rainy day: 5 things to print and do with the kids

2 July 2026

it’s raining, the playdate is cancelled and the screen is the easy way out. we prefer a simpler plan: printer on, a stack of paper on the table, and off you go. these are five things that work in our house on a day like that — four with a little help from fonkle, and one that costs nothing at all.

original photo the book Het geheim van de slapende dino was made from

your photos

your book

1. a colouring page of your own photo

kids know the standard colouring pages from the internet after two goes. a colouring page they’re actually in is a different story. pick a photo together — from a holiday, of grandad, of that one moment on the beach — and we turn it into a clean line drawing. you print it at home on A4, for a euro. our tip: choose a photo your child is in. colouring yourself in is oddly the best bit, and the photo gets talked about straight away. that turns ten minutes of colouring into half an hour of table talk.

make a colouring page from your own photo

2. the pet, on paper

if the dog is already lying inside waiting for the rain to stop, this is his moment. a sharp photo of your own dog, cat or rabbit becomes a colouring page with bold outlines — exactly your animal, not just any dog from a book. children often colour him in as he really is first, and then again in the maddest colours they can find. so print two straight away. if your child is in the photo with the pet, they both end up on the page.

make a colouring page of your own dog

3. folding paper boats (costs nothing)

not everything needs printing. the classic paper boat is still one of the best rainy-day activities we know: one sheet of A4, seven folds, done. old printer paper or a magazine page works fine. fold a whole fleet and sail them in the sink, a washing-up bowl on the table, or — wellies on, once the rain eases — in the puddles outside the front door. the folding steps do slip your mind after twenty years, but a quick search for "how to fold a paper boat" fixes that in a minute.

4. getting the next birthday treat ready early

if a birthday is coming up, a rainy afternoon is a good moment to sort out something for the class or the party bags. a colouring page is one of those things other parents quietly appreciate: no sweets, but something to do. make a colouring page of the birthday child — party hat and all — and print as many copies as there are children. your child can colour in the first one today as the example, so it can hang next to the others at the party.

make a birthday colouring page of the birthday child

5. choosing holiday photos together

a rainy day might be the best moment to finally go through the holiday photos — not scrolling quickly, but together on the sofa, with your child as the jury. which ten photos were the best, and why? the loveliest details come out of those conversations, things you’d long forgotten. and if you end up with a shortlist anyway: we turn those photos into a holiday book with your child in the leading role. printed and delivered to your door, so the summer is still on the shelf in november.

make a holiday book of your summer