Stuck Inside-ideas?

The other day I was stir crazy from too many snow/sick days and googled "snow day crafts". One of them that we did that my daughter loved (granted, she's 6) was to take all of her broken crayons, peel the wrappers off and melt them in the oven. 10 or so minutes at 200 degrees and my daughter loved it. We had a muffin tin and put the little paper liners in, then she carefully decided which colors went in which one and after they cooled (about 20 minutes) she had a great time coloring with the new multi colored crayon circles. She also sat in front of the oven and watched the crayons melt. It was pretty cool to watch.

Set up a store!
Grocery store?
make a cash register or use a calculator, set up food and stuff, make a shopping cart basket and dress up!
Ask her what she wants to learn about and go from there with a project or something???
Get a large box and cut out windows and decorate with markers?
Use boxes to make a ship/boat. Dress up like pirates. Make fishing poles with a string and a magnet on the end, then make paper fish and put a paper clip on them - the pole (magnet) will pick up the fish (paper clip).

Make a "tent". Set up an obstacle course with the couch cushions. Cook, bake, decorate. Make salt dough. Learn new songs. Play with balloons.
Make up "furniture" for a doll house made of a box.

I don't have many paper projects, I had boys.

Make your own playdough, it's easy. Give it to her with some cookie cutters and other things to roll it out and shape it. You can add glitter, extracts or food coloring (coloring not required if you make the Kool-Aid version.)

Basic playdough recipe -
3 cups flour
1.5 cups salt
6 tsp. cream of tarter
3 tbsp. oil
3 cups water

Pour all ingredients into a large pot. Stir constantly over medium heat until a dough ball forms by pulling away from the sides. Knead dough until the texture matches play dough (1-2 minutes). Store in a plastic container, it should last for about 3 months.

http://www.food.com/recipe/kool-aid-play-dough-14788 - Kool-Aid Playdough

When my kids were little and we were stuck inside b/c of snow I would bring the snow inside! I know it's sounds crazy, but it was really fun. One time I put a bunch of snow in the bathtub and the kids played in it. Another time I just put it in a huge bowl in the kitchen and we make "snow soup" - poured sugar and stuff in there. My daughter actually took a bite, but it was just the mixing, etc. that was fun. She's 11 now and every once in awhile she'll say "remember when we made snow soup? That was awesome." I think it's cute that she has such a fond memory of it. Anyway, good luck. I know it's hard being stuck inside when they're little!!

Have someone put a few big empty boxes on your doorstep, ring the bell, and run away. What kid doesn't love an empty box???? And the excitement of finding it on your front porch? Wow!

My kids always love the treat of a picnic lunch on the living room floor while they watch tv. Both TV and food outside the kitchen are very very limited in my house, so this is a simple pleasure that really feels fun.

A bunch of snow is the perfect excuse to take your toddler outside! Just dress for it! Shovelling, tobogganing, snow angels, fort building, colouring the snow with food colouring in a spray bottle... We never stayed home because of the weather. When it was really cold we went to the Y, the museum, the library, bowling etc.

Bake and cook up a storm together. This will build fond memories.

Head to the YMCA for preschool open gym, head to the library for toddler story time. How about a kids' museum? Do you have a mall nearby with the soft, indoor playground area, or a fast-food playland? See if there is a mom/toddler music class in your area. Our local kids book store offered this as well as a story time and art classes. This is all stuff you can do with baby in tow.

Clean a closet. I use to love doing that with my momma and finding all my summer clothes during the boring winter months. I still do that when I am at home and waiting on a repairman--all day or just otherwise bored and need a long drawnout chore.

Go to an appliance store and get a large cardboard box.
Then cut holes in it and decorate it.
You can use sheets/blankets/towels for curtains.
Wha La!
You'll have a fun fort to play in, read stories in (with flash lights), or take naps or watch movies in.
Take plenty of pictures.
You can play with it till it falls apart and then recycle it.

make a tent with a blanket over a coffee table.

take teh couch cushions off

Put some music on and dance dance dance. make some insturments.

Watch close but the bath tub can be like a little mini swimming pool. it's fun while it lasts.

When mine were that age, we had a LOT of dance parties. Mama had to dress up and dance too :-)

We'd also put all of the mattresses down on the floor, and do gymnastics inside.

Or finger paint the bathtub (thanks MP for that idea)...totally easy to clean up.

We'd cook or do chores and try to make them fun. All hands on deck!

Or practice counting, shapes, letters, colors, etc.

