Sick of This Rain, Need Indoor Activities for a 29 Month Old

I was right there with you when we had days of inclement weather.
Took my toddler to the mall to walk around and get him tired for nap.
Rode the carousel (sp?) there.
Build a fort inside w/couch cushions and blankets.
Play tea party with her.
Also, would take him to the local Walgreens to walk around and look at toys.
Yes to the watching movie idea you had.

She's of the age that loves the sensory activities.
If you still use the high chair... a can of shaving cream on the highchair try (or use whipped cream if you think she's gunna try eating it) and just let her mush her hands in it. You could even use jello, cottage cheese, or pudding. You could also put her int he bathtub with only her diaper and let her paint the shower wall - real easy clean up with a detachable shower head.

A roll of contact paper flipped sticky side up to walk on while barefoot. You can throw glitter on it to make it less sticky.

If she's not orally fixated to "taste" everything - Treasure hunt with a large bag of beans/rice in a large container and hide little plastic animals or coins in it. Let her use a variety of "tools" to scoop through it. You could even mix the beans and rice together, mix different beans or put a handful of craft fluff balls into it too. Just remember to watch her closely since the hard beans/little things are a choke hazard.

You could also use playdough to make prints of her hands/feet. Either let her mix a few of the colors together for a few minutes and/or use the well mixed, well played with "greyish" playdough and paint it. Let it dry out and keep as a treasure keepsake or use as a gift for mother's day for grandma.

I've even resorted to rumaging though the spice cabinet and letting my kids small each of the spices I have and then making banana bread/spice bread or some sort of cookie.

There are hundreds of ideas online. Just type in sensory activities toddler or preschooler into your favorite search engine.
Best wishes!

Playdough, painting, arts and crafts, reading, blocks, play hide and seek, dance- just to name a few.
If it is warm and rainy, but not thundering and lightening, then sure- play outside. We do!
Sometimes we go to the mall (only 5 minutes from my house) and walk when the weather is bad and watch the water fountains while sharing an ice cream.
Go to the library.
Go to the bookstore.
I wouldn't go to the movies- I wouln't want to spend all the $$ and risk leaving 1/2 way through. :)

What about a pots and pans band?

Or set up a large table, and get out the finger paints or paints & brushes?

You can tape a large piece (6-8 ft.) from a kraft paper roll onto a long wall & let herr paint a mural.

Push all the chairs together, throw some blankets on top and make a fort. You can read books and have lunch under there.

Throw all the sofa pillows and cushions on the floor and she can jump around on them.

Place a bunch of plastic cups spread out on the floor and see if she can walk around them w/o knocking them over.

Roll up a bunch of socks and see if she can toss them into the cups w/o knocking them over.

Throw the rolled up socks at each other and have a "snowball" fight. Or use cottonballs.

Give her some sugar or flour w/a few bowls and a mixing spoon and she can pretend she is cooking. Use rice, popcorn kernels or dried beans if you don't want a mess. I used to put rice, kernels and beans in my crockpot on the floor (b/c it was heavy and he couldn't move it) &my kid would scoop out some and pour into a few bowls on the floor. Then he would dump them back into the pot and start all over again.

Turn on Foodnetwork TV w/her play dishes and food and she can copy the chefs. If you can push her play kitchen by the TV, even better.

Turn off all the lights, get some flashlights and have a lightshow in the dark. Mirrors make it fun too.

Give her a stack of post it notes and let her stick them whereever she wants to.

Give her a roll of toilet paper (make it clear she could only do this one time) and let her play w/that. Teach her to roll up her dolls like mummies.

Plug your video camera to your TV, turn on some music, and she can watch herself sing and dance.

Give her some make up and a mirror. She can give herself a makeover...you too!

Fill the sink up w/some water, give her a few plastic dishes and a scrub brush/pad and let her pretend to ''wash" the dishes.

Go to a home improvement store. The aisles are wide and chances are it will not be crowded at all. Plus it will be heated/air conditioned. She can run up and down the aisles and look at everything. My kid loved to open and close all the doors on the ovens, fridges, washers/dryers, play w/the vacuums, play in the model kitchens and bathrooms, turn all the knobs, look at all the wood planks, play in the showers like he was in a spaceship, sit on all the tractors, collect paint samples...we used to spend hours there on rainy days.

