With Winter just around the corner, it’s best to plan to have some indoor, active games ready to keep your little ones fit, happy and engaged. Here are some simple activities to keep the littles and the older ones equally happy and busy:
Laser Maze: Create a laser maze using crepe paper or paper strips and tape. Children must go under, over, around, and through without touching the “lasers.” It is a great way to promote the usage of prepositions to promote language and higher-level thinking skills to promote scientific inquiry.
Indoor Snowball Fight: Create an indoor snowball fight by crumpling old newspapers. Great way to promote hand-eye coordination.
Colorful Ice Cubes: Add food coloring to ice cubes. Keep mess to a minimum by adding popsicle sticks. Allow children to swirl the cubes around in a plastic bin. Great way to talk about primary and secondary colors and promote language, fine motor skills, and science!
Frozen Sun Catcher: Make frozen sun catchers by gathering materials from nature. Simply spread the goods on an empty lid, cover with water, and freeze. Leave the sun catchers outdoors. Great opportunity to explore science and math concepts based on the weather.
Rainbow Snow: Snow on the ground? Bring some inside in a plastic bin. You can add food coloring or a few drops of paint. Add some shovels and spoons for exploration.
Snow Ice Cream: More snow? No worries! Try making snow ice cream: 1 cup milk/cream, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 8 cups clean snow. Mix all together, 1 cup milk/cream, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 8 cups clean snow. Mix all together, adding snow until you get the creamy consistency you want.
Pillow Fort: Build a fort using pillows, blankets, and other household items. A great exercise to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
Mobile: Create a mobile or chimes combining objects collected outside and spare household items. This can include old keys, CD’s, pen caps, etc. Let your imagination run wild!
Great opportunity for language, mathematical concepts (like balance) and science.
- Create a bird feeder using a pinecone or empty and clean carton. Cover with butter, Crisco, sunflower butter, etc. Add bird seed or millet and grains. Tie to a tree and watch the birds feast!
- Create water sensory bottles by adding food coloring, water, glitter, and any small objects of your choosing Great way to promote artistic creativity and talk about scientific concepts.
Remember that every experience is an opportunity to learn and engage. Have your little one assist you. Even the most mundane tasks can be exciting!
