How do you keep your littles occupied during the winter months?

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What kind of activities or family things do you do with your kids when it's raining or snowing outside and it's too cold to go outside and play? It seems like my daughter gets bored easily when she can't play in the sun. We read, color, play board games but I need more ideas and would love to hear from you!

Brandy
www.belleserelle.com

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Permalink Reply by Healthy Mom on October 9, 2009 at 11:34am: We love to make forts. My kids make them in the playroom and they get to keep them up for a week. Then they start all over. We also love to play hullaballoo. check out my weekly questions one week I asked this and got some good ideas.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Susan Creal on October 11, 2009 at 5:06am: We play twister and will always do tons of arts and crafts..painting, make ooblek (cornstarch, water and food coloring) playdough, I will play something where my son has to run around the house a lot..hid and seek, basketball with stuffed animals and the laundry basket...and are members of lots of museums and will ALWAYS go to the library and get loads of books...make puppets after reading the books..oh! And lots of books on CD have helped me tremenedously. He LOVES to listen while playing by himself!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Deirdre Smith on October 12, 2009 at 3:40am: Books on CD is a great idea. I will have to remember it.

Susan Creal said:
We play twister and will always do tons of arts and crafts..painting, make ooblek (cornstarch, water and food coloring) playdough, I will play something where my son has to run around the house a lot..hid and seek, basketball with stuffed animals and the laundry basket...and are members of lots of museums and will ALWAYS go to the library and get loads of books...make puppets after reading the books..oh! And lots of books on CD have helped me tremenedously. He LOVES to listen while playing by himself!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Queen B on October 12, 2009 at 10:18am: I'll take my 3 year old to the different malls in the area to play in the playarea. We also go to our local library for storytime. I joined The Moms club in our community they arrange activities and playdates.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Holly Bowne on October 12, 2009 at 6:21pm: When my kids were little, I bought a book of simple science experiments we could do at home. These were always a big hit!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dorothea Orme on October 13, 2009 at 6:24am: The best ways I have found with my children is the love being creative. It never ceases to amaze me that they have so many toys in their rooms yet they love it when I find a huge cardboard box (large enough for them to crawl/walk into) and cut out doors and windows and let them decorate it. It is best placed on a washable surface. They spend weeks adding to their 'house' either painting or pasting pictures on the walls and personalising it.

Making musical instruments is another fascinating way to keep them away from the television. Simple things like hand-made string instruments, drums and percussion, to glass bottle xylophones(of course under supervision) Children love using something they have created.

It encourages creativity and free play. Needless to say all my children have grown into very artistic adults and teenagers.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lorna Darden on October 13, 2009 at 7:02am: We love to watch movies, we color in coloring books, watch Michael Jackson Videos, do crossword puzzle, dance together and they like big boxes. Their Father makes them a little playhouse with it. They love to play school too!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dorothea Orme on October 13, 2009 at 7:18am: Cooking is something they all love to do...again it's about being able to make something they can use/eat/play.
I started mine with something easy like making chocolate cornflakes/rice krispies and jam tarts using ready made pastry. We then moved on to the popular Betty Crocker cake mixes and then onto making cakes and pastry from scratch and cooking simple meals for lunch. Lots of patience and advance organizing needed but they learn so much about weights, heat temperatures, liquid volume and flavours. I am sure that it has made them all very experimental with food and I have never had problems at mealtimes as they understand what is involved in making food and how proud it made them feel when the family enjoyed the food they created.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nicole Laws on October 13, 2009 at 7:02pm: What a GREAT QUESTION, not to mention the great ideas!!! I go to my local craft store and/or Target and look for different fun craft ideas. We just recently made sock puppets, which all 3 of my boys loved. We bake, finger paint, color, and do fun activites that help educate them. For example I bought my son a huge book of mazes, look and find pictures, opposites, tracing letters/numbers and more. He loves it. I also try to find games that keep them moving and active. I am determined to do more with them this winter. I dont mind computer games and the wii but my son at barely 5 would play them constantly if I let him and that's just not okay with me. My husband and I try to go to local indoor playgrounds/jumphouses and let them run/bounce around for an hour or so. I swear I'm tempted to buy a smaller one for my own house. :)
I am looking forward to reading more great ideas!!!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by lisa sperou turner on October 17, 2009 at 12:18pm: My daughter is older now, but in the winter she slways missed smimming. .we belonged to a local y but when it wasn't possible to go, we'd fill the tub up with water and put on a bathing suit and she would practice holding her breath or floating or just playing. Plus I would put measuring cups in the tub and we would have a math lesson on measurements. It was just all fun to her. Bathing dogs was fun for her. I painted during the winter months and sh always helped. My daughter was doing her own laundry at 7 because I included her so much in what I needed to do. It made her feel so grown up.We also Started our own seedlings by February. started planning them in January. October and November she would make decorations for the holidays. December, also in addition to baking. We were never bored. Just always include them in age appropriate tasks and they will feel so special and loved. And they will be learning too.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Laura K on October 18, 2009 at 8:59pm: I did the same thing with my girls when they were younger! I would fill up the bathtub during the day, they would put their swimsuits on and go for a "swim". I remember pulling out their goggles and that provided so much entertainment searching for toys under the water. Also, involving them in cooking was a fun activity too. I lhave really enjoyed reading all the fantastic suggestions! Sure makes me miss those days, savour them because they really do fly by. Now that my girls are 7 & 9 I am trying to figure out completely new ways to spend good time together. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Debbie Ferm on October 19, 2009 at 4:50pm: My kids are a not tiny anymore, but I was home with them and I loved to plan something out for the morning, come home before lunch, and then have naps. My dirty little secret was that I would give them a dum dum on the way home from wherever we were so they wouldn't go to sleep in the car. I just pictured all of the " perfect" moms looking at me with disdain if they found out! loved those naps on the winter afternoons.

Now they are in school all day and I take that afternoon nap with the dogs.; ▶ Reply to This