GL and HTH

It can be so hard when weather is bad!! I would say no to a movie. I probably wouldn't even do the one in your house unless you can put Dora or something on it, that she would probably love! My daughter is 3.5 and still hasn't been to a theatre. She just started watching full length films at home.

Playing in the rain is fun, she'd probably like that too! Do you have a mall nearby? Most seem to have play areas for kids or you could stroll through places like the Disney Store, etc. You could even just let her roam the halls while you follow behind, at least it's exercise! Barnes and Noble has Saturday story times (free) and they all have Thomas Train tables for kids to use. It's busier on Saturdays than during the week, but also fun. If you celebrate Easter there are probably a few egg hunts or something like that near you and if it's been raining they have probabvly moved inside, so check that out. Lastly, if you have introduced her to fast food yet, you could always hit the McD's playgrounds. It's not ideal, but it's something! If she hasn't had a taste, certainly wait, but in a pinch I've been to the restaurant playgrounds for some action!

It must be me because I have seen this on here before but your daughter is 2.5 years old. That's like me saying my son is 216 months old. I'm sorry but for some reason it bugs me. Anyway...

Do you think your daughter could sit through a movie? I liked your suggestion of the entertainment in the basement. I would try that first (cheaper) and see how it goes. Do ya'll have an enclosed McDonalds playground? That might be an idea. I also think playing in the rain would be fun, jumping in puddles. We did this with our kids when we lived in Bowling Green, KY. Fun times! It is never easy entertaining a kiddo especially when it is dreary outside. Also, is there a pottery store that has an area for kids? Sometimes you can go on certain days and the kids can paint a plate or whatever. That could be fun. Also, check out the local library or a Barnes and Noble. Alot of times they have "story time". Good luck!

Balloons! You can use a laundry basket as the "hoop"

Gather up a bunch of scarves and such and toss them around.

I love the idea of going for a "rain walk" too. We've done that lots and kids love it.

I wouldn't waste the money a taking her to a movie. Plus she needs something that involves excersise/movement on these raining days. You could go for a walk, come back get cleaned up and in comfy clothes and then have snacks while you watch a movie at home!

Fill up the kitchen sink with soapy water and teach her how to do dishes!
Get your hands on a large box (or a few medium ones) and make a house, she can color it too!

Cardboard box fort is one of my favorites.
Go to an appliance store and see if they have a washer or dryer box they can give you.
You can cut doors and windows in it, use sheets or towels as curtains, draw flowers on the outside of it.
Then you can have a picnic inside it and watch a movie.
Sometimes my son would take a nap inside his fort.
Play with it till it falls apart (take pictures) then flatten it out and throw it into recycling.

