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Baby, the weather outside is frightening. Not even exaggerating. The wind chill is dropping to dangerously low temperatures- life threatening, the weather man tells me. Banks and businesses are closing to keep their workers safe.
Speaking of keeping workers safe, farmers still have to go outside to take care of their animals.
Today was cold, but not deathly cold, so the kids still went outside to play. The next couple of days though, nature will be off limits. What are some things to do when it’s too cold to leave the house?
- Bake something. Nothing warms a home like the oven wafting the scent of freshly baked bread or apple crisp. Here is a simple recipe to make alphabet pretzels.
- Snuggle. We have one Lazy-Boy chair we call the Comfy Chair. It’s usually where I sit to read aloud to the kids. Despite the four youngest being 10, 8 6, and 3, we all somehow manage to fit! With a Schnauzer to boot!
- Blanket forts. Here’s a super simple idea my then six year old came up with.
- Piles of books.
- Car ramps. Lean a board or table leaf against the couch and test different kind of rolling vehicles and things that aren’t, like milk lids, balls of different sizes.
- Fashion show.
- Write letters. Cookbooks- let the kids write their own recipes. News letters. Comics.
- Make newspaper hats.
- Do a puzzle together. My son’s favorite puzzles are Ravensburger.
- Board games. An easy one we all can play is Tenzis. (plus it strengthens math skills, but SHhhh…keep that on the down low.
- Light “Candles”. These are the exact ones we have, and they have worked forever! The flames look real and truly help to bring about that feeling of cozy. Turn off the lights and have a massage circle.
- Face paint. We started with this Klutz Kit because it has great step by step directions and ideas. Then we switched to Snazaroo when the Klutz paint ran out. We still use the book though every time we do it.
- Bracelets and necklaces from cereal.
- Hot cocoa from a recipe, not a mix. Iowa Girl Eats has an excellent recipe for you to try if you don’t have one of your own.
- Watch YouTube videos of “the most dangerous bridges” ,”Most dangerous insects” , “Snake vs some other animal”; many great learning videos out there and the kids don’t even realize they’re doing science, physics, and geography.
- Indoor golf with a ball of aluminum foil and solo cup holes. Pool noodle clubs.
- Pool noodle sword fight, (which, at my house the indoor golf invariably becomes).
- Have a picnic by just eating the food on the floor. Spread a quilt if you want to, but I guarantee you’ll end up having to wash it.
- Turn on the fireplace. If yours isn’t real like mine, you can find a youtube video of crackling fires to add to the ambiance.
- Print off one of those time capsule sheets for kids and fill it out. Hide it in a box in your closet. Put in your phone to open it in however many years- and remind yourself where you hid it. I like this printable.
- Painting.
Or drawing. We love the book series Draw, Write, Now because it makes us feel successful at drawing what we mean to draw.
We also love the youtube channel “Art for Kids Hub” - Practice lettering.
- A craft idea from Who Arted? , a local mama with lots of great ideas for you to get your crafty on, with and without your kids.
- Have everyone put their choice of movie into a bowl and draw one out. Watch it.
- Charades. Here is an excellent set of options to print your own set of idea cards.
- Table Talk prompts. You can buy a set of cards called “Table Topics”
or you can find lists of great conversation starters on line. Here’s an excellent place to start. - Do an exercise youtube video together.
- Look up trivia questions for kids and give stickers for prizes when someone knows the answer. This set is for the younger kids.
- Zentangles.
- Watch Joseph’s Machines on YouTube and try to make one tiny part of one of his contraptions.
- Raid the recycle bin and see if you can make a marble run. Here’s one we made a few years ago.
- Give the kids straws and tape. See what happens. I wouldn’t give them scissors though. I made that mistake.
- Make a hammock out of a sheet buy tying it around your dining room table. Knot on top.
- Make a puppet show stage by taping a sheet to a doorway (or use a spring release curtain rod) Draw on the kids’s hands, make sock puppets, paper bag puppets, print off puppets from Pinterest and glue them to straws or Popsicle sticks. Have the kids tell a favorite fairy tale. Here’s a great clearing house of patterns.
- Give them marshmallows and toothpicks.
Make some pyramids, towers, bridges. Challenge them to a contest. - Let them climb the walls.
When it’s finally bedtime, cuddle up under your favorite blanket, with a heating pad and beverage of your choice. Binge watch something if you want creepy, try You. If you prefer comedy, I just started watching Parks and Rec. If you want some excellent acting, a poignant plot, and some feel good tears, check out Dumplin‘ on Netflix! SO FANTASTIC.
You’ll have to put together your own list if the kids are out of school another day. That’s all I got. 😉