Ten rainy-day games that need nothing

When it rains all afternoon, our sitters reach for the same few games. None of them needs anything you would have to buy.

The ones that always work

1. Blanket fort. Two chairs, a sofa, every blanket in the house. Then it becomes a cave, a ship, a castle.
2. Torch shadows. Lights off, a torch, and hands that turn into rabbits, dogs and a very wobbly swan.
3. Sock basketball. Rolled-up socks, a laundry basket, and a line on the floor made of tape.
4. Kitchen orchestra. Pans, wooden spoons, a box of rice in a jar. Ask the neighbours first.
5. Hide the teddy. One hides, everyone else seeks, with “warmer” and “colder” as the only clues.

For quieter children

6. Drawing in turns. One person draws a head, folds the paper, passes it on.
7. Shop. Tins from the cupboard, a toy till, buttons for money.
8. Story stones. Draw a picture on each of ten pebbles, pick three, tell the story.
9. Paper boats. Fold them, then race them in the bath later.
10. Sardines. Hide and seek the other way round: one hides, and everyone who finds them squeezes in too.