We all have a very familiar love-hate relationship with winters. As harsh as they can be, don't we all love the first snow? Or how great the chilly winter nights can be with a bonfire and some roasted marshmallows? While some find winters to be a little too cold for their taste, others crave for a white Christmas! A Christmas with snow-covered naked trees and beautiful contrasting shades of grass and the sky and many fun things! Well, this love-hate relationship comes especially hard for kids. Containing fun for kids is a very hard job. Especially, when they seek fun in a more outdoor setting. But with the following fun activities for kids at home, you will not have to constantly worry about keeping them entertained. Staying at home can be just as much fun only if you know the right activities to keep the kids occupied indoor games and art projects. Are you worried about what activities to do with your kids? Have a look at the following kids activities and thank us later!
20+ Fun Winter Activities For Kids
1- Fun Board Games!
Game nights are the most fun during winters! Board games for your kids at home is an incredible idea to keep your little ones occupied. After all, who doesn't like board games? Heat up the place with a competitive round of scrabble! For a fun learning experience, scrabble does the job just fine. Pictionary is one of the most popular games amongst children and parents. This could especially be more fun with playdates. The kids can team up alternately between each parent and voila! You have yourself a fun indoor activity for both the kids and the parents. On a lighter note, if you find yourself getting too competitive__ Just quit! (seriously nobody wants a cry baby on a game night!)
2- A Smore Fireplace Treat!
Who says you can only have a nice marshmallow roasting in an outside bonfire? You can very well bring the party inside and not freeze! After all, kids love some marshmallow treating. Cozy up by the fireplace and roast your marshmallows with the kids by the fire! It is safer, warmer and more fun! There is so much to do in an inside marshmallow roasting activity. You can make smores dips or make marshmallow catapults to see which party catches the most through their mouths!
3- Pop Some kernels!
Having a movie night with the kids is the obvious most fun activity for kids indoors. Get some popcorn popping and put on a movie of your kid’s choice! Animated or non-animated, kids movies are bound to get you interested as well. If not, then you might as well pay attention! You would definitely want to have answers to that list of questions your little one has prepared for their understanding! Take it from a parent, you wouldn't want to embarrass yourself later, so start paying attention! Who knows your kid might even sleep through the starting half and you may not have to watch the entire thing!
4- Pat a Cake!
Baking activities for kids at home can be quite productive! You can very well teach them about the basic ingredients and mixing by obviously doing the hard parts yourself! But your kids will enjoy some sense of achievement, knowing they helped to prepare their favorite delights! A mug cake could be just as quick, yummy and interesting to get your kid started! Such fun activities for kids help in their developmental skills as well. Talking of fun kids activities, muffin or cookie decorating in winters might be twice as fun around the holiday season! Dedicate a certain number of cookies to your kid for icing purposes and send them out as holiday treats! Now, be prepared the icing might not make much sense. Nonetheless, the grandparents, aunts, and uncles will all enjoy them as something very personal and close to their heart!
5- Pull Out a Building Block or Jenga!
Jenga is an amazing game of blocks designed for people of all ages. This simple classic game of block building will surely keep everyone in the room on their tips! Players take turns to remove one block at a time out of a tower of 54 blocks! Each block that is removed has to be placed at the top of the tower. It's a super easy classic game created for all generations in a family! Perhaps what might interest all you parents out there, is that It remarkably improves the mental and physical skills and expertise of children from a very young age. So there’s no need to worry about your kids not learning from these activities!
6- Get Crafty
Looking for creative ways to enjoy some chilly nights with your little ones? For some fun crafty activities for kids to do, planning for the holiday season can open so many avenues! Customize some holiday cards with your kids drawing and/or painting with a handwritten note and send those out to the family and friends. You can also ask the kids to help with pretty packaging and styling the holiday gifts or even better helping decorate the Christmas tree! Contribution from your child in the form of drawing, painting and handmade decorations will help your child feel appreciated. Especially when they see their work up on the wall framed!
7- Play-Doh
Enhance your child’s developmental skills through a constructive session of play-doh learning. Teaching shapes, numbers, and letters through play-doh can inculcate knowledge of basics at a very young age. It also helps in increasing curiosity and boosting one’s imagination and creativity with slime. With the help of play-doh, kids can create anything they want! They can have their very own personalized garden, their favorite animal and even their favorite cartoon characters and create some rug ideas in the play room.
8- Pencil and Paper Games!
Kids need to stimulate their brains while having fun, and this activity is the perfect combination of both! Games like Pictionary, NPAT( name, place, animal, thing), Dots and Boxes, Tic tac toe further vitalize the minds of your little ones. Having fun is just a cherry on top!
