You can still have fun – even if the weather isn’t cooperating and you’re stuck inside.
Bring back the beach!
Everyone loves the beach. Some of our best memories of fun may be beach-related so bring some beach fun to your family room or rec room.
You can start by cranking up the heat so you the room isn’t chilly. Get into your bathing suits and pull out the beach balls, beach towels and beach chairs. Put on some beach or Caribbean-inspired tunes (whatever brings back the beach for you) for jamming. Enjoy the summery snacks you usually eat on beach trips – anything from popsicles to chilled watermelon. Makes surf boards from card board or balsa wood and pretend to ride the waves. You can even emulate the beach itself by dragging a kiddie pool inside to create a “contained” real sandy beach so you can build a sand castle. Whatever gives you the fullest beach effect – do it!
“Drive-in” to a movie.
It’s amazing the fun you can inspire with a sheet and a movie projector! Drape a sheet to create an indoor screen and pull out some home movies or your favorite flicks to enjoy.
A stroll down memory lane or an hour or so spent Finding Nemo is a great way to cure cabin fever or a case of boredom. Bring out blankets and pillows, movie posters and – of course – your favorite movie foods.
You can even use a cardboard box to make a “faux car” to sit in for the movie!
Bake it off.
Nothing excites kids more than baked treats! And even the littlest kids can help in some way. Whether you keep it simple and make cut and bake chocolate chip cookies or Rice Krispy treats or you pull out some homemade cookie, cupcake or bread recipes and teach your kids how to grocery shop for and make their favorites!
This is great fun. It’s an activity that can consume an entire otherwise boring afternoon and there’s an added bonus at the end of enjoying samples of what you’ve baked. Add a cup of hot chocolate and you have a bunch of excited and content kids (and adults).
Build an indoor fort.
Sheets, blankets, a card table or saw horses from Dad’s workshop. That’s all it takes to create an impressive indoor fort. Make it a contest to see who can build the sturdiest, biggest or fanciest fort.
You can create many themes to suit your boys and girls: army forts, hunting roosts, super hero hide-outs, princess palaces or a fairy dens. Be sure to give each fort a name and bring the accessories that you need for a fort – like flashlights, books and board games – and anything else your fort’s theme requires!
Enduring cold weather definitely doesn’t have to be boring or miserable. As you can see, there are lots of fun and healthy activities that can keep young ones – and old(er) ones – occupied and engaged when it’s too cold for outdoor activities.
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