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Activities for a Cold Winter's Day
by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P.
reviewed by Lynn Cates, M.D., F.A.A.P.
Even though winter days are shorter, they can last forever if you are cooped up indoors with a rambunctious child or two. Of course, you can always fall back on TV or video games, but a full day of electronic media is unhealthy for anyone, and there are so many other more worthwhile things to do. To help spark your creativity, here's a list of activities to liven up the dead of winter.
- Go outside. No matter what your mother told you, cold air doesn't give children colds, although it does make their noses run. Of course, you have to be careful about frostbite, particularly since young children may not want to stop playing to come indoors. But with a little common sense, and outdoor safety savvy, your child ought to be able to play outside in all but the worst weather.
- Connect with a neighbor. It's often easier for two grown-ups to look after two, three, or four children together than it is for each parent to supervise one or two children separately. During the warm months, it's easy to run into parents at the playground; during the cold months, making these connections takes more effort.
- Get active. Take a mattress off a bed (an old mattress, if you have one), drag it away from anything that could be crashed into, and let your child jump to his heart's content. Be sure to supervise, though, so that the activity doesn't become too wild. Another idea is to try doing yoga together. Yoga is a good way for children to move around without actually running around. It teaches control, and fosters flexibility (something your child is likely to have more of than you!). You can check out an instruction book or video from the library, or just make up some slow, gentle stretching exercises.
- Cook together. Baking together is fun and educational. Following a recipe takes reading. Measuring ingredients in half cups and quarter teaspoons exercises math skills. The transformation of a concoction from liquid to solid is a chemistry lesson in action. Cookies and cakes are delicious, but a gingerbread house provides an even richer opportunity for creative self-expression, as your child decorates his masterpiece.
- Be creative. Kids are almost always up for a special arts-and-crafts project, especially if Mom or Dad joins in. One appealing--and meaningful--idea: making a "just because" present for someone else. The recipient could be another member of your family or--even better--a child who does not have as many material things. Hospitals and homeless shelters sometimes will accept such homemade gifts.
- Make reading fun. Reading a book (or having it read to you) is great, but making your own book can be even better. You can start with a big sheet of paper and fold it in quarters, staple sheets together, or use a pre-bound blank book. The illustrations can be drawings, pictures from magazines, or selections from that big stack of family photos you probably have in a box somewhere. The books should use your child's own words. If he can't yet write for himself, let him dictate to you. He is still the author, even if you are the scribe.
- Tell stories. A great way to make sharing stories even more fun is to create a puppet theater and act out the tales. All you need is a low table or chair covered with a cloth, for your child to crouch behind. The puppets can be brown paper sandwich bags with faces drawn in crayon, or they can be as elaborate as you and your child wish. The story is your child's, but don't be surprised if he borrows themes from the books you've read together.
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Created December 16, 2001
Reviewed December 17, 2001
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