34 activities to keep your kids entertained inside during winter

Winter can be a trying time because even though the weather changes, your kids are just as busy as they were the season before! 

Ages 1-3

1. Make a sensory box. Gather items of interesting textures and let them play! Make to watch closely if you have small items in the box.
2. Put on some music and dance! Look up some kid friendly music that gets your child’s attention
3. Homemade water table (fill up a shallow tub/bowl with 1-2 inches of water. Gather some water safe toys and allow your child to splash and play! Do this activity in the kitchen and place a towel under the tub to prevent too much water mess)
4. Build with blocks (the will likely enjoy the part where you get to knock the creation over!)
5. Read together. Your child is constantly learning, so take this chance to teach them using visual board books.
6. Bubbles can be fun for a while! Either blow bubbles or purchase an inexpensive bubble machine. Ideally this is a kitchen activity because bubbles can get sticky, but on tile or wood floor they are easy to clean up. 

Ages 4-7

1. String beads to make necklaces, keychains, or friendship bracelets
2. Coloring books and supplies
3. Hide and seek
4. Indoor picnic with a blanket and some snacks
5. Set up some pretend indoor camping with a small tent or fort, and a mock fire made from a flashlight and some twigs, a battery powered candle and some toilet paper tubes-get creative!
6. Bake or cook together
7. Do some sorting. Get some objects of the same colors and put out sheets of paper corresponding. Have your child match the object to the paper of the same color.
8. Make puppets out of brown bags or old socks and put on a show!
9. Print out a sheet with some clipart images of items around your house. Go ‘eye spying’ around the house and cross off the items you see.
10. Play with playdough
11. Use a half sheet of paper to make a card for your neighbor.
12. Go ‘skating’ throw on some socks and slide around the floor in your house. 

Ages 8-10

1. Bake or cook together
2. Cut up a magazine and make a collage or vision board on a posterboard 
3. Write and mail a letter to a family member or friend
4. Water bottle bowling (line up a few plastic or durable washable water bottles at the end of the hall or a wood floor area, and use a soft ball to roll and bowl)
5. Make a scavenger hunt together for a friend or family member, or set up a scavenger hunt for your child before they get home for school.
6. Make bobble head stick figure pictures. Print out some pictures of your family members, cut out their faces and use them to draw a scene. Add a stick figure body to the heads on a piece of cardstock. 
7. Make a family tree visual with some printed out pictures and poster board. This is a great time to share some stories of the past and teach your child more about where they came from!