Rain on a farm holiday is not a disaster, it is a change of plan. The fields will still be there tomorrow, the animals will still want feeding, and the puddles will be even better. What you need is a small kit of supplies, a couple of reliable ideas, and the willingness to let the day slow down. Here is how to turn a wet morning in a rural cottage into the bit the children talk about on the way home.

Pack for the weather you will probably get

British holidays reward a bit of forward planning. Before you leave, tuck a few things into the boot that you will be glad of by Tuesday afternoon.

• Wellies and waterproofs for everyone, including the adults. Cheap supermarket wellies are fine; cold, wet feet are what end outdoor fun early.
• A spare set of gloves and hats per child, because wet ones take a day to dry on a cottage radiator.
• Two or three board games you already know your family enjoys, rather than a new one with rules nobody has read.
• A craft bag: coloured paper, child-safe scissors, glue sticks, sticky tape, crayons, a ball of string, and a roll of kitchen paper.
• A simple baking kit: self-raising flour, caster sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, icing sugar and a bag of chocolate chips.

If you are travelling by train or short on space, most farm cottages and village shops stock the basics, and owners are usually happy to point you towards the nearest small supermarket.

Build a cottage games cupboard

Cottages often come with a mismatched shelf of games, and that is part of the charm. Have a proper look on the first evening and set aside anything with missing pieces. Then introduce a rule that works surprisingly well on holiday: one game, played properly, before screens. Twenty minutes of Snakes and Ladders, Uno or draughts buys you a calmer afternoon, and it gives younger children a chance to win something fair and square.

For mixed ages, try team games where an adult pairs with the youngest, or co-operative games where everyone works against the board rather than each other. Keep a puzzle on a side table too. A 500-piece jigsaw can absorb three children at once, in shifts, for the whole week.

Den-building indoors

This is the single best rainy-day activity on a farm holiday, and it costs nothing. Push the coffee table to one side, drape a blanket over it, and weight the corners with cushions or shoes.

• Use what is there: dining chairs, a clothes airer, the back of a sofa, a broom handle propped between two chair backs.
• Hold it together with pegs rather than tape, so the blankets survive the week.
• Add a floor layer of cushions and a duvet, then a torch, a few books and a snack.
• Let them sleep in it if they want to. A den that becomes a bedtime camp is worth ten wet afternoons.

If you have a barn or outbuilding you are allowed to use, ask the owner first, then move the operation out there with a rug and a flask of hot chocolate.

Bake something simple together

Cottage kitchens are made for this, and the smell does a lot of the work. Keep it to one bowl and one tray.

For fairy cakes, beat 100g soft butter with 100g caster sugar, add two eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla, then fold in 100g self-raising flour. Spoon into paper cases and bake at 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4) for about 15 minutes. Cool, then let the children loose with icing sugar mixed with a little water and a scattering of sprinkles.

For something even easier, make flapjack: melt 100g butter with 75g golden syrup and 75g soft brown sugar, stir in 200g porridge oats, press into a lined tin and bake at 180°C for 20 minutes. It travels well in a coat pocket for the next day's walk.

Crafts with a farm flavour

Tie the making to where you are, and the results become souvenirs rather than clutter.

• Paint a stone for each animal the children have met, then hide them along the lane for other families to find.
• Make a nature tray from clean feathers, leaves, acorns and dry grass collected between showers, and label each find.
• Draw a farm map of the week: the field with the friendly goat, the gate that sticks, the best puddle.
• Write and post a card to a grandparent, using whatever stickers you have to hand.

When the rain eases, go out anyway

Watch for a gap, then take it. Ten minutes in wellies, jumping in puddles and checking on the animals, resets everyone's mood far better than another hour indoors. Wrap up warm, take a flask, and agree a short route so nobody gets cold. Muddy boots come off at the door, wet coats go on the radiator, and the kettle goes on. That is a good farm holiday day, rain and all.