How to Have More Fun with Your Kids in Winter

27/01/2018

happy family


Recently it feels like all it's done is rain and while Christmas distracted us from the cold of winter it now seems to be really lingering with many of us looking for those early signs of spring. It can be easy to get a little cabin fever around this time of the year, even when your passionate about getting outdoors as much as possible it's just so cold that most head back inside after an hour which means we need to get creative when it comes to having fun as a family. Spending time with your children is one of life’s greatest pleasures, but between keeping on top of the house, work, the weather, things can gets in the way of making fun memories that will last a lifetime and even when we are all stuck inside it's easy to reach for the remote rather than connect over some fun activities so here are a few low budget ideas on having fun this winter.

Have an indoor Picnic

My boys absolutely love having picnics and get really excited when the weather becomes warmer and we can start to eat al fresco, but it doesn't have to be just a summer activity, why not bring it indoors and have a floor picnic? Have fun dressing everything up, get the pretty picnic blankets out, why not a teepee too? You can surprise your kids with their favourite treats and older children can even help in the kitchen with some baking and packing the food into the picnic basket, make a real event of it, it's always gone down well in our house, you can see some inspiration here 


high tea



Build a Fort

Its probably something you did as a child and building your own special fort or secret play den never gets old or boring so if you’re looking for a fun and cosy indoor activity then why not build a pillow fort? Use blankets, sheets, pillows and plenty of imagination that you can all climb into them snuggle inside whilst watching movies in your pyjamas.

If you want to make your blanket fort really special then buy soft toys at gund.co.uk to decorate it. You can also use these for extra imagination play, asking each child to tell a fort story about their favourite new cuddly friend.


kids den



Have a Reading Marathon

Instilling a love of reading in your children is important from a very early age. Reading is a life skill that is essential, and if your child loves books when they first begin to read then they will love books forever!

You might think that reading is a fairly solitary experience, but if you want to have fun with your kids and challenge them academically at the same time then why not create a family reading marathon? Create a list of books and then snuggle down to read them together. The challenge of getting to the end of the list will inspire them to keep reading, and talking about their reading is a wonderful way to engage your children.


starwars book



Face painting and role-playing

Most kids love to dress up as their favourite characters so why not have a dress up day and get creative with it. If you have some face paints to hand than download a couple of easy tutorials from online and set up a little face painting station to get the role playing started. Popular styles are lions, cats, butterflies, knights and after the face painting you could also see what you have lying around to make a few hand made costume, cardboard boxes can be cut out into wings or a shield, imagination really is limitless.



lion facepaint


Get outdoors

Of course despite the cold and wet weather we do aim to get out as much as possible so pile up the scooters and skateboards into the boot or dust off your bikes, make sure you have plenty of layers and warm coats and head out for an hour, the fresh air will do you all some good. Local countryside parks that have a cafe are a good idea as you can set out on a short walk before stopping for coffee to warm up and then heading back out again. It really is so easy to become very sedentary during the winter but the more you move and the more active you are the better you will all feel.


young brothers


12 comments:

  1. Very interesting topic, appreciate it for posting.

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  2. Thank you for this! I usually try to get outside with my children as much as possible, but the winter weather and almost constant bugs are keeping us inside a lot more lately. I love playing role play games with them, it's so much fun.

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  3. To be honest, even as an adult, I feel these activities would see me through the winter. I'd definitely do the book marathon inside my fort!

    C x

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  4. I love the sound of an indoor picnic, I may be 19 but picnics still get me excited. Fun ting to do when it’s a rainy day/cold for sure

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  5. I love the idea of an indoor picnic and it looks like your two do as well x

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  6. We are always building forts in my house,the joy of having 3 small boys. W have also gotten into baking loads over the winter and they love it

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  7. I'd forgotten all about indoor picnics. Caitlin and Ieuan are 10 and 8 now so we're at the 'heads down, iPads on' stage but it would be worth doing for a bit of fun the next time it's pouring down - which is likely to be any day!

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  8. Oh my gawd, I love it when we have days in, even if it does cause a little cabin fever. The simple ways are the best, we LOVE indoor picnics and forts! Amazing list and just what I needed this week with poorly ones... x

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  9. I don't have kids but I'd sure as hell make a book fort for myself! That sounds like so much fun!

    Katie xoxo

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  10. I don't have kids, but I used to love building forts and having indoor picnics! x

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  11. Face painting sounds very fun especially in the winter

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  12. I think crafts are perfect for kids! Great way of entertaining them indoors when it's still a bit cold out too.

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Lovely comments

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