Ideas that don’t cost money, take a lot of time to set up or make a big mess!
Are you as tired of snow as me? When I got the One Call that schools were out today, I may have shed a little tear. Don’t get me wrong; I love my kids…with all my heart…more than life itself. But we have had a lot of together time lately. And they are starting to get a little stir crazy. Here are some ideas I am thinking about doing to help them beat this winter boredom.
- Have an indoor picnic or throw a fancy tea party. Make lunchtime a little more special by serving it picnic-style on the floor. Have an only child? Let them serve lunch to their stuffed animal friends! You can get as creative with this as you want. My daughter really gets into this kind of thing, so I will let her set the place settings, assign seats with small cards, and maybe even set the menu.
- Draw on the windows with dry erase markers. My kids love doing this because they think they are getting to do something crazy! And all it takes is one wipe and the window is clean!
- Play Sock Toss. My kids love this game. Arrange baskets, buckets, or paper bags in the middle of your living room floor. Stuff socks into balls. Whoever gets the most socks in the baskets wins. You could even coordinate this with getting laundry done!
- Write letters to loved ones. My daughter is obsessed with mail. She loves getting mail and sending it. Have your kids sit down and write letters to loved ones whether they are in town or out of town. For kiddos too young to write letters, have them color or draw pictures.
- Scavenger Hunt. OK, this could take a little bit of set up time, but not much, I promise. On a piece of paper, list things for your kids to find. Give them a bag to collect the items. If need this to use a little time, keeps these things in mind: be specific – 1 small, yellow car; think quantity – 10 Elsas; make them think – 2 things that you would find in the ocean. You could even kill two birds with one stone and have them collect random things around the house that they can turn into a craft later.
- Use your time wisely. Let your kid get a head start on Valentine’s Day cards for her classroom. I know I always have high hopes of letting my daughter handcraft her own cards, but I always run out of time and opt the for store-bought ones. Use this snow day to get crafty. Use what you have and let their creativity shine!