Cold weather

By Bec

I don't know about where you are living, but in Adelaide at the moment it's freezing, absolutely freezing.  This is concerning given winter has only just started.  I think we are in for a long, cold winter!! 

So the cold, rainy weather always begs the question - what to do with the kids???  There is always ABC for kids (which I think is fantastic in limited amounts) but I know we all feel guilty letting our kids watch too much TV.   Some of our favourite indoor, non-TV activities are:

Building an indoor cubby house
This is fun!!  Grab some chairs and sheets and pop the sheets over the chairs.  You can make a nice and cosy cubby house.  We like to have morning or afternoon tea in our cubby houses!

Colouring in sheets
You can get some awesome colouring sheets on the internet these days, saves you having to buy a colouring in book, and you can print off different pages to suit you child's current mood.  Cars one minute and fairies the next...no worries!
Kidspot have some great colouring pages here.

Playdough
We all love being creative with playdough.  This is one kids of all ages can do.  Both my 2 year old and 4 year old love playdough.  Check out my aromaplay review here.

Of if you are feeling adventurous, you can make your own playdough.
Easy Peasy No Cook Play Dough  from www.naturalparentingtips.com

•2 cups of plain flour
•4 tablespoons of ‘cream of tartar’
•2 tablespoons of cooking oil
•1 cup of salt
•2 cups of boiling water
•Food coloring
Put all in a bowl and mix.
If it doesn't come together straight away, keep on mixing.  It will eventually get the right texture.

Check out the Little Big Book Club Activities
What an awesome page full of Book activities.  The activities are in set out based on the books of the month, for each age group (0-2, 2-3 and 3-4 year olds).   Our favourite so far has been to make Grug - but there is plenty to do.  Search for your child's favourite book and see what you can make and do!

Create with lego
Here is where their imagination can run wild.  Duplo for the younger ones and lego for the older children.  A tip I have is play with lego on a queen sheet, when you have finished, pick up the sheet by the 4 corners and then you can tip it into the tub - easy clean up!

Dance
What child doesn't love music....just put their favourite tunes on and dance.  You can even get housework done whilst dancing with your kids!!

I would love it if you could share your favourite indoor, non-TV activities!