10 Fun Indoor Winter Activites for the Family

The kids are out of school for a few weeks and you are wondering what to do to occupy your days. We all know about the many outdoor activities during the winter such as skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, making snow angels and Frosty the Snowman. What about some indoor activities for the days when you don’t feel like venturing into the outdoors?

Here are 10 indoor activities to enjoy as a family over the next few cold months:

1. Work on a puzzle
   • Challenge your entire family to finish a “hard” puzzle in a day. Choose a puzzle size that is appropriate for all ages while still posing some difficulty. This will keep everyone engaged for hours and encourage family conversations.
2. Host a  hot chocolate party
   • Grab your crockpot and melt some chocolate with milk. Create a buffet-style setting with toppings such as marshmallows, caramel, peppermint, candy canes, sprinkles etc… Before you know it, the entire family will be gathered around the fireplace enjoying their favourite hot chocolate.
3. Have a movie marathon
   • Allow each member of the family to choose their favourite age-appropriate holiday or winter movie, gather around the television and have a fun movie marathon with popcorn and snacks.
4. Have a fort building contest
   • Grab some bedsheets, boxes and any other creative supplies you can find and allow each family member to pair up with someone to build a great fort. Allow the kids to be the judging panel.
5. Bake
   • Head to the grocery store. Buy some baking ingredients and spend the day baking everyone’s favourite treats. Allow the kids to help with the easy and safe tasks such as mixing and tasting.
6. Play board games
   • Spend a day playing some classic board games such as Monopoly and Game of Life. Don’t forget to include modern games that allow the entire family to learn something new.
7. Make a family time capsule
   • Grab a large shoebox and allow each member of the family to write a letter to their future self. Include in this box a favourite family picture and an item from each person’s room that represents their current age or favourite activity. Plan to open this box as a family in 10 or 20 years!
8. Play dress up
   • Choose a theme or a favourite movie and plan how everyone can dress to imitate their favourite character or look.  Allow the kids to get into the adult’s closet and choose some clothing items to wear. Play a fun game of dress up as a family.
9. Make paper snowflakes
   • Grab some newspapers or blank paper and cut out snowflakes. Decorate a room in the house to look like a winter wonderland.
10. Create magazine collages
    • This a great activity for adults and children. Grab some cardboard,  magazines, arts and crafts supplies and get to cutting and pasting. Kids can create a collage of their favourite outfits, toys, people and places. Adults can take this opportunity to create a vision board that showcases their dreams and goals.

With these great suggestions, we hope you make the best of your winter months with your family!

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Kinder Buddies is a Quality First Daycare and Infant Care facility in Oakville, Ontario. We take care of children from the age of 6 weeks to 5 1/2 providing nutritious meals and fun activities all day long.