We woke up this morning to 15 inches of beautiful snow. Living in the Pacific Northwest this is a treat! We hardly ever get snow and when we do it's usually less the an inch and melted by noon. Not today! Everything from the Canadian border to Portland is shut down. Even my Husband stayed home today. Being a home school family we decided to take a snow day too seeing as every other kid in the entire Pacific Northwest was getting a snow day. We started the day with French Toast for breakfast with powdered sugar on top (to look like snow) and quickly bundled up to play in all that wonderful snow. The girls lasted about 35 minutes then wanted back inside.
We have plenty of rainy days here and are pretty good at finding activities to keep the kids entertained but for some reason when it snows it's a different story. They get restless and board and my normal bag of tricks don't quite cut it. I don't know if it's the fact that we can't go anywhere or that the girls are a little worn out by playing in the snow first thing in the morning but I have had to break out the big guns. Thank goodness for Google! I have found some awesome sites that have a ton of great ideas. I thought I would share them with you.
(I know it's a lot of links but looking is half the fun, right?)
http://www.parentdish.com/2010/01/28/snow-day-15-fun-activities-to-entertain-when-class-is-canceled/
My favorite tip from this site was
" Plan an indoor picnic with hand-drawn invitations. Use food from your pantry, or, before the snow sets in, stock up on special treats."
This one is great! They have a ton a fun ideas. I loved...
"Make a home movie
For a fun mid-morning activity, have the kids gather funky clothing and accessories and film a home-made movie. They can incorporate both indoor and outdoor scenes to give the show more interest. With younger kids, you’ll have to be on hand to supervise; older kids can write and direct their own scenes."
This is a link from a local news station. I liked this tip
"Winter de-clutter
Waiting for the perfect time to attack that lingering clutter? Snow days offer the perfect opportunity to tackle the mess you've been putting off. "
This is from I-Village, I just love I-Village and get so much fun info from them. My favorite pick from this site...
"Tea Time
"In our neighborhood, one of the favorite activities among the preschool aged girls is a tea party. The moms seem to enjoy these occasions too. We take some time out of our snow-bound days to sit down and chat with our neighbors over a cup of tea. You'll need to plan the menu for your tea. Of course, you will want tea for the grown-up guests, but the kids will probably prefer juice in their tea pot. Muffins go nicely with tea, or you can make finger sandwiches and cut them into heart shapes with a cookie cutter. While the moms will most likely be content just visiting with each other, the kids may want a few more activities to do. Keep them simple, and not too messy, since everyone may want to dress up for this party. Before the party, the hostesses can hide lots of the little candies (or wrapped cookies) around one room of the house, such as the playroom. While the tea is brewing, the little guests can hunt for these. You can even have them decorate paper bags to store their goodies in."
"In our neighborhood, one of the favorite activities among the preschool aged girls is a tea party. The moms seem to enjoy these occasions too. We take some time out of our snow-bound days to sit down and chat with our neighbors over a cup of tea. You'll need to plan the menu for your tea. Of course, you will want tea for the grown-up guests, but the kids will probably prefer juice in their tea pot. Muffins go nicely with tea, or you can make finger sandwiches and cut them into heart shapes with a cookie cutter. While the moms will most likely be content just visiting with each other, the kids may want a few more activities to do. Keep them simple, and not too messy, since everyone may want to dress up for this party. Before the party, the hostesses can hide lots of the little candies (or wrapped cookies) around one room of the house, such as the playroom. While the tea is brewing, the little guests can hunt for these. You can even have them decorate paper bags to store their goodies in."
A new tradition I am starting is Snow Ice Cream. We have enough snow to make some snow ice cream and it's is really quite yummy. You can find a recipe for it here.
Snow days are so few and far between here that we really try to make it special for our kids. I would love to get some feedback from our readers. What is your favorite things to do with your kids on a snowy day? Feel free to leave a comment!
Leahona is a crunchy mama to 3 adorable little girls and has been married to the most fantastic man ever for 6 wonderful years. She blogs about her family and she also has a helpful hints blog full of recipes, product reviews, and advice. Leahona enjoys playing card games, baking, and homeschooling her cuties.
1 comments - Add a comment below -:
One of the most fun, I mean absolutely break-your-face-from-smiling-too-much kind of fun, is playing outside late at night.
You can see everything when there's snow on the ground! We love going out about 10 or so. Playing that late also makes it a break from routine as they are typically in bed then.
Now I'm hoping for some snow here so we can enjoy it! Send it this way will ya?
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