Indoor Winter Activities

Last night when my husband got home from work, he told me the temperature was already -12 degrees F. Brrrrr. Today is still super cold, so I think we'll spend the day indoors. Which, of course, means to pull from my repertoire of indoor activities.

So, while I'm thinking what we'll do today to keep the munchkins busy after we do school, I thought I might as well share it with you too!

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So, here's our plan today:

1. Some Cooking: Start a pot of stew! That way, by this evening, we'll have a nice, comforting meal ready and waiting. My favorite stew recipe is Five Hour Beef Stew found at the Kids Recipe Club . There are also a few other stew recipes. If you have a favorite stew recipe that you'd like to share with the Recipe Club, please do so. Just click "submit your recipe" in the "Kids Recipes" menu box. While we cook, I think today we'll talk about the different nutrients in the vegetables we will be using and why they are important to our diets.
2. Some Homeschool - we took a day off yesterday because the kids weren't feeling too well, but today is a definite. We will need to burn a little brain power to help deal with cabin fever and built up energy. Don't forget about the Free Math Worksheet (Decoding Fun) and Free Coloring Pages .
3. Some Lunch - today we will be having sandwiches and home made hot chocolate. I like to do sandwiches with the kids as another way to help develop hand muscles. Slicing (when age appropriate, of course!) and spreading require use of gross and fine motor skills. The homemade hot chocolate creates camaraderie, encourages logical thinking, and is just downright enjoyable on a cold day! Here's where we'll select our beverage recipe .
4. Some Energy burning - yes, I realize that the hot chocolate sugar is going to escalate things :-), so we'll immeadiately do something very taxing! We'll start with some jumping jacks. The kids love them and that helps with coordination too. Then we'll do a "bear hunt" and walk around the house doing movements for marching, swimming, climbing - hey, we'll probably go up and down the stairs a few times too. That'll give me a nice workout too! And then, to cool down, we'll play a little tug of war with our puppy.
5. Some quite time - after our physical activity, we'll all sit down on the sofa and I'll read to them. Right now, we are reading two books. And, the one I'm pretty sure they'll want to hear today is some more of Where the Red Fern Grows. I'm just dreading getting to the end!!!
6. Some cooperative working together - it'll be getting close to dinner time by now. So, as a family, we'll set the table and get everything ready to enjoy our heart-warming stew!

So, if you want, you can follow our plan - or maybe it will spur some ideas of your own "shut-in" day.

Laura Bankston is author of Internationally selling Cooking with Kids Curriculum: Homeschool Cooking in a Box and the Homeschool Cookbook. She currently home schools her three children, maintains home school support websites, and manages their family-owned service business. For information on her curriculum and free home school support services, please visit http://www.homeschoolcookbook.com

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