We'd have playdates with children whose mothers are lovely, so that I got some social activity. A lot of playdates, because I was very thirsty for adult conversation!

We'd have tea parties.

And write story books that we'd draw pictures in.

Sometimes I'd put a movie on for them and I'd space out and take a mental health hour.

We read books, and shredded news papers, and baked cookies, and pasted glitter on things.

*dress-up!
*make cleaning out her room/toys a joint project...she'll be re-introduced to her toys & get distracted!
*launder all of her dollies/etc....she'll love giving them all baths!
*cut snowflakes & hang them all over the house.
*make cards to send to family....photos & all.

Easter and St. Patrick's Day crafts. Make a box to catch a leprechaun- she can decorate it how ever she wants. Decorate a small box to collect a pot of gold-you can hide coins or anything gold colored or she could find the colors of the rainbow. Easter decorate eggs- could be real, paper, cardboard, etc. Make a bunny with your hand- paint two fingers and palm for bunny and then add a face. Pinterest has a lot of great craft ideas.

Bird seed cookies to hand outside- you can use bread, smear with peanut butter and add seed. Or peanut butter on a toilet paper tube and then roll in seed and stick on a branch outside to watch the birds. With snow the birds could come flocking for food. The wooden bird houses, feeders, etc from the craft store are fun to paint.

Fort out of the couch, hide and seek, use a sheet or blanket like a parachute to make bubbles if both adults are home let her go on top and pop them. Or lift up and everyone goes under with just head, toes, etc.

Have fun and hoe spring comes soon there for you. I'm waiting for it here too, we finally had sun yesterday, but are supposed to get snow and ice today.

We just got some big wood letters with my dd's name and decorated them with decoupage glue and scrapbook paper. Kids can help because it's a messy project, but the glue dries clear (modge podge).

The letters came out really cute and we're going to hang them soon.

Well...we've colored, made crafts (there's a website I have bookmarked on another computer with cut crafts- you cut and she pastes them where she wants them). Get paper and tape them to the floor to make hop scotch. Let the kids play with tupperware. Bundle up and go outside, even for a few minutes. My DD was outside looking like the stay puft marshmallow baby when she was 4 mo. old.

Hi,
I looked at your weather for the next 5 days and it looks like you will be above 30 degrees all week. We would absolutely be outside - making snowballs, snow angels, snow men and simply running around in it. Indoors - building with blocks, playing trains, cutting out paper shapes and gluing, coloring, playing w/ stuffed animals.

If you need some active ideas...how about practicing sommersaults, make your own balance beam and head stands? Or a dance party? Or we like to take the cushions off the couch and either build a fort or the boys jump into them.

blow bubbles and pop them.
"paint" a tile floor with a wet sponge.
play pretend - be a mailman, a grocer, a baker, a fireman, a police officer, a cat, an insurance sales rep, an auto mechanic etc.
race cars
relay races
count and climb steps. i.e. go up one, then down one, then up one two, then down one two; up one two three, then down one two three. once she's got the hang of the game you don't have to keep climbing along with her.
march like a soldier.
take turns hiding and finding an object. we use a gold easter egg and play hot & cold.
call relatives, especially elderly shut ins.
invite friends over.
make a pot and pan marching band. cymbals and a big drum.
dress up
play beauty parlor
pretend to be a dog walker/ dog groomer.
be an airplane
be a train/ truck and make choo choo noises all day.
my kid gets a kick out of loading and unloading the dishwasher, playing magnets and loading unloading the washer/ dryer and matching socks.
another great game, in his mind is to hide mommy or daddy in a closet or wardrobe, then knock on the door and discover us.
host a playdate.
borrow a dog or a cat for the afternoon.
watch clouds
count snowflakes.
make hot chocolate

good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

If you are in a house, when the baby is sleeping. Go outside with the 2 year old .. SNOW is awesome.(bring the monitor with you)

If you are in condo do you have an elderly neighbor, or one that does not work.. see if they are willing to stay in your place while the baby is sleeping and get outside in the SNOW..

My 20 month old cries when her brother goes out with out her.. she LOVEs the snow.

Inside things.

Playdoh- you can find a recpie on line if you have none in the house
make a fort
Put on a play with dolls
Do you have a WII or other active video game.
We have a bowling game- plastic.. but you can take 10 plastic cups or bowls and set them up and take a beach ball, orange/apple anything round and bowl with them.
Tupperwear-music/band
Counting canned goods and reorg?
Make cookies & decorate them

ETA: Cook some spagehtti noodles. let her shape them, let them dry and paint them..