Welcome to the first official day of winter.
Mother Nature didn’t disappoint folks here in the Upper Midwest. Those who feared we wouldn’t enjoy a white Christmas are likely hitting themselves right now… with snow shovels.
We got dumped on overnight; severely smashed by a massive winter storm that came in like an angry warlock.
In fact, the conditions were so poor late yesterday children were told to remain indoors. For parents, cabin fever is no fun to deal with this close to Christmas. Fortunately, there are ways to keep kids from killing one another when they are forced to be cooped up inside for long periods of time.
So, what can you do when the weather outside is frightful this season?
Here are a few suggestions:
Pin the Glove on the Snowman: This is a winter-themed version of the traditional Pin the Tail on the Donkey game. To start, draw a large snowman on a piece of paper, and then tape it to the wall. Next, cut-out glove shapes from colored construction paper, place a piece of tape on each one, and distribute to players. Kids are blindfolded, spun around a few times, and then must place their glove as close to the snowman’s hands as possible. The player whose glove comes closest to the snowman’s hand is the winner.
Snowball Toss: Spread out a bed sheet in the middle of a large room. Divide kids into two teams with each team standing on opposing sides of the sheet. Blow up a white balloon and place it in the middle of the sheet. The object of the game is to shake the sheet so that the “snowball” winds up on the other team’s side. Players are not allowed to touch the “snowball,” just the sheet. Another option is to use the sheet as a net and have kids play snow volleyball with the balloon.
Winter Pictionary: Write down a list of winter-themed words or phrases separately on index cards. For example, “Walking in a winter wonderland” or “Santa Claus is coming to town.” Then, divide kids into two teams and have players take turns drawing out clues for their teammates to correctly guess the word or phrase.