Bringing Outdoor Activities Inside
Too bone-chillingly cold for your kids to participate in their favorite outdoor activities? No problem—just bring the activities inside!
Have a campout Nobody said you have to pitch a tent outside to enjoy a family campout. You can turn your living room or basement into a temporary campsite using blankets and sleeping bags. Turn off the lights and tell stories around the “camp fire,” made with red, yellow and orange construction paper and a battery-operated tea light. The kiddos can draw the moon and stars with glow-in-the-dark paint or crayons and tape them to the ceiling. No campout is complete without s’mores, of course; just pop them in the microwave for ooey-gooey scrumptiousness!
Bring the zoo inside The Kansas City Zoo is open year-round, but what if it’s too frigid to even consider bundling up and looking at lions and tigers and bears? Transform your house into a zoo! Our children loved doing this when they were younger. They gathered their multitude of stuffed animals, separated them by type, chose an area of the house for each species, and took Mom and Dad for a tour. They told us what bears like to eat, how many hours a day tigers sleep and showed us how monkeys swing by their tails. Sometimes the animals roared or growled at us! Bonus: Setting up a pretend zoo is a great way for little ones to practice sorting skills and use their creativity.
Sidewalk Chalk You can create a “sidewalk” inside your house with butcher paper, large pieces of cardboard or cut-up grocery paper sacks. Give your children some colorful sidewalk chalk and let them create masterpieces!
Hopscotch While the chalk is out, draw a hopscotch grid on paper, or use string to create one on the carpet. Have fun hopping around; hopscotch is great exercise and burns off pent-up energy!
Windowsill Garden Do your kids love to grow flowers in the summertime? If so, you don’t need to wait until warm weather to encourage your child’s green thumb. Many plants and flowers grow well indoors. All you need are a few small pots (disposable food containers work well, too; just poke some holes in the bottom), potting soil, seeds or herbs or small flowers. Dry beans are fun to plant, too, and sprout quickly!
Play Ball In the house?! you might be asking. I’m not suggesting your family play a game of dodge ball in the living room. However, many favorite sports can be tweaked to work well indoors. For example, a balloon and a small plastic bat can be used to play baseball. A trash can and a foam ball can be turned into a makeshift basketball game. With a little creativity and restraint, children can have a fun game without shattering windows or breaking vases.
Picnic Time Our kids love to randomly have picnics in the middle of the living room. They drag out a blanket, help me make sandwiches, grab some chips and juice boxes, and voila! An instant picnic. For a true summertime feel, slice some fresh fruit and make some lemonade. Cleanup is a breeze, and in the middle of winter, you don’t have to worry about pesky flies or ants ruining your picnic.
Beach Party The kids can slip on their swimsuits and have a beach party in the bathtub. Sunglasses, pail, shovel and toy boats can add to the ambiance of summertime fun. Grass skirts and Hawaiian music are optional.
Mud Pies You don’t have to dig up the frozen ground to make mud pies in winter; just use everyday items from your pantry! Flour, cocoa, water, and a few nuts or beans for pebbles can be stirred into a bowl to make indoor mud pies. Spreading newspaper or waxed paper on the table before your kiddos get to work will make cleanup a cinch.
Tisha Foley’s kids are fans of indoor picnics year-round. Their family lives in Belton.