Winters in Canada can be cold….real cold!
Winter seems to go on forever, and the season can seem even longer if you are cooped up in the house with young children. I know for me I get a bit stir crazy if I do not have things to keep me busy, I assume my little girls feel the same.
I found that especially during the winter holiday when my 6 year old was home with the 3 year old there were many times they just wanted to watch TV. I do not find anything wrong with kids having a bit of time in front of the tube, but not hours and hours a day.
I spent one weekend setting up different “work” activities for the girls. I put each activity in a bag or a container and kept them in the pull-out drawers under my kitchen island for easy reach.
I prepared a variety of different activities for the girls, some of them included:
- lacing beads with a shoelace
- patterning blocks
- shape matching
- molding clay & cookie cutters
- strips of paper with scissors
- a small doll with clothes
- a push pin and a coloring sheet placed on small bulletin board to poke holes along the outline of the picture
- pictures with word cards for matching
- activity books
- audio books with cd
- craft supplies
By having each activity ready to go and right at the kids height I found that the girls were keeping themselves occupied for long periods of time. Between them keeping busy with activities and us all taking cuddle breaks to read on the couch it was a wonderful winter holiday.
Now that our 6 year old is back in school I decided to keep the activities under the island and just change them up as needed, it is wonderful to see my 3 year old go and get herself “work” to do throughout the day!
If you are looking for more fun ideas to help keep your children occupied, be sure to check out these Play and Learn Family Activities from Fisher-Price.
Disclosure: I am a Fisher-Price Mom and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.
Lisa
Monday 23rd of January 2012
You're so right, if you put in a little work ahead of time (setting up the activities) it's so much easier to direct the kids AWAY from the boob tube and onto something more creative and hands-on. Great ideas Jody!
Mommy Moment
Monday 23rd of January 2012
Thanks Lisa! It does take a little work to be prepared, but it is so worth it on so many levels. I appreciate your comment!
Multi-Testing Mommy
Tuesday 17th of January 2012
Fun! All of those activities sound like so much fun! I especially like the push pin one.
Mary Beth Elderton
Tuesday 17th of January 2012
Such great ideas. I used to use the push pin idea on traced map state/country shapes--the kids could then put them together to make a country or continent.
Christine
Tuesday 17th of January 2012
Fabulous post, Jody! I love how organized your crafts section is! How smart to put supplies in the island! Love the activities/crafts you have come up with for your girls!
Erica
Tuesday 17th of January 2012
Love the lacing idea! We're still in the velcro age but I see those Melissa and Doug toys with the big wooden shoe and lace and always think to get it.