Wintertime can be a stressful and boring time for both children and parents. Children tend to get all hyped up when they are cooped up inside, which only leads to stressed out parents. Have no fear though; I’ve put together a few ideas to keep your kids occupied.
I am a mother of five children (if you don’t count the large husband child) who lives in Northern Idaho where we get mountains of snow every year, so I know how it is to feel the need to keep those kids occupied.
On with the tips!
Let Them Outside
Obviously, there is the option to bundle those kids up and send them out there into the cold. I know, I know, they might get sick, right? Well they have just as much risk of getting sick at school so you might as well let them have some fun. Just make sure they have coats, hats, boots, and snow pants and it will be just fine.
Snow Sculptures
It’s fun to build a snow man, but it’s super fun to make a dragon snow sculpture, a snow castle, or a snow fish…the possibilities are endless. The really, really fun part about this activity is that you can color the snow sculptures by filling a spray bottle with a bit of food coloring and water. Take the spray bottles and spray the colors on the parts of the sculpture you want.
Try it, it’s fun!
Stock up on Games
When I say stock up on games, I mean board games, not video games. Kids need interaction and brain stimulation. There is nothing wrong with a nice game of candy land or operation. For older kids there are more games than I can list available that they would enjoy.
Puzzles are considered a bored game to me and I know my kids love puzzles, so those are an option too. For more active games you can try Twister or put together a family night of Charades.
Arts and Crafts Station
Set up a spot somewhere in your house for an arts and crafts station. What works for me is a table and chairs and small tubs. Fill the tubs with markers, crayons, paper, craft paper, safety scissors, glue sticks and whatever else you can think of. There are literally endless possibilities to what you can put in an arts and crafts station; pretty much anything can be glued onto some paper.
Kids will spend hours, yes…hours, at an arts and crafts station and its way better than sitting them in front of the television with a video game or cartoons.