9- Challenge Your Kid To a Game of Charades!
This classic is the perfect game for a family night and not only for adults but especially for kids too! This is a super fun and entertaining way to spend some quality time with your little ones. Write down the names of movies, books, songs, TV shows of your choice on different pieces of paper. Set up teams of two and make a scoreboard! Now, set a timer for a maximum of two minutes and you’re ready to start kids crafts.
10- Have An Indoor Camp!
Too cold for the kids to camp outside? Just bring the party inside! Clear some furniture from the living room and set your kids camp inside! Draw the curtains, turn out the lights and make use of the torches. Set the camping site preferably by the fire. This way the kids could also enjoy roasting marshmallows, as you interest them with some stories & hide and seek.
11- Have a Karaoke Concert!
If you are looking for some uber fun activities for kids at home, add karaoke to your list! Have a mini-concert for your kids at home! Transforming your home into a karaoke club would make the activity memorable and exciting__ an activity worth remembering! There is no need for going overboard with all the decorations and all! All you need is a mic, speakers and lots of snacks with drinks for your throat! This could be a weekly activity, where each family member gets to cosplay into the superstars they want! So get that mic and belt your heart out! Not so loud for the neighbors though!
12- Indoor Bowling
If you love hoarding onto empty water bottles, now is the time for them to shine! Or just invest in a light bowling set for kids and let your kids enjoy a round of some indoor water balloon. This might as well be good practice for when they are actually able to get a hold of the bowling ball! If you want, though you can keep score and hand out rewards in whatever form you deem reasonable!
13- Get Into Some Night-time Reading
During chilly winters, both nights and rainy days can be quite slow and quiet. There will be days when the extreme conditions might render it impossible for the kids to attend school! You can create a great learning environment at home by encouraging the kids to read. Most older kids cannot get through the night without having to hear their favorite bedtime story. Winters are a great time for learning activities for kids at home. Just like game nights, host book reading at home between the kids and their friends. Each one gets to read a passage from their favorite books and get some ice-cream.
14- Decorate Some Wreaths!
Indulge in a crafty activity with the kids. Help them decorate some floral wreaths to hang by the door! With the holiday season just around the corner enhance your kids’ crafty abilities by making Christmas wreaths at home. The wreaths do not have to be typical! In fact, encourage your child to personalize them as they want. Be prepared to expect wreaths made out of candy wrappers and their favorite action figures. But hey! Give them a chance!
15- Pillow Fight!
Get into a fun game of harmless pillow fights! Team up with the kids and indulge in some fun-packed activity that is sure to exhaust the kids__just in time for bed! This way you can manage fun as well as putting them down to bed routinely.
*Pro-tip: Always let your kids win!
16- Put On a Fashion Show!
Let your kids raid your closet and create their very own fashion show in their hallway! Roll down your area rugs and get ready for a fashion show! They can even wear their previous Halloween costumes! Whether its a princess, cowboy or even a celebrity they admire! Plan this activity out and let your kids be the superstars they are!
17- Get Together For a Family Scavenger Hunt!
Looking for the ideal way to burst that boredom for your kids? Turning your home into an ultimate wild arena with hidden treasures all around! Letting your kids pirate hunting them is possibly the best game there is! First, you need to decide the theme for the hunt. You can utilize previous Halloween costumes and other articles around the house. The next thing you need to do is to write the clues required for your treasure hunt which is supposed to provide the players with leads. The next step is to plan your treasure which the players are supposed to find at the end of the game. For instance, you could include toys, chocolates, goodie bags or anything your kids might be interested in.Finally, it is now time to hide your clues, get your kids in their costumes and you’re all set to go!
18- Indoor Hopscotch!
As much as kids love hopscotch, sadly winters are a little too harsh for kids to be playing outside. But who says you can't bring the game indoors? Get your kids into an exciting game of indoor hopscotch which will for sure get that endless zest out of your little ones!
Pump it up by participating with your kids and making teams to create an even more thrilling experience! All you need for this fun activity is food waing tapes and scissors. Once in place, these tapes could last the whole season for your kid’s indoor hopscotch. Make sure your hallway is a safe space for your kid’s hopscotch by steering it clear of any extra furniture.
19- Solve Puzzles!
Which kid doesn’t love solving puzzles? It keeps the kids amused, excited and focused without having to resort to any screen-time at all! Teaching your kids to solve puzzles isn’t just an enjoyable activity, yet it also helps to develop the visual perceptual skills of your child.
