Indoor Family Fun for Winter Months

When the temperature is too low for snow fun in the winter, you can keep your kids busy with indoor fun and still keep them away from their screens for a while. Create activities that are pure fun and encourage learning. Depending on the age of your kids, learning activities might involve colors, numbers or even the alphabet. Older children might enjoy science projects that you can do with ingredients you have around the house, or they might enjoy learning how to make cookies. Here are some examples of indoor fun you can try with your kids during the winter months.

Homemade Twister Game

Teach colors with a homemade twister game. You can find a white tablecloth at the dollar store if you don’t have one. Use watercolors, a piece of cardboard, and a round-head fastener to make the spinner. Have your kids dip their hands in different color paints and put the colored hand prints on the smooth side of the table cloth. Color the cardboard with the colors on the twister cloth. Attach a cardboard arrow to the center with the round-head fastener, making sure it’s loose enough to spin and voila!

Baking

You don’t have to wait for the holidays to make sugar cookies. You can make them into balls, flatten them, bake and decorate them after they cool. Use fun cookie cutters you can pick up at the dollar store. Your kids will learn the fundamentals of baking, while having fun decorating the cookies.

Plant a Garden

Teach your children about growing food by creating an indoor herb garden. If you can’t find potting soil, check online for peat pellets.  Use inexpensive plastic plates or bowls from the dollar store to hold the peat pellets. If you have potting soil but do not have planters, create your own out of inexpensive plastic bowls or buckets you can punch holes in the bottom, for draining.  Plant seeds you saved from last year if you are using the peat pellets. If you are using potting soil and larger bowls, have the kids grow a carrot by cutting the top off of a carrot you have from the store, and planting it. You can do the same with a fresh pineapple, potatoes and even celery. With celery, support the root on top of a glass with toothpicks- only the bottom of the celery should be in the water until the roots grow and then you can plant the celery in a pot. Save seeds from green peppers or tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables. You can then dry them out and use these to plant and grow!

Indoor Camping

Younger kids will love to pretend they are going on a camping trip! If you have a small tent, set it up in the living room, along with sleeping bags so the kids can “camp out” for a night or two. If you don’t have a small tent, make one with blankets or a tarp and some furniture. While you are setting up, teach your kids the importance of survival if they happen to get stranded in a snowstorm. Teach them how to layer clothing, what kinds of things they should carry with them in a car like a flashlight with batteries, non-perishable food and water. Teach older kids how to do basic first aid. Your kids will not only learn the basics of camping, but more importantly they will know what to do if they ever get stranded in a snowstorm later in life.