Fun Indoor Activities for Winter Months

With winter comes the challenge of trying to keep kids busy when not in school.  If kids are not challenged and given outlets for fun, you will have your hands full of some very bored kids.  Before winter arrives, take the time to stock up on things that can be used to include paints, paint brushes, wood for crafts, paper, etc.  Then, you will also find a wide variety of activity books that have all types of interesting, fun, and unique projects that kids can work on alone or as a family unit.

Paints are always a great investment.  Take the cold winter days when getting outside to burn off energy is hard to get them involved with creating paintings.  You can focus on one particular subject matter such as animals or landscapes and work with the kids in helping them express themselves with paint.  Even small children love painting and once the new art is dry; make sure you have wall or refrigerator space for displaying it.

Another option is to work with different paper projects.  Again, there are some amazing books available that can show you and your children how to make things from paper.  Take Origami as a prime example.  This Asian art form is actually easier than you might imagine and for the older children, they can start by learning some of the easier designs, slowly building their skill.

Older kids also love to create things with wood so you can choose age appropriate activities for building something.  If you have pre-teens in the home, this is a great opportunity to teach them the right and safe way to use standard tools in building a small table or other furniture piece.  In most cases, you can purchase scrap wood for very little money and find projects that can be worked on together.

Finally, if you sew or quilt, why not come up with an easy sewing project.  In addition to giving your children something to do with their spare time, you are also teaching them a wonderful skill that can be used throughout life.  Simply begin with something easy such as a purse or tote.  To keep costs down, you can purchase scrap pieces of material at any fabric store and even buy a lot of used but perfectly good patterns online through websites such as eBay.  You can be sure whatever project completed, your children will beam knowing they did it.

See Also:

Winter Fun on the Great White Way
Activities for School Aged Children