one from scratch, stickers and magnets can open up all sorts of possibilities.

The Cosy Cafe Sticker Book follows a busy day at the Cosy Cafe, from unloading deliveries and preparing treats to the lunchtime rush, afternoon tea and a birthday celebration. With more than 150 stickers, children can help bring each scene to life as the cafe gets busier.

Vehicle fans can get hands-on with Trucks and Diggers Magnet Book. It comes with 10 truck and digger magnets and five scenes where the vehicles can be positioned, moved and rearranged, so the play does not have to end once a page is complete.

Rainy-day activities for toddlers

Touchy-Feely First Words introduces more than 150 everyday words with bold artwork and a textured patch on every page. Its themes range across familiar subjects including food, animals, vehicles, the body, farm life and clothes, giving grown-ups and little readers plenty to point at, touch and talk about together.

Add a little rainy-day sparkle

If the afternoon calls for something extra shiny, bring on the dragons.

Foil Art – Dragons contains 10 dragon scenes to decorate using the included foil sheets. Children peel away shapes to reveal sticky areas, press the foil over them and lift it away to leave colour and shimmer behind. There are 30 foil sheets in assorted colours, as well as dragon-themed drawing, colouring and puzzle pages.

Finish the afternoon with a story

After puzzles have been solved, pictures coloured and stickers carefully positioned, there is always room for a final screen-free activity: reading.

A Year of Fairy Tales by Sophie Anderson brings together fairy tales inspired by the seasons and celebrations of a child’s year. The collection includes fresh twists on familiar stories such as Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, alongside original tales inspired by folklore, all illustrated by Elisa Paganelli.

Read one story together, choose a favourite illustration to look at more closely, or use a tale as the starting point for another activity: what would your enchanted forest look like? What kind of dragon would live there? And what would happen if Dr. Drizzle wandered in?

Make the rain part of the plan

The best screen-free rainy day activities do not have to fill every minute. Try following the mood instead: begin with a question, move on to something children can make or solve, change activity when interest starts to wander, and save a story for the quieter end of the afternoon.

Rain may have changed the day’s plans, but it can also provide the starting point for weather investigations, puzzle-solving, painting, drawing, imaginative play and plenty of stories.

Outside: grey skies.

Inside: absolutely loads to do.