If you’re trapped indoors on a rainy day, it can be a matter of minutes before cabin fever starts to kick in. You can pass the time by choosing an engaging activity either to stimulate your own mind or to strengthen the bond with whomever you’re sharing your rainy day with.
Here are 13 outdoor rainy day activities adults can actually enjoy:
- Do an art project.
- Learn how to cook a new dish.
- Have a movie marathon.
- Play board games/card games.
- Read books.
- Clean your house.
- Build a pillow fort.
- Learn a new workout routine.
- Dive deep into a new genre of music.
- Take a self-care day.
- Play 20-questions.
- Get outside; you won’t melt.
- Rainy day community service.
There are a lot of activities, both productive and entertaining, that can be enjoyed by adults and children alike on rainy days. If you’re feeling trapped in the house on a rainy day, read on for more details about how to keep the household happy and thriving.
Related: 22 Super Fun Outdoor Rainy Day Activities Your Kids Will Love
1. Do an Art Project
Creativity is a great way to pass the time and reduce stress.
Plan a fun craft for the family or undertake an introspective journey by working on your self-portrait skills. The advantage of passing the time creatively is that you’ll never run out of subjects for your art.
Art, aside from being a fun way to pass the time, is deeply healing, according to Harvard. If you’re feeling stressed out or claustrophobic, allow yourself to be soothed by some free-flowing creativity.
What To Draw on a Rainy Day
Your art is always up to you. Take advantage of the creative freedom you have on a blank page while the rain limits your outdoor activities. Let yourself be inspired by your surroundings. If you’re looking for a muse while it’s raining cats and dogs outside, study the patterns of the rain on the window.
Try to recreate those patterns in your sketchbook or on the canvas, then play connect-the-dots with different colors until your own patterns take shape.
2. Learn How To Cook a New Dish
Cooking naturally brings people together, according to Trafalgar.
For this reason, many people have fond memories of a loved one associated with their favorite foods. If you’re stuck inside due to rain, learning how to cook a favorite family recipe can be a fun challenge while also filling your home with positively nostalgic aromas.
If you’ve got extra time on your hands, you can expand your culinary horizons by trying a new recipe.
Explore different cuisines through cookbooks, blogs, and personal trial and error. Whether it’s a personal favorite or a haphazard culinary experiment, cooking and trying new foods is a great way to liven up a rainy day.
3. Have a Movie Marathon
If you have a favorite movie series, a rainy day can be the perfect time to rewatch the set. Watching a favorite movie or TV show for the hundredth time, according to one study on the subject, can provide the viewer with a nostalgic sense of comfort and perspective.
If you’re having trouble picking a show, I love Netflix’s pick-for-me feature. It uses an algorithm to choose a show based on your prior watches, and you can easily skip to a new series or movie right within the ni-video menu.
Amazon also has a fantastic track record of recommending me good series, using a similar algorithm to Netflix. Prime Video is included with an Amazon Prime membership. If you’re not already a Prime subscriber, I have a 30-day free trial link, you can use here. This also includes their 2-day free shipping for purchases, as well as access to Amazon Music, and Photo.
4. Play Board Games/Card Games
A friendly competition can be positive for the household environment. Games are beneficial to each member of the group, as concentrating on the game will make the time pass quickly, as well as for the dynamic of the household.
If you really want to pass the entire day away, set up the Monopoly board. That game will take hours and hours to complete,!
5. Read Books
It can be hard to find time for pleasure reading if your schedule is tightly packed with work or school. If a rainy day is stopping you from getting out, take the time to catch up on your light reading.
Books are helpful at maintaining imagination and expanding the horizons of your knowledge.
If you’ve read everything on your shelf, a trip to the library can merit a quick run through the rain so you can stock up on the classics and new voices emerging in the literary world. Reading can help to keep your mind busy and fascinated until the rain clears up.
6. Clean Your House
The act of cleaning and organizing, according to Psychology Today, can have major health benefits to both your body and mind. Cleanliness is next to harmony.
If you’ve been putting off a deep clean of your house or living space, a rainy day can provide the perfect opportunity to get it done. Feeling closed in by the rain can be stressful, and one of the ways that many psychologists recommend managing stress is by maintaining a clean living environment.
7. Build a Pillow Fort
Pillow forts can be fun for children or grown-ups. No matter who you are, there’s a certain satisfaction that’s derived from building a shelter you can enter and exit from. Pillow forts can provide children, or adults for that matter, with a space where they feel safe and comfortable, according to Paratus.
This can allow children to process new feelings or for adults to reflect on when their feelings were new.
8. Learn a New Workout Routine
Exercise can be helpful in managing feelings of anxiety if you’re stuck inside due to rain. Exercising releases endorphins, which gives athletes a natural “high.”
Have a household push-up contest to get everyone’s blood pumping and moods lifting.
If you’re a regular workout junky, time indoors during a downpour can be a great time to research new workouts and practice your form so that you’re ready when you go back to the gym.
9. Dive Deep Into a New Genre of Music
It’s easy to get stuck in the same playlists of your favorite songs and artists. If you’re looking for a fun indoor activity, either alone or with a few friends, choose some new background music. While classic favorites are calming and nostalgic, listening to new genres of music can be a thrilling and rewarding experience for music enthusiasts.
10. Take a Self-Care Day
Taking a day to pamper yourself can be just the breath of fresh air you need to de-stress while the rain bathes the world outside. Take a hot bath, light some candles or incense, do some yoga, or just focus on your breathing.
You might also take a long nap if your body requires it. You’ll thank me later.
All of these forms of self-care and meditation can not only help you pass the hours, but also benefit your emotional, physical, and mental well-being.
11. Play 20-Questions
20 questions is a great game to play with a group on a rainy day, as the nature of the game can include any number of people and requires no equipment or setup. This game, along with other games like Truth-or-Dare and Never-Have-I-Ever, encourages conversation between people.
You can learn a lot about others, both from their answers and from the type of questions they ask.
12. Get Outside; You Won’t Melt
If it’s safe to do so, i.e., no flood or hurricane warnings, it can be healthy to get out of the house and into the rain for a little while. Wear clothes you don’t mind getting wet and take the household out puddle-jumping or rain-dancing.
Fresh air can be just the thing on a rainy day, especially for high-energy and anxiety-prone individuals. If you can do so without getting your belongings wet, open the windows to let the breeze pass through the house.
Tip: Love shopping, but don’t love crowds? Rainy days are great to go out shopping, especially at outdoor shopping malls. You may even have the stores basically to yourself!
This also lets you enjoy the smell of the rain from inside.
13. Rainy Day Community Service
Residential neighborhoods often have issues with storm drains being clogged by autumn leaf debris. This can cause water to pool in the road, increasing the risk of vehicles hydroplaning and causing an accident.
If you have a garden shovel or rake and nothing else to do on a rainy day, help out your neighborhood by going out and clearing leaves and debris out of the gutter and drain.
Of course, you could just let the city do this–it’s your choice.
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