It’s been a brutal winter here in Vancouver, with record setting snowfall (no, seriously) and cold temperatures. Having not experienced the harsh Canadian winters in a few years, it would be an eye-opener if  my eyes weren’t frozen shut. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m happy it’s started raining again here!

Growing up in a colder climate does allow one to come up with unique things to do to stay occupied, be it due to cold, or rain, or snow. While I’m not big on video games or watching endless hours of TV, they do have a time and a place, especially on those rainy days. As you will soon see, there’s plenty of options when it comes to minimalist rainy day ideas!

25 Minimalist Rainy Day Ideas

1. Cook up some comfort food like soup, chili, or one of these quick and tasty minimalist sandwiches (warning, may include bacon).
2. Bake cookies.
3. Play a game. Cards, Monopoly, Chess, Twister, blow the dust off those vintage games and do what your ancestors did and interact with people.
4. Clean some stuff.
5. Organize some stuff – maybe it’s your sock drawer, maybe it’s a kitchen cabinet. Rainy days happen for a reason, so you can get your stuff together!
6. Pay some bills. If that’s not excitement for a rainy day I don’t know what is!
7. Read some stuff.
8. Write some stuff.
9. Watch a movie. If it’s going to be an all-day rain, watch a few, possibly while your chili is in the slow-cooker. Here’s my Top 5 List of Minimalist Rainy Day Movies:
   1. The Shawshank Redemption
   2. Kingpin
   3. Fight Club
   4. Dr. Zhivago, The Notebook, Footloose, Top Gun, Dirty Dancing (for the ladies of course)
   5. High Fidelity (the irony of this movie being on a top 5 list is worthy of a top 5 irony list)
10. Watch Netflix…and possibly chill afterwards…or just…
11. Have sex! Brow chica-row-row. Light some candles, break out the whipped cream…or just the whip. If the suns not going to rise today, then get your mojo rising…among other things!
    
12. Go out for a meal. It’s the perfect time to try a local spot you’ve always wanted to try.
13. Go to a museum. Museum’s come in all kinds of variety and sizes. There are museums of anthropology, dinosaurs, art, heck, there are even Police Museums. Give a museum a try, it’s like time travelling!
14. Organize an impromptu get together with friends.
15. Dance! Take those old records off the shelf! Put on some tunes and do your best Napoleon Dynamite…or Elaine from Seinfeld…or this guy:

    

16. Go swimming or scuba diving. Indoor swimming is probably going to be more enjoyable, but if you’re outdoors and there isn’t a risk of thunderstorms, get a few laps in—you’re going to get wet anyway. Same goes for scuba, unless you have a dry suit!
17. Play baseball. Have you seen what happens during a rain delay in baseball? It’s probably more entertaining then the game!
18. Play football. Football is a great game to play in dry conditions, but in the rain it’s just downright hilarious. It’s tough to grab balls when they’re wet. And it’s harder to toss balls when they’re wet too. Come to think of it, you’re never going deep with the Wide Receiver with wet balls, although you may trust your Tight End for short gains.
19. Play soccer. No hands needed, so you don’t have to worry as much about wet balls.
20. Go fishing – apparently that’s when the fish are biting.
21. Go Bowling (if you watched Kingpin you’ll probably want to anyway).
22. Hit a spa. Be it a steam room, or unique massage, maybe a salt float, whatever you choose, nothing beats pampering yourself!
23. Build stuff!
24. Craft stuff!
25. Sell stuff! There are entire online market places where you can sell stuff, so if you’ve organized, de-cluttered, and have a few things you can make a buck off of, go for it, there’s no better time to list some stuff then on a rainy day!

Cities often offer more options for rainy day activities. Things like Escape Rooms, Laser Tag, Indoor rock climbing, Aquariums, Science Centers, or even sporting events may be other options in larger cities. Either way, there’s no excuse for the rainy day blues anymore with this much stuff to do in the world.

Now go sell all your stuff and enjoy a minimalist rainy day!