It’s that time of year. The sun goes down at dinnertime and temperatures drop, trapping the kids indoors in a fight with boredom. Here are 12 free or (or relatively cheap) activities to fight the “b” word this winter!
1. Decorate your windows.
You will need sticky contact paper, painter’s tape, colored tissue paper, colored puff balls, cotton balls and any other craft supplies you can find around the house. How it works: Let your kids’ imaginations go wild! All you need to do is tape a large square of contact paper onto your window (sticky side out) with the painter’s tape. Then your child can stick whatever she wants to it: make snowmen with cotton balls, create a mosaic design with tissue paper squares, or even create a Christmas tree with green tissue paper and red puff balls.
2. Indoor snowball fight!
Material needed: yarn! That is IT! Roll the yarn into soft “snowballs” and let the kids go. Duck behind the couches, make forts, take it to the next level!
3. Get sticky! Make homemade goop.
Ingredients: 1 cup of cornstarch, 1 cup of baking soda and water. Then mix and play! For a “goop-ier” texture, omit baking soda. For extra fun, add paint or food coloring.
4. Make homemade ice cream with snow.
How to do it: Combine 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and any extra flavors your kids enjoy (chocolate sauce, cherries, etc.). Mix with half a gallon of fresh snow and enjoy!
5. Have a cookie decorating party.
Whip up some plain sugar cookies and put out different colors of frosting, sprinkles, small candies and any other toppings your children prefer. Let them go crazy—and hopefully not eat ALL of the toppings before they make it onto the cookies! You can make up a few cookie platters and have the kids deliver their unique and tasty creations to neighbors, grandparents or teachers.
6. Make some authentic jewelry.
Materials needed: wooden or plastic beads and string. Let your children’s design skills take over! Also, you can make this activity educational by suggesting patterns or letting your child create her own pattern. Bonus: these make great birthday and holiday gifts. Grandma would love a homemade matching necklace and bracelet set!
7. Play bull’s-eye bowling.
All you need is tape (masking or painter’s) and a ball. How to play: Create three circles on the floor with the tape (each one inside another) and aim to roll the ball into the center circle. For extra competition, let each child play with his own ball and try to knock his sibling’s ball out of the circle. Scoring: one point for outer circle, two points for middle circle and three points for inner circle.
8. Bowling with Tupperware!
Who needs plastic bowling pins? We all have Tupperware (or any other objects that stand up and are relatively easy to knock over). Set the objects up in a triangle, grab a ball and roll!
9. Bathtub snow party
Do your kids love snow, but it is too cold to play outside? Bring the snow into the bathtub! Have the kids climb into the tub (dressed in snowsuits, of course) and bring the snow to them. Provide some cups or containers so they can make snow castles or get out the washable bath paints to decorate the snow.
10. Play flashlight freeze tag or flashlight hide-and-seek.
Material needed: Flashlight! Flashlight tag rules: Once flashlight shines on you, freeze! Flashlight must shine on you again to un-freeze you. Flashlight hide-and-seek rules: The person hiding holds the flashlight and must keep it on (making it more challenging to hide).
11. Create a huge dot-to-dot puzzle.
Using the biggest sheet of paper or cardboard you can find (or tape a few together), make an enormous dot-to-dot puzzle. Use as many numbers as you can fit (depending on your child’s age and knowledge level). Try to stretch the numbers as far apart as you can! The idea is to get your kids moving while they count and connect, using their muscles and brains!
12. Categorizing with magazine pictures
Cut out (or let your kids cut out) pictures of all sizes and themes from magazines and newspaper ads. Then have your kids make “category collages” practicing their grouping concepts. Younger children can group by color, size or shape. Older children can categorize using more specific detail, such as common physical characteristics, evidence of similar climates or comparable moods and emotions.
Let’s have some fun this winter!
Karen Johnson is a former high school English teacher turned stay-at-home mom. She lives in Olathe with her three children, ages 5, 3 and 1. Follow her adventures at 2stCenturySAHM.blogspot.com.