Three Tips for Surviving the Winter With Your Family
Winter can be a wonderful time to connect with your family. Here are three ideas for embracing the season and capitalizing on your time together, whether inside or outdoors.
Weekly Activity Grab Bag
Pick 10 winter activities, preferably outdoors, that you could do as a family. This could be to have a snow sculpture building contest, checking out a new sliding hill, renting snowshoes at the park, skating on an outdoor rink, etc. Pick a day each week that will be your family’s Outdoor Adventure day and pick one item from the list to enjoy!
You can do a similar grab bag idea of indoor activities, too. This can be especially helpful if you’re home during the day with little kids. Write out 30 ideas – make play dough, mail a card to a friend, rainbow scavenger hunt, etc – that are easy activities and make sure you have the supplies on hand. Tuck these away in a bin if necessary. Each morning or afternoon, pick another activity. There’ll be an element of mystery and luck to keep both you and the little one entertained.
Snow Day Stash
Make sure you’re not caught off guard by snow day; create a Snow Day Stash! Fill a bin with items that will get you through a day stuck inside, helping everyone embrace the fun of an impromptu day home.
Here’s a list of what you might want in your stash:
- mini cereal boxes & funky spoons
- supplies for one hands-on activity, either a craft or a science experiment
- family movie and special treat
- deck of cards or another small game, like Yahtzee or Boggle
- snow day stories (The Snowy Day, Sneezy the Snowman, Yeti Files, etc.)
- funky paper plates, cups, napkins (who wants to be doing dishes?!)
When you find yourself housebound, break out the stash and have a party!
Family Game Night Tournament
Make this winter all about family time by setting up a Family Game Night Tournament. Create a leaderboard you can have on the wall all winter long. Mark the games played and the highest scores/winners. Build up momentum by playing each week, working towards a great Family Showdown over the March Break. Have something at stake for the winner, like choosing what take-out you’ll have to celebrate as a family.
What are your family’s go-to tricks for embracing winter? Share them below! Thanks to Ann Douglas for the inspiration for this post; check out her great insights on how to reduce stress, boost your mood, and ward off cabin fever!
