Rainy Day Date Ideas
Puddles, storms and slow kitchens, one idea at a time.
- Time
- An afternoon or evening
- Players
- Two people
- Best for
- Wet weekends and stormy evenings
- Deck
- 100 ideas in 5 categories
How to use these rainy day date ideas
- Pick a category from the menu under the card, or keep “All categories”.
- Read the idea on the top card. If you both like it, put it on the calendar.
- Swipe the card away, or tap “Next idea”, for another. Ideas do not repeat until you have seen the whole category.
- Tap the heart to save an idea on this device, or tap “Make a 10-idea list” for a list you can copy.
When to plan a rainy day date
Rain cancels the picnic, but it also clears the calendar. These ideas make the weather the reason for the date instead of the thing that spoiled it.
A washed-out Saturday
Indoor places to go, early, before everyone else in town has the same idea.
A warm summer shower
Out in the rain, in clothes you do not mind soaking, with towels waiting at home.
A storm on a weeknight
Listen to the rain with the curtains open and a pot from Rainy-day kitchen on the stove.
Ways to use these date ideas
Draw when the forecast turns
When the weekend forecast shows rain, draw two cards on Thursday: one worth going out for and one for home.
Wet walk, warm stove
Pair a card from Out in the rain with one from Rainy-day kitchen, so a soggy walk ends with something already cooking.
A wet-weather shortlist
Heart ideas on sunny days too. The next gray morning, open Saved instead of waiting for the sky to clear.
Tips for a good rainy day date
- Keep the outdoor ideas for light, steady rain, and never drive into a storm to reach a date.
- Indoor spots fill up fast on wet weekends. Go at opening time or book ahead.
- Leave dry socks and an old towel by the door before you head out.
All 100 rainy day date ideas by category
The complete list, grouped by category. The cards above draw from the same list, so you can read ahead here and pick there.
Out in the rain
Puddles, umbrellas and storm clouds, for when a little rain is part of the plan.
- Pull on rain boots and splash through every puddle on the block instead of stepping around them.
- Share one umbrella on a photo walk and shoot every puddle reflection you can find.
- Watch storm clouds roll in from a covered porch, and wait out thunder indoors once it starts.
- Take a walk in warm summer rain with no umbrella at all and come home happily drenched.
- Step outside when the first drops hit dry ground and describe the smell to each other in three words.
- When the sun breaks through a passing shower, stand with it at your backs and look for a rainbow.
- Go on a slow walk after the rain and move stranded snails and worms off the path.
- Hike a short forest trail in light rain and listen to the drops patter through the leaves.
Show all 20 in Out in the rainShow fewer
- The day after heavy rain, visit a waterfall or creek at its loudest, from a safe viewing spot.
- Dance in the yard or a quiet street to one song played from a phone tucked in a plastic bag.
- Walk together under a clear umbrella and watch the drops land right above your heads.
- Run to the nearest bakery in the rain and eat something warm under its awning.
- Find a covered bridge or a long colonnade and walk it slowly with rain falling on both sides.
- Film raindrops hitting a puddle in slow motion on your phone and pick the best splash.
- Walk downtown on a rainy night, when the wet streets mirror every sign and streetlight.
- Cross town from awning to awning in a downpour and see how dry you can stay.
- Tip your heads back in the yard and catch raindrops on your tongues for one silly minute.
- Follow a stream of rainwater from your gutter down the street and guess where it ends up.
- Sit on a covered bench downtown and count the umbrellas hurrying past by color, black to bright yellow.
- Meet halfway on foot in a light rain, each setting out from home or work, and share one umbrella back.
Indoor places to go
Pools, museums, movies and other dry spots that feel even better on a wet day.
- Go to an indoor water park on the wettest day of the month and get soaked on purpose.
- Float on your backs in an indoor pool with a skylight and watch the rain hit the glass above.
- Warm up in the sauna at a public pool while the rain comes down outside, then cool off by the window.
- On a cloudy night with no stars in sight, catch a planetarium show and see the sky the rain is hiding.
- Walk a natural history museum and find the animal that would enjoy today’s weather the most.
- Visit the smallest, oddest museum near you, the kind you would never make time for on a sunny day.
- Borrow a guide to clouds from the library and name every kind you pass on the walk home.
- Ride to the top floor of the tallest building you can visit and watch rain clouds drift past at eye level.
Show all 20 in Indoor places to goShow fewer
- Spend a whole rainy afternoon at the movies with a double feature and a snack at the break.
- Fill one small basket each at a craft store with supplies for the next wet weekend, ten dollars apiece.
- Join a backstage tour of an old theater on a wet afternoon and stand on the empty stage.
- Try out the instruments neither of you can play at a big music store, with the staff’s blessing.
- Walk through an indoor rainforest exhibit at a zoo or science center, where wet weather is the whole point.
- Bounce side by side at an indoor trampoline park, sticking to the gentle open area.
- Pick out one good umbrella big enough for two, opening every one in the shop to check the fit.
- Watch a drive-in movie in a gentle rain, with the wipers on low and the windows fogging up.
- Ask at the local history museum about the biggest storm your town ever had, and find the old photos.
- Join a public open day at a water treatment plant and learn where today’s rain ends up.
- Take a drop-in spin or rowing class side by side, then walk home through the rain to cool down.
- Sniff your way along the shelves of a candle shop and find the scent that smells most like rain.
Listen to the rain
Ideas at home that only work while it rains: windows, sounds and the porch.
- Pick a raindrop each at the top of the window and cheer them on as they race to the bottom.
- Record three minutes of rain from the porch and save it for a dry night when one of you cannot sleep.
- Watch a thunderstorm from inside and count from each flash to the rumble: every five seconds is about a mile.
