Cabin Fever Solutions

 Cabin Fever Solutions

I don’t know about you, but I am feeling SO ready for spring!! I haven’t feel too stir crazy for most of the winter, but all of a sudden, I’m feeling the days drag on. So, I have been trying to dig out some ideas to keep the kids happy and busy for this last little bit of being cooped up. I’d love to hear your ideas too – leave a comment below!

Bath Time!

My kids love taking baths, and could stay in for an hour or more. If you need to jazz up bath time a bit, here are a few ideas:

-Let them use finger paints to paint themselves and the bath walls. I think there is no easier way to do finger paints without worrying about the mess. 

-You could also let them play with a can of shaving cream. Once I gave them each a tray of shaving cream, and put a little food coloring in different parts of it for them to “paint” with.

-If you (or your mom or neighbor) have a whirlpool – they could go “swimming”. We did this at my mom’s house the other week and it was a big hit! I don’t normally like for them to take bubble baths, but I made an exception and with the whirlpool, they were in bubbles up to their ears!

-You could make special “bath ice” for them to play with. You obviously don’t want to make more than a tray, so they don’t freeze in the bath water, but they enjoy freezing cubes with small toys in them or food coloring or both, and playing with these “blocks” in the bath tub.

Scavenger Hunts

This one takes a bit more preparation for Mom, but you can make it as easy or as involved as you like, depending on the ages and attention span of you children. Hide clues for them to look for using hints that you give them. They love it!

Obstacle Course

We LOVE doing this – and need to more often! You could set it all up and walk them through what they are to do beforehand, or you could just give them the next instruction as they finish each thing. For readers, you could write it in a list for them to read too. You could time them if you like, for them to beat their own time, or to have a competition.

You can set it up however is conducive to your home, using as many rooms as you like, but here are a few ideas:

-Run up and down the steps

-Run 2 circles around the coffee table

-Jump 20 times on the trampoline

-Walk in a straight line, like a balancing beam. We use masking tape to mark a line on the floor. If you have tile in your kitchen, you could use those for the squares too.

-We also like to use masking tape to mark hop-scotch on the floor

-Put all the couch cushions in a pile to be climbed

-Run up and down the hallway

-Turn in circles five times, then walk in a straight line

-Do a somersault

-Roll across the floor from point A to point B

And Some Old Stand-bys:

-Cook or bake something. Cut-out cookies are always a hit!

-Paint

-Playdough

-Puzzles (If you have small children, check your local library. Many have wooden board puzzles that you can check out.)

-Make sock puppets – who doesn’t have stray socks that don’t have pairs??

-Cut up magazines for a collage. You can do a theme, or just let them cut out whatever they like. I stock up on free magazines at garages sales in the summer for this purpose.

-Put on some happy music and DANCE!

-Create an indoor “sandbox”. I have done this with puffed rice that you can buy at Wal-Mart or Ultra Foods for very cheap in those HUGE cereal bags. Provide utensils for them to sift, measure, stir, etc. in a big tub on your kitchen floor. You can do it with other things besides puffed rice. I had the bright idea once to do it with flour when my oldest was little. I don’t recommend you try it. 

-Let them play in the kitchen sink washing dishes. My kids LOVE to “wash” dishes for me, using lots of soapy bubbles and water! I just put an old towel down on the floor first, and count on changing their clothes afterward.

And when you just have to get out of the house, a trip to a near-by McDonald’s playland can be a life-saver, or a trip to your local library. Ours has a great area for the children to play, besides all the books to read!

Hope that helps beat some winter blues! Please share your ideas below in the comments section as well!