kodomotati ha mada kouen de asobitagatte ita keredo, ame ga hutte kita node ie ni kaetta.

たち is a common plural-like marker for people.

• 子供 can mean child or children, depending on context.
• 子供たち makes it clearer that we are talking about multiple children.

So 子供たち is a very natural way to say the children.

は marks the topic of the sentence.

Here, 子供たちは means something like:

• As for the children...
• The children, ...

It sets up the children as the main thing being talked about. Even though another subject appears later with 雨が, the overall sentence is still about what happened to the children.

In this sentence, まだ means still.

So まだ遊びたがっていた means:

• were still wanting to play

It shows that, at that time, the children had not yet finished wanting to play. The desire continued up to the point when the rain came.

Because 遊ぶ is an action that takes place at a location, and the particle で marks the place where an action happens.

• 公園で遊ぶ = play at/in the park

By contrast, に often marks a destination or point of arrival.

• 公園に行く = go to the park

So:

• 公園で遊ぶ is correct
• 公園に遊ぶ would sound wrong in standard Japanese

This is a very common learner question.

〜たい is usually used for your own desire, or sometimes for desire you can directly ask someone about.

• 遊びたい = want to play

But when talking about someone else’s apparent desire, Japanese often uses 〜たがる.

• 遊びたがる = to show signs of wanting to play

So 子供たちは遊びたがっていた means the speaker is describing the children’s visible behavior or apparent desire:

• they looked like they still wanted to play
• they were acting as if they wanted to keep playing

This is more natural than directly stating another person’s inner feelings with 〜たい.

〜ていた shows an ongoing state or condition in the past.

So:

• 遊びたがった = showed a desire to play / wanted to play at some point
• 遊びたがっていた = was/were in the state of wanting to play

Here, 遊びたがっていた fits well because the sentence describes a continuing situation:

• the children were still wanting to play,
• but then it started raining.

So the desire was ongoing, not just a single momentary event.

けれど means but, although, or however.

It connects the first part and the second part:

• The children still wanted to play, but...
• Although the children still wanted to play...

It shows a contrast between:

1. what the children wanted
2. what actually happened next

In everyday Japanese, けど is a more casual version of けれど.

This means it started to rain or the rain came on.

Let’s break it down:

• 雨が降る = rain falls / it rains
• 降ってくる adds the nuance that something comes about toward the present situation or begins and develops

So 雨が降ってきた often means:

• it began to rain
• it started raining

This 〜てくる form often suggests a change that has begun and is becoming noticeable.

Because 雨 is the subject of 降ってきた.

• 雨が降る = rain falls / it rains

In Japanese, weather phenomena are often marked with が:

• 雨が降る = it rains
• 雪が降る = it snows

So here 雨が simply marks rain as the thing doing the raining, grammatically speaking.

Both ので and から can mean because, but they feel a little different.

• から can sound a bit more direct, personal, or assertive
• ので often sounds a bit softer, calmer, and more explanatory

In this sentence:

• 雨が降ってきたので家に帰った
• Because it started raining, they went home

ので fits nicely because it presents the rain as the natural reason for going home.

Yes, the understood subject of 帰った is the children.

Japanese often omits subjects when they are already clear from context. Here the sentence begins with 子供たちは, and nothing suggests that the subject changes for 帰った, so we naturally understand:

• the children went home

Even though 雨が appears in the middle, that only applies to 降ってきた. It does not become the subject of 帰った.

With 帰る, the particle に commonly marks the destination you return to.

• 家に帰る = go home
• 日本に帰る = return to Japan

Here, に shows where they ended up going back to.

You may also see へ with motion verbs, and 家へ帰る is possible too, but 家に帰る is extremely common and natural.

In this context, it is most naturally went home.

Even though 家 literally means house/home, 家に帰る is a standard expression for returning home. English usually translates it naturally as:

• went home
• returned home

rather than the more literal and less natural returned to the house.

Japanese often builds information step by step, and this order is very natural:

1. what the children wanted
2. the contrast
3. what happened
4. the result

So the structure is:

• The children still wanted to play, but
• since it started raining,
• they went home

This ordering highlights the contrast between the children’s wishes and the reality of the situation.