Photo by Michael Niessl on Unsplash
Winter can be one of the hardest times of the year when it comes to keeping everyone entertained and happy - especially if the weather is cold and wet. So following on from last month’s blog post, we have put together a list of super fun activities for the whole family to keep everyone occupied as the winter draws in.
A blanket fort can be temporary, yet cosy and enjoyable for everyone. Blankets, cushions, pillows and duvets can all go into a blanket fort. Build it up and in you get! It’s the perfect place to stage a movie and PJ afternoon from, where you can tell wild adventurous stories to one another, talk about your christmas wish lists and generally just be connected - and cuddled up together.
Create a puppet show! Or if puppets aren’t your thing, write yourselves a family play, everyone takes a character, (adults may need to take more than one for it to work). Maybe make your most organised child the one who directs the enterprise! You could even film yourselves performing it for other family members and it will make a brilliant keepsake for later life.
Raid your recycling and create a cardboard kingdom! Houses, castles, moats, drawbridges - you get the idea, get out the safety scissors, paints and anything else you need and create your kingdom. Have the little ones take charge. If houses are upside down, make them upside down! If dragons are pink and sprinkle glitter instead of breathing fire, do that too! Let all of your imaginations run wild and really embrace the fun. If you use your cardboard boxes, you may be able to fold the kingdom up and bring it out again to play with in the future.
Dance party! This one will burn off some energy - for all of you - and also if the energy is low in the house this is a great one to shake it off! (As Taylor Swift would say). Put the music on loud. Get everybody up and shake your booty!
Set up indoor activity stations. Each station has a task - jumping jacks, hopping, skipping, singing, writing your name. Make the tasks varied, but fun and pretty simple. The idea is to engage the body and the brain but have fun too. If the competition wont get too intense, maybe give points out based on activities participated in or completed, keep a tally and the winner could get to pick the next activity to do altogether, or pick a day out together.
Make the house into an obstacle course! Use household items (move the breakables), add a “the floor is lava” element if you like and then go for it. Everyone can participate. Use crepe paper rolls and tape, and make a laser trap to work your way through. Use cushions to get around, over, under. Tables, chairs. Make sure everything is safe and sturdy of course but go for it and have fun! Make it into a race - or a timed event if the house is too small for racing.
Create an escape room for the kids. Use the concept of an adult escape room - but make it fun, maybe use recent homework and school topics for the questions and create a room to escape from with a cool reward at the end.
Indoor Scavenger Hunt - create clues and the answers take you to the next place. Give it a theme - pirates is always a good one. Make the treasure some kind of treat that is irresistible.
Pick a favourite book and create some art based on it - get out the creative supplies, let the juices flow and make something together. If there’s a current film the little ones are obsessed with you could use that - anyone else remember the obsessions with Frozen? Perfect opportunity to spend a couple of hours making snowflakes, make bunting out of them and decorating a room of the house!
Get in on the rock painting craze! Go mad with this one. There are multiple steps to the activity too so you can make it last over hours or days. Collect the rocks, if you don’t have them already. Paint and decorate. Then when dry and ready, take them back out with you and put them in places for people to find. Spread the joy!
We hope these ideas are helpful to keep you all entertained - and warm during the chilly season - and as always we would love to hear from you - let us know about your adventures and what you get up to. Plus if you have any cool ideas of your own please feel free to share them with us.
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