Now that winter is in full swing, many of us are looking for new activities to keep ourselves and our kids busy. There are many options as long as you want to participate yourself. 10 options that I believe will have you and your kids laughing, leaning and having lots of fun!
1. Make a fort. Take chairs, rugs, blankets and lots of stuffed animals. Place the chairs in formation and spread the mattress over them, using tape to build a castle. Kids love going in and out and playing house in this new castle. You can also pretend to have a prince and princess, a moat, a king and queen, and hopefully much more. Just let your imagination guide you and you will have hours of entertainment.
2. Color, Color, Color! Get out the paper and crayons. You can color banners and stick them on the wall, color pictures for a loved one and send them in the mail, color your pictures from a coloring book, or just draw a fun family photo! You can be really creative these days and print pictures from your kids favorite websites so they can color the cartoon characters of the TV show. They will have lots of fun pretending to be in the show with their friends as they color. You can also get colors beyond crayons. Letters, colored pencils and pictures are also great options. Finger paints are a lot of fun for little ones who can’t quite draw yet. You can put a large piece of paper on the back and put it on the floor and the kids will go crazy. One fun idea is to paint the chocolate cake itself for your finger! Kids love to eat color.
3. Play-doh, or any sculpting material. There are so many fun things to do with mud. In almost any toy store you can find an aisle full of shapes and other sculpting tools. You can create food, clothing, jewelry, valentines, Easter eggs, just about anything you can think of. They mix a permanent mass of salt and bake the creations for 8-10 hours at 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Salted flour is very simple, to mix one cup of salt, one cup of flour and half a cup of water; You may need to add more water or flour to achieve the correct consistency. You can paint the dough with just about as much food coloring as you can easily. After you create the shape, you can paint it and preserve it with polyurethane.
4. Reading. This is the most classic of the past in my opinion. Books open our minds to places far, far away, and develop imaginations in children as they grow. As you read, show interesting pictures and liven up the story line about your child’s life. Playing volume is a great educational activity and your child will be dreaming about all the things they can do with their lives!
5. Organize the kids room. This is a definite motivation to take action. Many kids had their own crib, dresser and toy box set by their mother or father. Let your child move each fixture to a new location, it creates a sense of self-worth and great excitement! The child will have so much fun in his “new” room, exploring new cubbyholes and new places to play. Even the bed will feel like a new place for them. If your child is older, they will have to place the pictures and organize all their own.
6. Get out the pots and pans for a fun musical! This is also a classic. Every child wants to play with bears and skates. Grab the wooden spoons, turn on the radio and pulse on!
7. Video party. While most people have a digital camera, kids love to see themselves on camera. Make the activity even more fun by recording the child’s career and watching it play. Sing songs, dances, repeat the ABC’s, or anything, that your loving love can do. Tape yourself to read a story and your child will love to watch you on TV. It doesn’t get much more exciting than seeing someone you know on TV!
8. Scavenger Hunt. This is one activity that you can do very easily, or you can put it into your daily routine! Just ask your child to find something simple and bring it to you every day. After finding five, 10 or 20, they complete the hunt and take the prize. To make it a bit more difficult, you may want to draw a piece of paper or draw pictures of things. You can also make up some clues and guess the item they need to find. You can always make this activity new and exciting by changing the items the kids need to find, different prizes, etc.
9. Bathtime fun. Almost every kid loves a bath. Maybe mom and dad have a special, large bathtub in their bathroom that the kids love to splash around in. They can feel like they’re swimming, playing at the beach, or at Grandma and Grandpa’s pool cabin!
10. Get ready. I think most kids love to wear their parent’s clothes! They create lots of fun shoes, dresses, sweaters, jewelry, and hats. A picture reception will complete the activity and leave you with many fun memories. You can find lots of princess costumes and make extra fun, shop after sales and last year’s dress up sales.
The next time you feel like your kids are busy inside the house, take them. Check out this list and try some of these ideas. Kids of all ages will find many of these activities fun, and I think you, as a parent, will too!