Simon says!
Tired of your kids not listening to what you’re saying? Then this game is not only for your kids to play but for you too! This game is great for your children to listen carefully to what's being said before responding.Get your kids to stand facing you, explain to them the rules of the game; they are only supposed to follow your orders if you say the words “Simon Says” at the start of the sentence, if they fail, they lose.
For instance, “Simon says raise your hand”
You can also cleverly trick them into doing something productive; “Simon says'' clean your room” or “Simon says do your homework”. For this to work effectively, you may set some sort of rewards at the end.
20- Get Experimental!
Are you or your kids a big science fan? Or do you believe that kids activities should involve some sense of purpose and learning as well? Then get experimental! Learn to practice some ‘Do it yourself’ easy science experiments at home. This activity is both fun and educational!
21- Aim and Throw
Aim and throw with the help of just an empty bucket and paper plates! This would help in the development of a good hand-eye coordination of a child. Hence, being a very vital part of a child’s development process. It's not just helpful for their developmental skills, but a lot of fun for kids when practicing their throwing techniques.
22- Aerobics
Exercising cannot be overrated. It is essential for everyone, regardless of their age. Indulging kids in physical exercise at a young age would prove to be very beneficial for them in the long run. Dancing is a great way to tone the body and improve flexibility. It also helps in calming the mind, releases serotonin in the body thus developing their emotional capacity. Participating in the fun would motivate and make exercising fun for children and work set a great example for them too.
Activities To Do With Kids When Babysitting
Babysitting can be a real hectic job to undertake. Keeping children engaged and amused can be pretty confusing. It is important to know what activities might interest children you’re babysitting for. Now at first, it may seem easier to entertain the kids by setting them in front of the tv. But the job of a babysitter also requires bracing their brain and tiny tireless bodies which may require planning.
Here are a few activities to get you started:
Painting And Drawing
This activity is a simple yet fun way to start off. All children love to be creative and allow their imagination to flow may also help to create a special bond. Hype up the activity by letting the kids use their bare hands instead of paintbrushes-creating finger paint!
"Do Not Laugh" Game
All you need to do is to sit in a semicircle with the kids and make silly and funny faces. The one who laughs first loses and the one who laughs last is the winner and gets rewarded!
Pretend Games
Kids love to use their imagination, and this activity is a great way to utilize their little brains full of colorful ideas. Let the kids dress up according to the characters they want to act out. Dressing up and telling stories of princesses, a pirate or a superhero might be something the kids would be interested in.
Build a Fort!
This is a big hit since kids love to have their own forts! It can be used for various purposes. Playing with toys, storytelling, watching a movie and building it is even more fun! You could also popsicle some kernels or some hot chocolate with marshmallows to make the night even more exciting!
Bedtime Reading!
Putting kids to bed especially when you are neither fun nor a strict parent can be quite a task! Babysitters very sneakily make their way into kids’ lives by being a mix of both fun and strict. The key to keeping their routine intact, especially on a school night involves getting them to bed early! By keeping the kids involved in playful activities and homework is for sure going to tire them out. The trigger factor here would be a nice bedtime story that very subtly prepares the kids to sleep.
Activities or Sports Are Good For Kids?
Making sure that your kid remains active in extracurriculars takes a lot of effort on the parents' end. Taking your kids to all those practice sessions with their coaches and teachers does take a toll on your routine as well! But in the end, watching them involved in a certain activity or sport with so much zest and energy is all worth the while. While some kids might enjoy team sports that boost their self-confidence, fitness, and coordination, some kids are not natural athletes. As a matter of fact, they might find it hard jelling in with other team athletes if pushed into it.
Let your kids enjoy the activities they find better suited for their caliber, something that comes naturally to them! For starters, here is a list of activities that will healthily engage your kids;
- Swimming
- Cycling
- Martial arts
- Gymnastics
- Dancing
- Skateboarding
- Painting
- Horseback riding
- Scrabble
- Sudoku
- Word hunt
- Maze
- Solving puzzles
Supporting Your Kids Choices
Always be mindful of what your child really wants to do in their free time. Would they like to dedicate their time to playing, drawing or trying out some science experiments they learned at school?
Nonetheless, always encourage them and try to instill in them the balance between learning and fun. Find some activities of their interest and find them a decent outlet to carry them out. For instance, if your daughter would rather play ice hockey than dance as a ballerina, find her a good league! After all, this is a step towards developing their interest in an activity that might last a lifetime.
if you are looking for some amazing area rugs around town, you need to check out; RugKnots.
