Cook A Family Meal
One of the advantages of snow days is that they offer families a chance to sit down with each other and enjoy a big, hearty meal. Pick out a recipe and a meal a few days in advance if you know the snow is going to fly, and then team up with your kids to cook a big delicious meal for the whole family to sit down and enjoy. It can be a family favorite, a new recipe you (or your more culinary-minded kids) have always wanted to try, or a meal handed down from parent to parent you’ve wanted to teach your kids.
Start Crafting
Another useful way to get kids busy and engaged is to have them craft. Give your kids a big canvas to work with; perhaps they could decorate the kitchen for you, or maybe they want to build grandma an elaborate poster. Perhaps there’s something you’ve always wanted to craft, or maybe there’s a holiday like Valentine’s Day coming up. Crafting is a good way to keep idle hands busy and do something constructive with that energy.
Get Ahead On Chores
Yes, we know, most children do not enjoy chores. But snow days can be a good opportunity to teach kids the value of thinking ahead. If they’re inside, and they have nothing to do, sit down with their chore or homework schedule for the week, and point out that, for example, if they get these chores done now, they’ll have more time later in the week to do what they want. Or if there’s a subject they enjoy at school, encourage them to get some practice in with an instrument or read more of their assigned books. Don’t be shy about bartering, either; if your kids want to play video games, well, how about earning it by going out and shoveling some snow?
Sometimes you have to stay indoors.
Snow Day Book Club
Another fun thing to do if it’s too cold to go out is to have family book club land on a snow day. Sharing books can be a fun thing for families to do on their own, and on a snowy day when there’s not much to do, there’s nothing like a good book to suck you in and make your day much more interesting. This can be especially handy when kids have to read a book for school and may be struggling with it; you can read along with them and have them talk through what they’re thinking and why the school assigned the book.
Go Outside (For A Little Bit)
Finally, especially if there’s still some pent-up energy, consider going outside for a few minutes. This can be as simple as a quick walking errand to a local store or even taking a brisk walk outside for a few minutes. If nothing else, it can underscore how grateful we all should be for being bored indoors. Maintain most of your screen time parental controls and boundaries, but know when it’s OK to relax them.
Need help to manage video game, texting, and screen use in your family, on snowy days or any day? Learn more about Screen Time.
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