Good Morning everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful, blessed Christmas yesterday!  I was able to spend time with my family, including my aunt and uncle from Vermont who came down to visit, so it was an extra-special time! As we move fully into winter and the temperatures stay cold, I thought it might be a good time to write up a list of tips and ideas you can use to keep the kids occupied and busy having fun when the weather gets bad and they’re out of school.   I hope this list not only gives you some great activities, but also inspires you to come up with some new ones so don’t forget to add a comment sharing your favorite winter activity for your kids!

Tips for Keeping the Kids Busy this Winter

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This list has indoor activities as well as outdoor activities because I remember how little we cared about the cold and snow when we were kids – we still wanted to play outside when it was up to our knees!

Indoor Activities:

Games:

• Create an obstacle course inside. Use chairs, yarn, etc… I know that this can be a little labor intensive starting off as you set it up, but have the kids help you and it will keep them entertained for hours!
• Create a hopscotch board with tape or yarn
• Set up a scavenger hunt through the house
• Make up a tossing game using yarn, pillows, bean bags, or anything soft
• Create a fort with blankets, chairs and furniture for a secret hideaway
• Have a game of balloon paddle ball
• Make an indoor car wash – use streamers and balloons as water and bubbles in the hallway or bathroom and have them walk or ride through the car wash
• Use plastic cups to build a city
• Make a fun Waterworks in the Bathtub Game – let your little ones take a long bath to play.  Let them use water toys, bubbles, colored liquids, and even add in some essential oils (I recommend On Guard and Breathe from doTerra to keep them healthy during the cold and flu season)

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Arts and Crafts:

• Make gifts for family and friends – take a look at my blog posts for Homemade DIY Christmas Gift Ideas and Top Christmas Kid’s Craft Ideas for inspiration
• Thanksgiving or Christmas decorations – I have some great ideas pinned on my Fall/Christmas Holiday Ideas board on Pinterest you can use
• Wall art for the child’s room – let them create their own masterpiece that you can frame and hang in their room
• Coloring wrapping paper for Christmas – this is a great idea to get a head start on next year’s supplies
• Upside down coloring – challenge them to color an entire picture upside down!
• Color the windows – Crayola has these amazing crayons that let your child color on glass or porcelain so let them have a blast decorating the windows and still be able to clean up quick and easy
• Complex coloring pages – these days it’s easy to find adult coloring books or more challenging coloring sheets.  Try some geometric coloring or fine detailed coloring to allow your child to expand their abilities

Giving Back:

• Make scarves for friends, family, or nursing home and hospital patients
• Bake cookies or baked goods for friends, family, firefighters, police, EMT’s, or nursing home and hospital patients (just make sure to let the facility know of any possible foods used that could be allergy triggers for others)
• Make a meal for a needy family, senior neighbor, new mom or parents, or ill child
• Box up toys and stuffed animals in good condition to donate to children who don’t have any or to give as Christmas gifts to the needy.  This is the perfect activity to make room for all of those new Christmas gifts!

Sensory Bins:

• Create your own sensory bins to keep those nimble fingers active. Remember to use cups and scoops for easy handling.
• Dried corn fall sensory bin – use popcorn, Maize corn, pumpkins, fall leaves, and even cookie cutters in fall shapes
• Beach bin – use seashells, sand or sugar, a pail and shovel
• Apple pie bin – use dough, a pie plate, measuring cups, and apple scented beads or rice
• Cotton ball snow bin – fill tub with cotton balls, winter-themed toys and cups
• Decorate a tree – have your child decorate their own Christmas tree.  You can use a small artificial tree or make one out of paper towel roll and poster board or construction paper and have them decorate it with ornaments.  You can also have a tree cutout taped to the wall and they can color ornaments onto the tree or cut them out and tape them onto the tree.
• Sparkly snow bin – use Epsom salt, iridescent flakes and tinsel garland to make the snow and add winter-themed toys

Day Trip:

• Go to an indoor play space – check local community centers that offer tumbling, trampolines, bouncy spaces, go-karts, scooters, or kid sized cars
• Indoor pool in your neighborhood – just because it’s cold doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t splash and play
• Find a play group locally and meet at different houses

Reading:

• Go to the library and pick out some new books
• Pull some books out that haven’t been read for a while and re-read them
• Read out loud together
• Create a special reading nook for your child to encourage reading
• Create a winter reading list
• Create a reading challenge with prizes

Music:

• Have a dance party
• Have a singalong

Outdoor Activities:

Fun and Games:

• Take a walk – whether it’s around your own yard or even walking into town it’s fun to see everything in the beauty of winter
• Play on the swings and slide
• Run around the yard or play a game in the yard
• Have a snowball fight
• Build an igloo
• Make snow angels
• Build a snowman
• Build a snow fort (I recommend parental supervision for safety)
• Go sledding – in your own yard or walk to the local favorite sledding hill
• Go ice skating at the local pond
• Cross country ski in the yard
• Make a snowball target game
• Come up with some winter games – maybe have a race in the snow on your knees, dodgeball with snowballs, or even a relay race

Giving Back:

• Rake leaves – if there isn’t any snow your child can still do something nice to help out around the house or even to help a neighbor.
• Shovel snow – let your child help with this chore in their yard, or even for a neighbor.  Maybe even go to several houses in the neighborhood to make some winter money

Creative Ideas:

• Color icicles – use food coloring to color the icicles hanging
• Paint in the snow with colored water – use squeeze bottle with different colors in each bottle

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this list and it’s helped you to come up with some great activities for keeping the kids busy.  Make sure to share this post with your friends and family and don’t forget to comment with your favorite activities during winter!