Read a book. I know you probably already have to do enough of this for your classes, but leisure reading is completely different from reading your textbooks. You can choose from a wide variety of categories – fiction, non-fiction, horror, fantasy, history, comedy, biography, science – the list goes on and on.

Play some board games. Playing board games definitely makes the time fly. Parker Brothers, Hasbro and Milton Bradley have all provided a plethora of board and card games to keep people entertained such as Monopoly, Battleship, The Game of Life, Twister, Yahtzee, Clue, Risk and Sorry!, to name a few. If you have a few favorites and can’t decide which to play, come up with your own board or card game that is a combination of your favorites.

Do some DIY projects or clean. If there is anything you’ve wanted to try from Pinterest, a rainy day is a good time to do it. And if there’s anything that needs to be cleaned, repaired or redecorated, go ahead and do that, too. If your laundry is piling up, now’s the time to get rid of that mountain of clothes.

Bake or cook something. To save time, spend the day cooking meals you can freeze or refrigerate to eat later. Baking cookies, muffins or other desserts will make a rainy day go away.

Enjoy a spa day. If all you feel like doing on a rainy day is relaxing, you may as well pamper yourself by having a spa day. You can do anything from taking a nice, long bath, giving yourself a mani-pedi or doing a complete makeover. You can also make a trip to a spa, if you want.

Visit a museum or art gallery. If you don’t want to stay home on a rainy day, you can always find a museum or art gallery to roam around in. The Science Center or Botanical Garden in Des Moines are great ways to stay dry on a rainy day, but there are some museums and art galleries in Ames as well.

Host your own film festival. Have there been a few movies or shows you’ve wanted to see but just haven’t had the time? Turn your living room into a home theatre and have a film festival or TV show marathon. Remember those goodies you baked? They’re now part of your very own concession stand. Just don’t leave out the popcorn!

Build couch forts. As childish as this may seem, it’s still fun to build one and curl up in it for a nap. You’ll find out that this blast from your past is just the thing to cheer you up on a gloomy day. If you’ve never built a couch fort before, then this is a must do.

Play in the rain. This, too, is something some of us probably enjoyed as kids. After you’ve spent most of the day inside, get your rain gear on, go outside and get some fresh air while splashing around in the puddles.

Study. Maybe this isn’t the most exciting thing to do on a rainy day. However, you may as well get ahead on studying now so you don’t have to do it on a nicer day when you’d rather be outside.