Do you have a Cabela's or Bass Pro shop nearby? We used to go on bad weather days to the "dead zoo" (bad humor, but the boys thought it was fun)--lots of animals to go look at (stuffed) all around, and neat supplies to check out, you could either fish or feed the fish there, there's a little coin operated "hunting gallery" there.
We used to go to Chuck E Cheese (a coupon from the Sunday paper would give us enough tokens to play games for 3 or 4 visits!). We'd eat before we got there, then just play in the little kid area and run around.
As for the movies: my oldest boy was right 2 1/2 the first time I took him to the movies. One of our theaters had "crybaby theater" during weekday mornings, where you could go take them to a movie for cheap and it was a no stress kind of thing where everyone attending is in the same boat so you don't have to have pressure if she talks too much. My son at that age had never watched a full length movie even at home before, but we made the EVENT of going to the theater the focus, not just the film. He was awesome! We put him in a booster seat (provided in the hall by the doors) to keep his seat open and not squish him, and also so he could see good. It had a smaller drink holder for his size cup (I brought his sippy cup). We saw Ice Age (the one with the dinosaurs) and he was so funny! When the squirrel things are fighting, he'd point at the screen and shout "You play nice!" and when something was funny, he'd just laugh so hard when he wouldn't really do that at home. My youngest is almost 17 months old, and he's been to 3 movies (Tangled,Yogi, and Gnomeo & Juiliet) and he did great in the theater, even though he honestly won't sit for a 30 minute tv show. He thinks he's a big boy to sit in the booster seat, and he has his own little thing of popcorn (I found a 4 pack of little plastic popcorn cups for $1 at Target, and they're cute so I got pack for theater trips; and when at the theater I buy one large bag of popcorn but pour it into those little things so everyone has "their own"). He'll sit and watch, and I stay active holding his hand, or stroking his hair, or laughing, so that he will be calm but also enjoy the movie. He has thrown a handful of popcorn and yelled babytalk at the bad lady in Tangled but that just showed that even at 13 months old, he was understanding basically what was going on.
You can go to Office Depot or wherever for a giant roll of paper, and make good friends with that! I taped it down to my table or coffee table and would let them color, play with play doh (or my oldest likes the moon sand), etc. You can make sock puppets out of whatever you've got around the house (though you can also get a "kit" at Target in the art supplies area) and make puppets, then put on a puppet show or practice one together for when daddy comes home.
You can have an indoor picnic. If the weather is dreary and miserable, we will occasionally make happy "sunny day" pictures of whatever you like to do on sunny days....we'll make them together (again with paper from that giant roll), cut it and then tape it to the closed window blinds and you have "sunny day" pictures when you look at the windows. Then play summery fun music (Beach Boys?), and have a picnic in the living room floor. In my picnic basket I keep a small frisbee and a ziploc bag with a plastic grasshopper, bee, fly, and a handful of ants---the ants will make the picnic "real", haha.
Another thing we did one yucky day was work together on making a "rainy day treasure box". I got one of those footlockers with the big brass handles and keylatch from Walmart for $20. We tore brown paperbags into strips and crinkled them up. My friend hooked us up with some sticky paste stuff (can't remember what that was) but we basically painted it on the chest a section at a time, then laid the paper on it, then afterwards painted a layer of this clear stuff over it to keep it all together and protected. It made it look like a beat up treasure chest. We played pirates that day. But now I've stocked it with special rainy day stuff that only comes out on bad weather days, so it's all fresh and "new" everytime they see it; not "the same old thing" that they play with everyday. Think books, a movie (like an old copy of Swiss Family Robinson is what we have for my boys), coloring sheets, craft supplies, a few Family Fun magazines to help us out, some indoor games like indoor hopscotch and beanbags, etc.
How about playing a junior version of pictionary with a dry erase board, with themes from whatever you've been reading about earlier that day?

You HAVE had a lot of rain! I have relatives in your area and they're telling us about the storm damage. I wish you could send some of the rain back west - we need it.

Sometimes a big theater screen can be intimidating to a toddler. You might want to stick to the small screen. Or try a movie theater, but be aware that you may not get your money's worth! However, it will get you out of the house for a while.

I think playing in the rain is a marvelous idea! Other ideas: take her to the library and let her explore the children's section. Is there a children's museum near you? Is there an art museum with a children's room (especially if you can go on a free-admission day - you won't be there long)? Can you read together, draw pictures together? Have a tea party with all her dolls and animals? (Lemonade tea and teeny-tiny sandwiches.)

You have LOTS of other wonderful suggestions from other mamas! In fact, I'm going to take notes from them for when my younger grandchildren come to visit me!

It's looks like you've gotten some pretty good ideas--hope they help. I was just going to say, can you send some of that rain this way? We're in a severe drought!

Does she know her letters and numbers? If not, try and teach her a ABC and 123. Talk about colors, etc. Try to turn off the tv and just have some mommy and me time, but try and make it fun. Make cookies and have her help you, as much as she can. She my be only 2, but you'll be suprised what our kids know, if we help them explore their abilities.

I'm sure you probably got this answer already, but I didn't read through the other responses. Anyway, the library is great. I have a 3 yr old and a 17 month old and I visit about 4 different libraries throughout the week. We go to the story times and the activity times that are scheduled and some of the libraries have amazing play areas that my kids love! We'll even go when there's nothing going on and my kids just play and wander around looking at the books; they don't seem to care that there is nothing going on. The library has been my lifesaver because it gives me a break too! I bought my kids crayola window crayons and they LOVE them. The crayon comes off with just a paper towel and some water, but it is kind of a pain. However, the clean up is worth the peace I get for a L. bit and they have fun.