Brrrrr! Bugsley, it’s cold outside! We’re not done with winter yet, so it’s time to get creative with the indoor activities – especially for the kiddos! Here are some of our favorite ideas to beat back the winter doldrums.
Marshmallow Pretzel Tinker Toys – Grab a bag of mini marshmallows and a bag of pretzel sticks and see how many great creations you can make by connecting the pretzels with marshmallows. They make a yummy afternoon snack, too.
Baking Project – Let the kiddos help with a baking project. I find that making muffins out of a box is an easy task for little ones. They’ll feel helpful stirring and filling up the muffin cups. And, they’ll enjoy eating something they helped to make for breakfast the next morning. Blueberry muffins are Bugsley’s favorites. What are yours?
Shape Matching – Hold two craft sticks together on a hard surface and help your child to draw different shapes evenly over the two sticks. Make several sets each one with a different shape. Then mix them up and let your child work to match up the shapes.
Bingo – Make a Bingo game using fun things that your child relates to. Put pictures in each of the squares and put the same pictures on pieces of cardstock. Take turns drawing the cardstock pieces out of a bowl and working toward a bingo. Ideas for pictures can be anything, such as family member photos, animals, characters from your child’s favorite movie, colors, etc.
Sensory Learning Stations – Set up several bowls along a table. Fill each bowl with a different item (rice, dried beans, macaroni noodles, smooth beads, fuzzy craft pompons, play sand, buttons, etc.) Bury some coins in each of the bowls and let kids dig through the different textured items to find them.
I Spy – Play I Spy with the kiddos. Mix it up by moving around from room to room. Or even better, use pages out of your child’s favorite books.
Have an Indoor Picnic – Make a few sandwiches and package them up. Lay them out, along with picnic friendly foods like fruit cups, juice pouches, raisins, string cheese, cracker packages, etc. Let the kids pack the picnic basket with your picnic lunch. Don’t forget the blanket! Then let the kids choose the “perfect” spot to set up the picnic blanket.
Sugar Cookie Art Palettes – Buy a tube of sugar cookie dough and make to package instructions. Then let the kids decorate the cookies with colorful toppings. You can use frosting or jam as a base to help everything stick to the cookies. Let the kids “paint” the cookies with the frosting, jam, peanut butter or Nutella. Then they can decorate with dyed coconut, candy pieces, raisins, cheerios, Chinese noodles, fruit snacks, dried fruit, etc. Voila!
Remember, that all kids are different. Choose indoor activities that you know your child will tolerate and enjoy!
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