One of our readers shared this recently:
I’d love to read some articles about how to keep an energetic toddler engaged in the cold winter months when going outside to work off the excess energy is not an option.
I originally wrote this post in February of last year, but I’ve updated it a little and wanted to share these ideas with you as the cold winter months are setting in..
I awoke this morning to a dark and dreary sky. Rainy days are not too common where we live, so we try to make the most of them. We love to snuggle in bed and read stories, or have hot cocoa by the fire. While the girls and I love those comforts, there comes a point where we all-but in particular six year old Soleil-just need to move.
Out comes our rainy day jar. It is simple to make and we also use it at times when it’s too hot to go outside. In the jar are craft sticks with active activities written on them. The kids take turns picking a stick to see what fun activity we’ll do. No craft sticks? Use slips of paper instead.
Ideas for your jar
Good old standards:
- Freeze dance
- Simon says
- Hide and seek
- Balloon or beach ball volleyball (try to keep the balloon or ball from touching the ground)
- Make forts out of blankets and sheets
- Four square if you have a space large enough
Games that may be in your closet:
- Twister or Twister dance moves
- Dance dance revolution
- Hula hoop
- Toss across
- Nerf guns – For extra fun, combine these with forts!
- Plastic bowling or mini golf kits
- Wii Sports or other active video games
- Rent a dance or cheerleading movie or musical and try to copy the dances. Many of the newer ones have a special features option that will teach you the steps.
Have a PE class:
Do you have any of these around your house?
- Stability ball (So many uses!)
- Jump rope
- Mini trampoline
- Step for step aerobics
- Or, just lead a class on your own. Kickboxing, salsa dancing, military-style workouts…the opportunities are endless. Make it fun!
- Strength or circuit training. Coco, my 13 year old can use light free weights and I make Soleil “dumbells” out of tinker toys.
- Workout videos. I have a hip hop one the kids love to do. There are some fun kid ones you can get, too.
Make something up!
My kids have all kinds of silly games that they’ve made up over time. Give your kids a ball, blanket, or stuffed animal and see what happens.
You pick!
This is by far our favorite stick. Whoever draws it gets to pick whatever they want to do.
Once we use a stick, we keep it out of the jar until it is empty, and then start over. That way, we get to do everything in the jar at least once. The only stick that goes back in, no matter how many times we use it is “You pick!”
If all else fails…
If you are stuck with too many rainy days in a row, why not bundle the kids up and let them splash around for a few minutes outside? You’ll most likely spend more time cleaning up than you do playing, but it’s a great mood-booster!
Have any rainy day traditions? I’d love to hear about them!
Angela can be found writing at Homegrown Mom.
photo by photoexpress
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