Chicago is no stranger to snow storms, and this winter we haven’t even seen one of the top ten snow storms to hit the area. When a huge blizzard or just some lake effect fills Chicago land with feet and inches of white stuff, it can be easy to go stir-crazy when school closings build up and the kids run out of indoor activities to do.
So here’s a list of 15 things to do on a snowy day without leaving the driveway:
- Bake or cook.
- Bathing suit season isn’t for a few months, so your New Year’s resolutions can wait as you indulge in sweet treats or comfort foods that warm up the house (and your belly). Here are 35 lip-smacking’ recipes from the Artful Parent.
- Get an early start on upcoming birthday or holiday cards.
- Christmas has already passed, but you can make notes and cards for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Grandma’s 76th, Administrative Professionals’ Day, and so on…
- Play dress up with old Halloween costumes, take photos, crank up the dance music and have fun on the hallway runway.
- Arts and crafts.
- Besides cards, you could make a birdfeeder (add peanut butter and seeds to any pine cone), paint a masterpiece, make your own Play-Dough or try other crafty ideas.
- Clean the house.
- Putting away all those empty boxes, unplayed-with-toys and dirty laundry will invigorate you and (if you’re lucky) exhaust the little ones to go down for nap time. Here are some great chores for kids from WebMd.
- Play in the snow.
- You don’t have to stay inside just because the roads are bad. Get creative in the yard like “Calvin & Hobbes” with your snowman art or go sledding — but dress warmly (check the latest weather updates) and make sure s’mores and hot chocolate are ready to go after! Also, older kids looking to make a little extra money, can shovel the sidewalk at your or your neighbors’ house.
- Make snow ice cream.
- Her View From Home suggests putting 4 cups of clean snow (or shaved ice) in waffle cones or cups and adding 1/2 cups of half & half or whole milk, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Blend the milk, sugar and vanilla together until the sugar dissolves, then mix it all together until it looks like ice cream. Add chocolate syrup, whipped cream and leftover holiday candy as toppings.
- Puzzles.
- Going to pieces? Put them together. Flipzeles have taken puzzles to a whole new level that allows you to create scenes and interact with their dual sided puzzle pieces.
- Board games.
- Bored? Games like Monopoly, Life, Risk and chess can help with that. One of our family favorites is 7 Habits of Happy Kids.
- Build a fort.
- Whether you want to build a fortress for an epic pillow fight or have tea inside a princess castle made out of blankets, a fort will keep the kids occupied and make you want to play along.
- Computer games.
- Discovery Kids has lots of fun ones, including one where you can build a virtual roller coaster, PBS Kids lets younger ones play with Curious George and Daniel Tiger, and Nick Games has everything from SpongeBob and the Power Rangers to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Learning games are also a BLAST! Check out ABCMouse for a great start.
- Video games.
- Between the Wii, PlayStation Move and interactive games like Rock Band there’s plenty of arcade options at home to keep your kids moving. GameStop can be a great resource for inexpensive fun, but focus on the movement based games to help them burn energy, stay active and learn some sweet dance moves! For the younger ones NickJr has some really cute dance games featuring your kids fav cartoon stars..
- Make your own game.
- Play “Calvinball” with your own rules, or get creative online at AddictingGames.com, where you can build a robot, mix beats like a DJ or race cars.
- Story time.
- Get cozy on the couch, by the fireplace if you’ve got one, and read to your kids.
Jan-28-2014