25 Ways to Beat Cabin Fever {On A Budget!}

25 Ways to Beat Cabin Fever with Kids | Serving Joyfully

It’s that time of year. The days are shorter and the children are cooped up due to cold and nasty weather outside, and they are restless! Here are some fun ideas to beat the cabin fever.

1. Bundle up. Put on your big girl {long} underwear, mamas, and let your littles go play in the snow! I know many of us would probably much prefer the warmth and comfort of your couch, but the memories are outside in the snow! Enjoy these moments.

2. Make Homemade Hot Cocoa. If you do go outside in the cold, nothing warms you up like homemade hot cocoa. And, it’s pretty yummy, even if you haven’t been outside in the cold! The kiddos can help with measuring ingredients or counting out mini marshmallows to add to the cups :)

3. Make Snow Cream. It’s a yummy treat, and as one reader mentioned on my snow cream recipe, it’s like practically free dessert delivered to your door.

Snow Ice Cream from Serving Joyfully

4. Game Night. Our family loves to play board games! There are tons of great games you can play indoors–get creative! We also have lots of made up games like the birthday game, that we enjoy playing.

5. Read a book. Or twelve. I love to read and I have a great desire to cultivate that in my children. Make it even more fun by adding activities–crafts, have a theme meal, etc. We’ve also had fun acting out our own little play of a book. See how I get free/cheap books to read.

6. Printable Activities. There are tons of great printable activities and games to be found on the web! I have several here on my site for FREE like my fall themed dominoes, and ice cream social pack. I also have some printable packs in my printables store, including my All About Winter fun pack.

7. 365 Things to Make & Do. This is a great book with tons crafty activities! My boys love to make things :)

8. Build a fort in the living room. Pull out some blankets and pillows. If you’re feeling especially fun, make some indoor s’mores to enjoy in there. Read books, tell stories, sing songs. Enjoy!

9. Make cards. Pull out some art supplies–construction paper, markers, paint, even coloring books and crayons and make some cards to brighten someone’s day! .

10. Make Birdfeeders. Lots of birds hang around during the cooler weather and this is a fun activity! (I’ll be having a full post about this soon!) My boys loved watching the birds outside eating the seed from their toilet paper roll + peanut butter + bird seed feeders.

11. Spring Cleaning. Okay, so this isn’t exactly fun, but if you’re stuck inside you might as well make the most of it and purge some things!

12. Throwback Thursday. It doesn’t have to be Thursday! My boys LOVE looking through old albums and photos of themselves as babies and toddlers. And it’s fun for mom and dad, too. Were they really ever this small???

13. Go to the library. Sometimes you just need to get out. of. the. house! The library is a great (and free) choice!

14. Work a puzzle. My boys love working puzzles, and bigger ones can be a great family activity as well!

15. Perform for one another. My boys made up this game. Take turns singing silly songs and dancing while the rest of the family is the audience. Hubby and I like to take a song and sing it rap style, country style, etc. It’s a fun thing for the family.

16. Play with boxes. What is it with kids and boxes? But, they really bring out the creativity. You can make vehicles, or a little town out of small boxes, or a playhouse out of large boxes. They are great fun either way.

17. Cook something. My boys love to help in the kitchen! They can help with anything, and if you plan ahead for an afternoon of baking, you won’t be concerned about them taking too long or making an extra mess. One fun and simple thing they can do is decorate cupcakes. PS–isn’t this little Chef Set the cutest?

18. Play dress up. We don’t celebrate halloween, but my boys love to dress up, so they play with costumes all year long. My kids’ favorite right now is Buzz Lightyear!

No costumes? Let them dress up in mom or dad’s clothes! My boys love to dress up like daddy.

19. Make homemade playdough. It’s very simple to make, and they get to have fun making it and playing with it! A quick pinterest search yields lots of great recipes and play dough activities.

20. Build. Build with legos and other building toys. You can also get creative and use toothpicks with cheese cubes, grapes, marshmallows, etc, and let your children build a structure out of food.

21. Busy Bags. These bags (or boxes) are made up of activities to occupy your children for just such a time as those cabin fever days. I have a post coming up on these, but Money Saving Mom has a lot of great busy bag ideas on her site. And, here is another list to get you started.

22. Kiwi Crate. I have shared before how much I LOVE these activity kits! They are very affordable (approx. $20 each) and offer great learning activities as well. You can purchase them individually, or subscribe. For a free alternative, head to pinterest for kids activities and projects.

23. Make paper airplanes. Here is a great post with some tips and ideas.

24. Play Hopscotch. Use masking tape to create an indoor hopscotch board. Something about playing outside games inside is always fun for my boys.

25. Science Experiments. Since you’re stuck inside, it’s a good time to pull out those fun science activities from pinterest! Homemade slime anyone? If you’re not feeling creative, you can also get some great science kits like this one or this one.

And, of course, it’s always a fun treat to have a movie party with PJ’s and popcorn in the middle of the afternoon!

What are your favorite winter activities for kids?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Continue reading here: DoTERRA Essential Oils {Product Review}

Was this article helpful?

0 0