Winter can be a challenging time for entertaining young children. Try these ideas to beat the winter boredom blues:
Freezing and Melting Experiments
Take advantage of the snow and ice outside to teach your preschooler about melting and freezing. Grab an ice tray and some food coloring. Fill the compartments about ¼ of the way with water and have your child drop his or her choice of colors into the squares. Encourage your child to try and mix the primary colors to see what develops. Pop the cubes in the freezer and ask your little one what happened. Explain the process of freezing, and then demonstrate melting by dropping the colorful cubes in glasses of warm water. Your child will be fascinated to watch the colors spread around the glass.
A Winter Indoor Picnic
Set up a summer picnic-indoors. Find a nice, big space in the house and spread a blanket or beach towel. Dress up in swimsuits and shorts, make some yummy sandwiches and have a picnic. Fill a dish tub or small wading pool with water or sand for a great beach themed sensory experience. You and your kids will forget it’s frigid outside in no time. This is a great activity for any age.
Snow Flake Discovery Bottles
Toddlers will love playing with this simple, eco-friendly craft. Collect empty water bottles or 2-liter soda bottles. At the dollar store, you can pick up craft foam snowflakes and glitter or sequins. Drop the flakes, glitter and sequins in the bottles and fill them with water. Hot glue the caps back on and your little one will spend hours in awe watching the beautiful flakes and sparkles float around the bottle.
Coloring the Snow
Here’s an activity kids of all ages will love doing outside. Fill a few spray bottles (cheap at the dollar store) with water and add several drops of food coloring to each of them. The kids can take them outside and spray “paint” the snow! Fresh white snow is the perfect canvas for their creativity.