Entertain Your Kids at Home for Free
Winter is that magical time of year when the holidays come and go, snow glistens on the ground, the fireplace crackles and we all get trapped in our houses because it’s too cold to go anywhere! And anyone who has been stuck inside with kids knows that you can’t count on lounging around drinking hot cocoa to entertain them for very long. So here are some ideas of how to entertain your kids at home this winter without spending much or losing your sanity.
Make Ice Sun Catchers.
Local mom Jill Nelson shared a great idea for those extra cold days…make sun catchers out of ice. Go on a hunt for pretty things in your backyard like berries, twigs, leaves and seeds. Put your found items in a pan and cover with about an inch of water. Freeze overnight, drill a hole near the top and hang your creation from a tree with some twine or ribbon. Your kids will not only have fun making this, but it will be fun for them to watch as the sun shines through it and it eventually melts.
Cost: Free!
Turn Your Table into a Playhouse.
This one is for the more crafty moms out there. Using patterns/ideas available online (Google “Card Table Playhouse Pattern”) and a few yards of cheap muslin, felt or clearance fabric, you can create a cute little house complete with doors, windows and even a mailbox. Or, for the craft-challenged, just throw a large sheet over the table and let them use their imaginations to make it a house, tee-pee, rocket ship or cave.
Cost: From Free up to $30+ depending on materials used
Celebrate the Alphabet
To break up the monotony of a long winter at home, give each day a “Letter of the Day” and build your activities and snacks around that letter. (You can also do one letter per week if you want to make this activity last). So, for “A,” serve apple slices, “ants on logs,” almonds, avocado or alphabet soup for snacks and lunch. Then have an Art show, make snow Angels and watch Alvin and the Chipmunks. The next day, move on to “B” and keep going until you get to “Z.” Area mom Staci Cunningham is working her way through the alphabet with her three daughters, and for “F” she made French fries and frozen treats, and used fruit to make funny faces on a plate.
Cost: Varies, but could easily be FREE if you use what you have on hand.
Opposite Day
On this day, everything right is wrong! Carolyn Schneider, a Kansas grandmother, suggests serving dinner for breakfast & breakfast for dinner, wearing clothes backwards or inside-out, and changing up your daily routine to entertain kids. Get your kids into it by letting them pick things to do backwards or by relaxing a long standing rule (let ‘em jump on the beds!).
Cost: Free!
Scrub the Kitchen Floor
Okay, so scrubbing the floor probably doesn’t sound all that FUN for kids, but here is what Robin Palmer does to entertain her three girls and clean the kitchen floor at the same time. Robin says, “Take one big bowl or pot per child and squirt one or two squirts of dish soap into it. Turn the sink on full blast and fill the bowl/pot, creating as many bubbles as possible. Using your hand to hold the bubbles in, pour out the water that's hiding underneath them. Set the bubble-filled bowl on a dishtowel on the kitchen floor and give the kids a bunch of spoons, measuring cups, whisks, and small bowls to play with. Refill with more bubbles as necessary. When they're done, use that dishtowel plus another rag or two to clean the kitchen floor!”
Cost: Free…and you get a clean floor out of the deal.
Mix Up Some Oobleck
Your kids will love this gooey substance that acts like both a solid and a liquid. And all you need is cornstarch, water and food coloring. Put 1.5 cups of corn starch into a bowl. Add a few drops of food coloring to 1 cup of water and then slowly begin adding the water to the corn starch, mixing constantly. You should end up with a mixture about the consistency of pancake batter. Now start playing! If you scoop some up and form it into a ball, it will feel hard and dry. Release your hand from the ball and the Oobleck will ooze through your fingers like a liquid. Kids (and parents) will be fascinated by this amazing goop!
Cost: Less than $1 for the corn starch.
Sara Keenan entertains her kids in Brookside and especially likes to have “Pajama Days” when it’s really cold outside.