Use your creativity to make snowy day indoors an adventure! This article by Laura Teague offers four fun ways to connect with kids.
–Jana Magruder
Once the joy of fresh snow and a day off of school pass, you may find yourself left with little more than soggy mittens, frozen toes, and kids who are less than thrilled to be stuck inside. The snowmen are built, the hot chocolate is gone, and you need some fast ideas for turning this frozen tundra into a winter wonderland.
Here are a few ideas to bring the outdoors in and continue the winter fun:
1. Build another snowman. This time, try building snowmen indoors with cans of shaving cream. Decorate with buttons, candies, or craft accessories. If you’re brave, play right on your kitchen counter for an easy clean up. If the mess worries you, try making snowmen directly on the walls of the shower or the floor of the bathtub.
Variation: If you want your snowman to last, try mixing equal parts shaving cream and glue to make puff paint for using on paper. Add food coloring for a fun twist!
2. Have a snowball fight. Choose an open place in your home and divide your kids into two teams. Allow them to build a fort if they choose and make a line down the middle of the room with tape. Use crumpled up paper or rolled up socks for a two-minute snowball fight. The team with the cleanest side at the end wins!
Variation: If you have younger kids and want to avoid throwing, try hiding cotton balls around the room. Have kids race to pick up the most snowballs and make a pile in the center of the room. Celebrate the end of the game by making it snow again!
3. Bundle up! Gather large coats, shirts, pants, hats, gloves, boots, scarves, etc. from your closet, enough for each child to have one of everything. Mix them all together in a pile at one end of the room. Have kids stand side by side at the other end and say the name of an article of clothing. If you said, Pants! the children must hurry to the pile, find a pair of pants to put over their existing clothes, and hurry back to the start. By the end, each child should have an entire winter outfit. Call for shoes last to avoid falling!
Variation: For older, more competitive children, make the game a walking race. Using a bowl for each child, write articles of clothing on slips of paper being as specific as you like (Blue shirt or Mom’s favorite socks). Add additional clothes to the pile to increase the difficulty.
4. Watch your step! Use pillows to make icebergs on the floor and challenging kids not to fall in the water. Give them simple tasks to complete in the room, such as Flip the light switch or Help the toy across the room. Allow imaginations to roam and let them create tasks for one another and for you. For safety, play this game on carpet rather than slick floors. Put pillows close enough together that kids do not jump long distances.
Variation: For older children, have them all stand on the same iceberg and challenge them to work together to get across the room. Allow them to move the icebergs, except the one they are currently on. If anyone steps in the water, everyone must start over.
Don’t be afraid to try something out of the ordinary and join in the fun. Whether you hang paper snowflakes on the windows or build a snow fort out of blankets, embrace this time you\’ve been given to spend with your kids.
Laura Teague serves as a Regional Children’s Ministry Representative in Central Mississippi. She and her husband, Daniel, are passionate about investing in local churches through relationships. Laura has been working in children’s ministry since she was in college and is passionate about seeing kids come to know Christ and encouraging adults as they lead them there.
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