Lately I have had absolutely no idea what to do with my kids for fun. There is something about winter that seems to erase my imagination completely. It is just too cold to play outside. The other night I came up with a few things that we could do, but I knew that in the morning, when I looked out the window and saw all of the snow I would completely forget everything. I decided it would be fun to write each idea down and make a paper chain out of them. So, Jacob and I got to work thinking of ideas that would be fun for the three of us to do. On the days that the kids (and I) are feeling restless Jacob and Luke get to pull a link off. Some of the ideas are really simple but there is something about the activity being 'special' that my kids love. Here are a few things we added to our list: have a pretend birthday party, do 20 jumping jacks, make cookies, call an old friend, watch a movie together with popcorn, make our own storybook, do something nice for someone, read 10 books in a row, make playdough. As I think of more I add them to our chain.
I would love any suggestions from all of you clever readers. What do you do for fun with your kids?
4 comments:
Tye likes building houses out of blankets and chairs. It keeps him occupied for a long time and it is easy clean-up!
We do some of the things you suggested, and we build forts like Alisa had mentioned she does. Here's a few things we do: color and make stories, read stories, make finger puppets out of felt, we make story puppets out of popsicle sticks, we do playdoh, bake cookies and give them out. Finger paint, paint, put on music and dance/sing (this is on a daily bases and gets out a lot of energy) and we go on nature walks around the back yard to look for things. We do whatever we can come up with.
Building houses out of blankets is popular at our house too! I'm sure Alisa remembers all the Sunday afternoons that we spent with our brothers and sisters building those houses and using every blanket and book in the house! They were huge! I think the only reason our parents put up with our gigantic creations was because it gave them a chance for a Sunday nap! One thing that Natalie liked when she was younger and that Lily currently enjoys is when we make "roads" for her hot wheels cars by putting duct tape or masking tap on the carpet. You can make them as elaborate or simple as you want. It's a cheap, simple way to pass the time.
Thanks Sara for your great ideas. Today Avery was being so crazed that we got up and started doing jumping jacks and sit ups. This is good for me at this time because I have been so busy and wrapped up in other things I have not been enjoying my kids. I just thought today while at church that I couldn't remember the last time I just sat down with either one of my girls and played without any limitation. I really needed to be reminded about that.
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