Snow blankets the ground in many places around the country and the thermometer has dipped to levels below the freezing mark. With nearly two months left of winter, our list of indoor activities needs a boost of new ideas. If your kiddos are getting antsy with all the usual indoor play, try some of these fun, new activities to help beat back the winter doldrums.
Sudsy Toy Car Wash
Pull out some of your kids’ toy cars and put together a car wash! First, add baking soda to the bottom of a baking pan. Let the kids drive the cars through the baking soda – snow driving. Once they’ve had all the fun they can get out of that, pour some vinegar over the baking soda and watch it fizz and suds up. The kids should get a kick out of running their cars through the “car wash” for quite a while. Source: whatwedoallday.com
Indoor Snow Play
After a new snow fall, fill up a couple of buckets of clean snow and bring it inside. Kids can use sand or water toys with the snow. Or, get out some baking supplies and let them “snow bake”. The best part is they can play in the snow without the bulky snow gear or getting too cold.
Indoor Sailboats
Fill a baking dish or other container with water. Make sailboats out of foam craft pieces for the base, a toothpick or skewer for the mast, and a piece of paper for the sail. Launch your boats in the water and use a drinking straw to create wind. Children can race their boats across the baking dish. Source: whatwedoallday.com
Family Photo Bingo
This idea sounds like a lot of fun. Create bingo cards using photos of family members (you might have to use extended family members to get enough variety. Run a few bingo games for you kids. G-Grandma Mary; O-Aunt Sue Source: parents.com
Puppet Theatre
Create a puppet theatre out of a cardboard box. Puppets can be made out of anything – leftover scraps of fabric, popsicle sticks, even socks. Let your children get creative making story lines and acting them out with their puppets. Have them practice on their own and then perform their puppet plays for an audience of mom and dad. Source: pinterest.com
Indoor Bowling
Use some empty water bottles and a rubber ball to set an indoor bowling alley for the kids. You can even make up score cards to help them record all the spares and strikes. Source: pinterest.com
Doll Beach Party
Round up some dolls (Barbie dolls or other like-sized dolls) that won’t mind getting a little wet and create a Beach Party in the bathtub. Wash clothes can become great beach towels. A lightweight soap dish might make a good pool float. Just make sure the doll has proper beach attire – swimsuit and sunglasses, of course! Source: parents.com
Family Book Club
Choose a longer chapter book and read a little bit from it every day. After each day’s session, have the kids discuss their thoughts about the story and characters, as if they were part of a real book club. Have some kid-friendly book club snacks to go along with the story. Great book suggestions for Family Book Club: Little House on the Prairie; 101 Dalmations; Charlotte’s Web; Shiloh; The Boxcar Children.
Check out these other ideas for keeping kids entertained inside during the long winter months.
Bugsley's Blog 