Rain or sleet, hail or snow; it’s easy to turn on the tv to entertain the kids when they are stuck at home due to bad weather. Screen time is hard to pull away from and an easy habit to form. Parents and child care professionals can beat cabin fever with these helpful ideas.
Craft Your Own Entertainment
Get messy and create your own playdough using your favorite food coloring dye and simple ingredients found in your kitchen. Try a different texture with homemade gak in a resealable plastic bag. If you prefer to keep the mess on paper, try making homemade puffy paint with glue and shaving cream.
Full STEAM Ahead with Winter Science Experiments
Changing temperatures can help you explore the natural world without leaving your front yard. Discover the change in volume from different states of matter. First, grab a clear jar and fill with snow. Mark your snow line with one color marker and your guess to the amount of water that will be leftover with another, then monitor how it melts. Blow bubbles in freezing temperatures and watch them freeze before your eyes. Once frozen solid, knock them over and see if they shatter!
You can find more fun and educational activities for children when you follow our Pinterest page, or read through resources and tips our 4-C blog!
Work Out Built Up Energy
Don’t have an indoor jungle gym? A few household items can create a fun, active play space. Play the classic game of ‘Don’t Touch the Lava’ and place ‘stepping stones’ between furniture that the children can use to hop from place to place. Line up a row of pillows to balance on as they walk to challenge their gross motor skills. A few lines of tape on the ground, evenly spaced apart, easily becomes a track and field long jump. Watch the kids hop and stretch to see how far they can go.