I live in Wisconsin. Thus cold and snowy winters are normal and expected. This is what my kids and I call “hibernation season,” in part because there are not as many extracurricular functions, nor do we venture out much. But this does result in issues of inactivity and stir craziness, especially when children do not have a place to “run off all that energy.” My daughters are 7 and 11.
Now I am lucky, in that I live in a loft apartment. I have ample space and am a minimalist, so I do not have much for possessions. Because of this, and because of the layout of my apartment, I have a section on linoleum flooring about 12’x12′ in the center of my apartment. This leads me to unique activity 1…
1. My children are able to use the above listed space as a dance floor or they are able to ride their bikes in a circle in the house! I even put up a disco ball nearby so we could turn off the lights and watch it sparkle on the dance floor. They use up their energy, work out, and stay active during the winter. IF your house is not conducive to activity, consider getting yoga mats or a small ballet barre for meditation and stretching exercises. 2. Interactive piano lessons. Now many people would say, how do you get more interactive than a child’s fingers hitting the keys and the keys making sound in response??? Well, for this activity you need painters tape (1.99 a roll or so), a computer/printer to go on line and print out musical symbols, notes, etc. (the cost of paper and the ink to print) and a box of crayons (99 cents to 5.99). First you put up the tape on the wall in long lines, making it low enough a child can reach but high enough to fit 10 horizontal lines evenly spaced, with a larger almost double space between lines 5 and 6. This will be your Grand staff. Next you find or blow up to size large notes and musical symbols, some of which a child will be able to color in. Talk about musical theory and symbol recognition while they color them in. Then cut out the symbols, place a piece of painters tape on the back, (you could laminate these if to be replicated in a school setting) and have the children assemble their Grand staff with the Bass and Treble clef, and putting notes on lines and spaces. Then encourage them to play on the piano what they assembled. 3. Ribbon sticks. You will need a trip to a craft store: 1 package of 12″ dowel pins (typically contains about 1-12 of them) the cost is about $3. You will need either hot glue/glue gun or glue conducive to multiple items, i.e. wood and fabric. This cost can range from 1.99 to 9.99. You also want to make sure it dries at least white or clear preferably. Then comes the fun part. Proceed to the fabric/ribbon section. This will be the most expensive part of the purchase. Look for satin ribbon about 2-3″ wide. It should appear like waves when flapped up and down. You will need one 2-3″ wide by 6′-10′ long (your preference) for every dowel pin you are going to make. You can choose all of the same colors or different ones. The total cost for 12 pieces of ribbon at 8′ long was 25.00. Assembly is pretty easy, but they need time to dry, and will depend on the glue directions you purchase. You take one end of the ribbon knot it about 1-2″ up, place glue on the face of one of the dowel pins and along the shaft part wrap the extra ribbon from the knotted end up around the glued portion and the inside go the knot on the glued face of the dowel pin. Then let dry and fill in and areas that may need more glue. The upper 1″ or so of the dowel pin should be completely covered by ribbon, and this will give it a good hold. Let dry. Then play!
These are a few of the things my kids and I do to beat the winter blues. All of the above, with parental assistance are conducive for ages 4 and up. I am 28 and I had a blast doing these!