We’ve been stuck inside a lot this winter thanks to snow, negative degree weather, and sickness. In an attempt to avoid screen time as much as possible, we’ve gotten pretty creative with things to do! I thought I’d share some of the top ones for the next time you find yourself stuck inside!
1. Build a city with whatever you have to hand: blocks, rugs, trains, planes, trucks, and cars! (I’ll admit, this picture is from a whole year ago, but it just goes to show you can do this with any age and we do this all the time!)
2. Build a fort with clothesline, shower curtains, and large clothespins!
3. Make dry-erase coloring books so you can use them again and again!
4. For Christmas the kids got a large easel roll of paper and a whole box of art supplies. I just roll out the paper and let them choose what they want to use (markers, crayons, paints, etc.) and they go crazy. We discovered the length of the table is equal to the height of the door so we can hang them there when we’re done!
5. When in doubt: READ! You can never go wrong with a stack of books, though you might want to keep some water handy! 😉
6. Reusable sticker books are amazing! They’re like the old decals I used to play with as a kid (which means they’re not like stickers—see my post on Stickerphobia). It’s to the point with my kids that when Bean picked out a real sticker book, he was extremely disappointed he couldn’t pull the stickers back off after he’d placed them!
7. Bake something! We’ve had so much fun this past month baking and cooking together. For Christmas we got to make this Danish specialty candy cake (like a puff pastry donut with frosting and candy) with Auntie Jessie!
8. Magnetic play is a wonderful quiet toy. This is a magnetic play set I made for the kids to go with the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (one of their favorites). Bird’s favorite part is actually just pushing the alphabet pieces into the wipes container over and over!
9. Trains! Bean LOVES his trains!
10. We pulled all the pillows off the couch and made a runway. They had so much fun running and falling and racing all over!
11. My kids LOVE to play with the dust buster! So I let them go at it and point out places where they could whirr away! 😉
12. Have a dance party! Our favorite music includes Disney soundtracks, classic musicals, jazz, and anything by Sandra Boynton!
13. Play a board game! Our favorites right now include most Haba games, like Knuckling Knights and Snail’s Pace Race. Occasionally we try big kid games, too, like Carcassonne, but we just make it extremely simple (like just matching the roads and castles in Carcassonne to make a map for his cars)!
14. (I admit, my final one does involve the screen, but it’s an interactive workout to get you moving!) We discovered this wonderful YouTube channel by Cosmic Kids Yoga. It’s yoga for kids and is such a wonderful way to get moving indoors! She has animal themes and story themes, like Frozen, which brings a story to the session and makes the time just all the more interactive. (She also does Harry Potter and Star Wars themes!)
So there you have it! I hope this helps you the next time you’re stuck inside on a snowy day, or more likely a rainy day, as we enter spring!