- Share the top step under the eaves and listen to the rain on the roof until it slows to a drip.
- Close your eyes and name every sound the rain makes: on the roof, in the gutter, on the leaves, on the car.
- Each write the first line of a story that starts on a rainy night, then swap and finish the other’s.
- Breathe on a cool window and draw tiny pictures in the fog for the other to guess.
- Make a playlist of songs with rain in the title and play it while the real thing falls.
Show all 20 in Listen to the rainShow fewer
- Watch a movie known for a scene in the rain while it pours outside your own window.
- Follow the storm on a radar map, guess the minute it will reach your street, then wait at the window.
- Photograph the street through the drops on the glass, focusing on one drop at a time.
- Turn off the lights during a storm and tell each other about the biggest storm you remember from childhood.
- Pick a puddle outside the window and guess how big it will be by bedtime.
- Rate the rain every half hour, from drizzle to downpour, and note the moment it peaks.
- Pitch a tent in the yard on a calm evening of gentle rain and listen to the drops on the fabric.
- Write each other a note on a rainy day, sealed until the next sunny one.
- Leave the curtains open and fall asleep watching the rain run down the window.
- Sit in the parked car in the driveway and listen to the rain drum on the roof, with nowhere to drive.
- Set a metal pot and a plastic bucket outside the window and listen to the different notes the rain plays.
- Teach each other the rain rhyme or song you learned as kids, hand motions included.
Rainy-day kitchen
Slow soups, long bakes and pots that simmer while the windows streak.
- Press herbs, olives and sliced tomatoes into focaccia dough like a little garden before it bakes.
- Caramelize a big pan of onions slowly for an hour and turn them into onion soup with toasted bread on top.
- Make a pot pie from the week’s leftovers and cut both your initials into the top crust.
- Bake a loaf of banana bread from the spotty bananas on the counter and eat a slice while it is warm.
- Toast and grind whole spices for a curry, then let it simmer for as long as the rain keeps on.
- Make fresh cheese from warm milk and lemon juice and eat it on toast while it is still soft.
- Bake a pan of brownies and cut it so one of you gets the crispy edges and the other the gooey middle.
- Boil and bake bagels from scratch, each shaping half the batch in your own style.
Show all 20 in Rainy-day kitchenShow fewer
- Watch a Dutch baby pancake puff up through the oven door, then eat it straight from the pan.
- Simmer chai from whole spices on the stove until the whole home smells of it.
- Load the slow cooker in the morning, head out for a rainy walk and come home to dinner already made.
- Pop a big pot of popcorn and split it three ways with three seasonings you mix yourselves.
- Make risotto, adding warm stock one ladle at a time while you take turns stirring.
- Turn stale bread into a warm bread pudding and eat it while the rain taps at the window.
- Bake round loaves, hollow them out and serve a thick soup inside the bread bowls.
- Build a lasagna layer by layer together, then draw another card from this deck while it bakes.
- Bake a dish of mac and cheese with three kinds of cheese and a crunchy breadcrumb top.
- Roll out homemade crackers, sprinkle them with seeds and salt, and snap them into odd shapes.
- Soak dried beans the night before a rainy forecast, then let them cook slowly all afternoon.
- Simmer a big pot of tomato sauce all afternoon and fill a few jars for future rainy days.
Rainy-day projects
The fixes and small makes you only get to when the weather keeps you in.
- Gather everything with a loose button or a small tear and mend it together at the kitchen table.
- Go room by room oiling squeaky hinges and fixing the drawer that always sticks.
- Set a bucket out in the rain, then repot the houseplants that need it and water them with what you caught.
- Make a rain gauge from a clear bottle and keep a log of how much falls in each storm.
- Finally frame and hang the prints that have been leaning against the wall for months.
- Sketch a plan for the garden or the balcony boxes, ready for when the sun comes back.
- Decorate plain clear umbrellas with paint markers, then take them out in the next shower.
- Fill a rainy-day box with a new game, a snack and a sealed note, to be opened only on a wet day.
Show all 20 in Rainy-day projectsShow fewer
- Clean and re-waterproof your rain jackets and boots so they are ready for the next wet walk.
- Photograph a box of old family prints and send one to each relative who appears in them.
- Draw both your family trees on one big sheet, calling relatives to fill in the gaps.
- Assemble the flat-pack furniture that has been waiting in its box since the day you bought it.
- Reorder the bookshelf by color, then by height, and keep whichever version you like more.
- Start a rain journal and each add one line every time it rains this year.
- Plant seeds in an egg carton on the windowsill so they are ready for the garden in spring.
- Write a “when the rain stops” list on the fridge and do the first thing on it the moment it clears.
- Untangle the drawer of cables and label each charger with what it belongs to.
- Rub oil into your wooden spoons and cutting boards and let them soak it up overnight.
- Put together a storm kit with flashlights, batteries and water, and check that the old one still works.
- Each name one project you started and never finished, then help each other finish both.
Frequently asked questions
How many rainy day date ideas are there?
There are 100 ideas, 20 in each of five categories: out in the rain, indoor places to go, listen to the rain, rainy-day kitchen, and rainy-day projects. The cards and the list on this page use the same set.
What can couples do on a rainy day for free?
Out in the rain and Listen to the rain cost nothing but a pair of boots, and most Rainy-day projects use what is already in a drawer or a closet.
What if it rains on a date we already planned?
Keep the time and change the plan. Draw from Indoor places to go or Rainy-day kitchen, and save the original idea for a dry weekend.
Are there games for two on a rainy day?
For something ready on one phone, try would you rather or this or that. For nights in whatever the weather, see at home date night ideas.