Winter Day Activities

Any mother, childcare giver, school teacher will tell you that rain is the enemy when it comes to entertaining antsy kids. While we have had our share of rain so far this winter, the unusually cold temperatures here in Northern California has also been a thorn in my side in terms of forcing us to spend more time indoors. Let me tell you, keeping two boys entertained all day is no small feat! Thankfully, since we are just coming off the heels of Christmas, we have a lot of new toys and books to help pass the time. Here are some of the things we've been doing to avoid cabin fever.

Giant puzzle

First puzzle he's completed on his own

Santa left a very cool stocking stuffer which is a magic volcano. Cruz poured in some warm water into the container and the volcano began "erupting" before his very eyes. As the volcano erupts and breaks down, a small dinosaur emerges - another bonus! Over the next 72 hours the dinosaur grows bigger and actually fills almost the entire container at the end. This is a really fun, simple activity for kids.

Magic Volcano

With kindergarten in the not-so-distant-future, we also spend time prepping Cruz by completing workbook activities for Math, Reading, Phonics, Patterns, and letter and number writing. Our favorite workbook so far can be found here. He actually enjoys it very much and I am always surprised by how much he knows and his critical thinking skills. My little boy is growing up so fast.

My little student

One of Cruz's Christmas gifts from Mommy and Daddy was a planting kit since he has shown a real interest in gardening and planting. We have only completed the first step so far which is to soak the growing medium that are basically like soil pellets. Once it has soaked overnight, we can start planting. Check back to see an update on this fun activity.

Putting the pellets in a bowl

Pouring in the water

This weekend we put up a small pop-up tent that we bought at Ikea a couple of years ago and the kids had a blast playing in it. It has become their new "clubhouse" and they immediately brought in pillows, a cozy blanket and some toys to make it feel like home.

Another stocking stuffer being put to use:



Wooden brain-teaser puzzle

And sometimes, you just have to let boys be boys. Cruz is fighting the ceiling fan/light with his light saber, while Lucas is his back-up with a roll of gift wrap.

Although Lucas isn't captured in most of these pictures, we try to include him as much as possible in every activity. Truth be told, he is much more interested in playing with things that he shouldn't, such as the remote controls, dishwasher, laundry, our home computers, iPhones, etc. You get the idea.



If you have any other ideas for keeping kids busy at home, please share!