On the perfect snow day, school is cancelled but the snow stops falling just as your kids are waking up, so you can feed them breakfast and hustle them outdoors to play. If you find the parent who has that kind of "in" with the snow gods, can you give them my number? I've yet to meet a perfect snow day.
Instead, we're usually stuck indoors as the snow falls and the wind blows and the teachers get a good laugh knowing we're just dealing with the same thing they suffer through every day. Stop staring longingly at those snow boots, Mom and Dad, just adopt some new tricks of the parenting trade (TV hounds need not apply):
Turn on the Music: A quiet house is bound to be filled with whining. A raucous living room full of dance tunes is bound to be filled with wiggling bodies getting good exercise, singing along, and laughing hysterically. Cue up the video camera: this is the stuff memories are made of.
Roll Out the Dough: Homemade pretzels, sugar cookies, anything that needs to be shaped and/or slathered in sprinkles or salt are perfect on a snow day. It warms up the house, keeps them occupied for a lengthy period of time, and introduces them to the wonders of making your own food. Win, win, win!
Take Turns Reading: We all love to be read to. Even Mom and Dad. And by school age, our kids can finally start showing off all the words they know. So don't just sit and read to them or send them off to their room with a good book; sit down together and trade the book back and forth reading aloud. You'll get a sense of how far your little grade schooler has come, and their body heat up against you on the couch is just the thing you need after an hour outside shoveling.
Make a Mural: One of my favorite scenes in the Ramona book series as a kid featured Ramona and her out-of-work dad rolling out giant reams of paper and making a mural that could be spread across the walls of their home. It tops "drawing a picture" any day. Don't have a roll of paper? Tape individual pieces together, and let their imaginations go wild.
Throw an Indoor Picnic: Who said you can't eat lunch on the floor? There's no scientific study (yet), but I'm sure anecdotal evidence will prove that everything tastes better when eaten 3 feet below the table top. Also: that peanut butter and jelly sandwich is going to get soggy if you leave it in the fridge until school reopens, so let them bring their lunch boxes to the picnic.
What are your non-TV time killers on a snow day?
Image by Jeanne Sager
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Comments 52
for us we like to put music, and just dance away, great way to get them tired too.
All great ideas! We play things like hotel maids and we have to sweep the floors and clean the place up for our guests and then make dinner for our guests as well. Daddy is our guest. We have fun.
My girls like to make a tent in the family room and have indoor picnics.
great ideas. My son is a bit bored on snow day number 2.
Love these ideas! I love to make tents out of sheets and play play play!
We make cookies, makes tents, do crafts play puzzles
We usually make cookies, set up tents, make hot chocolate and popcorn, read books , watercolor paint, listen to music, play dress-up, take turns making "surprises" with army guys and wrestling figures..lol..(which is just setting all the guys up in rings, on the floor, tables, etc in different scenarios) and most of the time, we play school with a dry erase board (my preschooler loves school and likes to practice her letters and numbers)! We try to think of anything but TV to keep them entertained...plus we don't have cable anyways..lol
My little guy got some toddler games for christmas that is helping. He also wants go go outsiade and play alot, bless him, he didnt want to come in though his feet were red. after a snack and games there is coloringbooks and I like the kitchen helpers. My lil guy helped me make mexican pizzas for lunch after playing in the snow today.