The temperature is dropping. That means that soon, the kids will be spending a lot more time indoors. That’s great for family bonding, but it can be tricky when it comes to keeping everyone entertained. But the “great indoors” can be chock-full of entertainment for kids and grown-ups with these indoor activities for cold days with kids.
Baking
A lot of kids are doing most of their learning at home these days, and there is no better place to learn than in the kitchen. Baking things like this 2 ingredient fudge, cakes, and cookies, not only helps kids develop important life skills, but it gives them valuable practice in math, chemistry, and art. It can even enrich social studies lessons if you bake treats from other cultures and eras. Besides that, having the oven going is a great way to generate a little extra heat on a cold day. And if you put on a little music, you’ve got yourself a party!
Blanket Fort
When you think of cold days, most people think of snuggling up in a blanket. Why not take your blanket game to the next level and create a blanket fort? Blanket forts can be as simple as throwing a blanket over a table or as intricate as a living room tent city. They can inspire a ton of imaginative games like pirates and castles or give kids a special little nook to cozy up, read a book, and have a snack.
Family Room Theater
A lot of us are hesitant to visit the movie theaters still, but you can bring the magic of the movies into your own house with a little imagination. Get the kids involved in setting up a mini-movie theater. After you’ve decided on the movie, make up ticket stubs for it, and set up a “concession stand” in the kitchen. The kids will have a blast pretending that they’re at the movies. And if you are nervous about snacks in the family room, you can set up a sheet on the family room floor for them to eat on—and then simply wash it later.
Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are a great way to get kids moving, even when they’re inside, and there are a ton of ways to go about designing one. For younger kids, you can just whip up a list of objects you might find around the house and send them on their way.
If you want to get a little more creative, you could make up a list of riddles, each leading to the next one, until you get to a prize at the end. For example, you could start off with a riddle directing your kids to find a specific book on a shelf, which would then send them to a clue hiding behind under the dog’s bed, which would send them to a clue hiding inside a board game.
Round Robin
This game is a fun way to help your kids unleash their inner creativity. In Round Robin, everyone works together to create a story. You can do this out loud, on paper, or in a shared Google doc if you have a tech-savvy household. One person starts a story, writing or reciting a single sentence or as much as an entire paragraph. The next person then adds another sentence or paragraph, and so on. These can get pretty silly and are often fun to look back on.
As we enter into the colder months, take the time to brainstorm even more indoor activities for cold days with kids. You can even put the ideas in a jar and pull one out on a particularly frigid day. The weather may be cold, but your hearts won’t be.
