Winter Weather: 15 indoor activities to keep you busy

Once the kids are done with sledding and snow play (if we actually get any of the stuff), here's a list of 15 indoor activities that should keep them busy until bedtime ...

Posted 2:15 a.m. Jan 22, 2016 — Updated 4:51 p.m. Jan 22, 2016

Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

Once the kids are done with sledding and snow play (if we actually get any of the stuff), here's a list of 15 indoor activities that should keep them busy until bedtime ...

1. Take part in a progressive kid babysitting party with your neighbors. This is how I survive long snow days with my kids on weekdays. Work out a schedule with neighbors where the kids move together from house to house. Each house has a different activity - movies, playtime, crafts. Nobody gets bored and parents have some downtime to get some work done!

2. Make a naked egg. Poke a straw through a potato. And try lots of other easy kitchen experiments. We have an entire series, thanks mostly to local mom/science educator Beth Harris.

3. Stage a board game tournament. Pull out all of those games that are collecting dust and start playing!

4. Work out together wth these workouts from Boot Camp Moms. (Watching my six-year-old attempt a plank or burpees never gets old!).

5. Bake together. How about peach oatmeal bars, blueberry buttermilk muffins, chocolate refrigerator cookies, tree bark or spritz cookies?

6. Stomp on bubble wrap. It's just fun!

7. Prepare dinner together. We shared nine slow cooker recipes that are perfect for this cold weather!

8. Clear out closets, clean up rooms. Here's your opportunity to get rid of that clutter. You can even make money from the stuff your kids don't want anymore by signing up to sell them at an upcoming consignment sale!

9. Make snow candy (if it actually snows).

10. Organize a scavenger hunt (or let the older kids in your life put one together for the younger ones). Need help writing clues? This site - Scavenger Hunt Fun - offers some great tips.

11. Read. Read together. There's nothing better than cuddling on the couch with my kids and reading some favorite picture and chapter books together.

12. Watch a movie.

13. Take a long bath. I mean ... for the little kids. Baths were never part of the bedtime routine when my kids were really young, though they did sometimes happen at bedtime. They also happened during other parts of a long day when I needed a break and they needed something to keep busy. They'd spend 30 minutes in the tub, splashing, playing and getting clean. I'd be sitting nearby, keeping my eye on them and reading my own book while they played.

14. Puzzles. Clear off the kitchen table, pull down that 1,000-piece puzzle from the top of the closet and get to work.

15. Put the phone down, turn off the screens and just be. Maybe you all will get on each other's nerves. Maybe you all will have a great time together. Find out!

Have fun! I'd love to hear how you stay busy on these snow days!

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