Rainy days can be a test for everyone in the house, but they also open a door to something special. When kids get the chance to make something with their hands — and give it to someone they love — the whole mood shifts. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. A simple project can feel like magic when it’s made during a storm and handed off with a grin. These ideas turn cabin fever into creativity, and every one doubles as a gift for a grandparent, neighbor, or friend.

Handprints That Stick Around

Pull out the paint and the paper and let those little hands do the work. A handprint calendar is one of those things you don’t realize you’ll treasure until you’re flipping it years later and comparing palms. It’s easy enough to do at home with basic supplies, and you can add a new print for each month — a heart in February, a leaf in October, that sort of thing. Take a look at this handprint calendar project for kids for layout ideas that are simple and doable. Grandparents eat this kind of thing up.

Turn Art Into a Calendar

Sometimes the best thing to do with rainy-day artwork is to make it last. Snap photos of your kids’ favorite doodles or paintings and drop them into a photo calendar, one for each month. It’s easy to do with platforms that let you pick a layout, upload images, drag things around, and add notes or stickers for fun. If you’re wondering how to make your own calendar, this service lets you turn drawings and photos into something gift-worthy — no graphic design degree needed. The final result is high-quality, good-looking, and ready to hang in someone’s kitchen or office.

If you’re turning your kid’s artwork or family photos into a calendar, not all platforms are created equal. Here’s a quick look at how some of the top services stack up when it comes to ease, quality, and customization for gift-worthy results.

Marking the Moments You Don’t Want to Forget

Some days feel like a blur — especially the ones stuck indoors — but kids have this way of doing something hilarious or sweet right when you’re least expecting it. That’s where the Our Days Calendar comes in. It’s basically a running log of those tiny, everyday things you swear you’ll remember but never do. 

Just scribble in a quote, a quick drawing, or what the weather was like during that meltdown-turned-dance party. Before long, it turns into this quiet little time capsule. Pair it with one of your kid’s handmade gifts, and suddenly you’ve got something weirdly moving to send off to Grandma.

Cookie Mix in a Jar

You don’t need to bake anything. Just layer sugar, flour, chocolate chips, and a little love into a mason jar and you’ve got yourself a gift. Rainy afternoons are ideal for this, especially if you’ve got a lineup of little helpers and a counter that can handle the mess. This DIY cookie mix in a jar recipe is the kind of project that teaches measuring, pouring, and patience — and the payoff smells like dessert. Tie on a tag with instructions and a bit of twine, and you’re done.

Art from the Recycling Bin

Dig through the recycling and pull out anything flat, shiny, textured, or weird. Let your kids turn bottle caps into eyes, cereal boxes into canvases, and newspapers into something totally different. There’s a kind of quiet brilliance that comes from taking what would’ve been trash and making it say something. These rainy day gift projects that kids can make are less about polish and more about play. And if a grandparent gets a collage made from last week’s junk mail, all the better.

Make‑Your‑Own Craft Sets

A lot of the time, kids just need a little structure. Put together mini kits with pipe cleaners, felt scraps, googly eyes — stuff you already have — and tell them it’s their “gift kit.” Creative and crafty indoor activities for kids can include anything from building pretend bakeries to assembling creature families. The trick is to give it a frame: “This is a project for Aunt Nina” or “Let’s make something your teacher might like.” Once they’ve got a person in mind, the rest kind of clicks.

Bookmarks That Travel in the Mail

Not every gift has to be a big thing. A bookmark made from colored paper and a little imagination is just right for someone who reads a lot — or someone who should. These paper flower bookmarks are light enough to mail and sweet enough to keep. Let kids decorate them with quotes, stickers, even a joke or two. It’s a good excuse to send real mail to people who might not be expecting it.

A List to Keep the Ideas Coming

If the weather’s set in for days, don’t try to wing it. Print out a master list and let the kids pick a project every afternoon. These rainy day projects for kids offer enough variety that nothing ever has to repeat. Some of them will work better as gifts than others, but with a little creativity, nearly anything can be wrapped and delivered with a note. And really, the process of choosing is part of the fun.

There’s something powerful about giving someone a handmade thing — especially when it came out of a rainy afternoon and a pile of scraps. These aren’t just crafts. They’re tiny time capsules, memories taped and folded into things people can hold. And for the kids? It’s a way to connect, to share, and to create something real while the sky pours down.

By: L. Conner