15 Ways to Keep Busy in the Cold

Joining up today with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for List It {Tuesday}.

"Oh the weather outside is frightful..."

So, what the heck do you do to keep yourself, and your children, entertained during frigid temperatures that are more suited to the Arctic Tundra than the U.S.A.?

Play with science! Small science experiments, either purchased or homemade, can entertain everyone for anywhere from a few minutes to hours! Dollar Tree (the bigger ones) even carry a couple small ones for a dollar! Grow sugar crystals, build volcanoes, let your imagination run free!

Create food to match a book you're reading! I still don't want to say what book this desert was inspired by (I'll be talking about it in my Weekly Wrap-Up), but it's only one of several inspired by a beloved children's book! Even just changing the color of a food can be a fun and creative way to bring a book alive.

Create your "twin" (evil or not)! (To read all about what our evil twins were about and a quick walk through of the science experiment shown above go here .) Who doesn't remember tracing their body for one reason or another as a child. Speaking from experience this activity provided fun, distraction, moral lessons, and over an hour of peace and quiet for Mommy!

Bake/cook with your kids! Yes, I talk about this a lot. Yes, I know all the reasons to avoid doing this and still think it should be done. It's fun for the children to get involved with cooking and baking! They enjoy being able to help in the kitchen and really enjoy being able to eat what they make.

"Relax" with someone you love! I couldn't resist posting this picture to go along with this item to do! I know the dogs were relaxed but I'm not all that sure Daddy was!

Read out loud to someone! There's always a good time to read out loud to someone in the family! Big to small reading a book to another person is always a good way to spend some time.

Organize something! This little cupboard once held our board games but as Peanut's Play Dough collection has grown it needed it's own home! This nicely organized (if I do say so myself) has been dubbed "Play Dough World" by Peanut and she loves the fact that she can find everything she wants just by looking!

Learn a new instrument! This freezing cold weather isn't good for much but it has allowed for extra time the warmer weather doesn't ever seem to have enough of to spend some quality time learning new instruments.

Build with Legos!!!! ECJ has recently rediscovered Legos! That beautiful beach side resort was a creation of his own! Boy, wouldn't it be nice to be there for real?? 

Find the time to snuggle up and read a good book! This weather makes us all want to snuggle under our favorite blankie and watch a fire, watch a new show, or better yet finally read that book we've wanted to but haven't been able to find the time to. I managed to read three books in the past week and a half myself! A Star Trek book, a Dean Koontz book, and another book by Stephan King.

Get crafty! OK, so here we're always doing some kind of craft. There's paper scraps, bits of yarn, and other odds and ends all over my house at any given time on any given day. However, if you're stuck in the house because the wind's making it -30 degrees it's a great time to pull out some materials and make something new.

Drink something warm and play with Play Dough! Yup, that's my morning coffee and Peanut's morning Play Dough supplies. I spend a few minutes each morning playing with the Play Dough with her while I drink coffee and the other campers work on spelling. It's great for building strength not only in her hands (a must as they're not as strong as they should be, a product of her early birth that's still hanging around) but it also helps with my arthritis in my hands much to my surprise. My hands have never been more dexterous in the last ten years than since I've begun playing with Play Dough.

Exercise! LOL, nope, no pictures of Mommy exercising. Not gonna happen, sorry. Actually, nope not sorry. :-) I caught this picture of the dolls exercising this morning (with molded on bathing suits that are NOT removable thank goodness, I really don't like naked Barbie type dolls) and thought that it was too cute!

Have a dance party! We have one of these almost every day even if only for a song or two. It breaks up the day, it gets the wiggles out, and it gets you moving when otherwise you might be tempted not to even climb out from under those warm covers.

Give somebody a hug! Moragon is a great hugger and is often found hugging one of us or one of the children. We hug on her often enough that I think she just knows it's a sign of affection. There's almost no better way on earth to make someone else smile than by giving them a hug for no reason!

There's tons more things I could list. Truly I could go on and on. But, you get the idea. Get creative. Get moving. Get comfortable. Ride out the Arctic Blast by keeping busy and showing love.


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