Winter Break Activities for Preschoolers
One more week of school for us and then the girls will be home on winter recess for three weeks. I am looking forward to slower, cozy days at home, a loosening of the structure and routine, and time to soak in my family with Nick home with us for a few days.
That said, we will still need some activities up our sleeves. Outside temperatures have been frigid lately, and days upon days in the house with no game plan is a surefire way for this crew (and me) to go crazy.
The other night I fell down an Internet hole (which always happens to me at 10pm--WHY) and turned it into a productive list-making session as I compiled some loose ideas for when we need an activity.
Old me would have been stressed by feeling like I needed to get around to every single item on this list, but I am much more aware that we might do one or two of these things, and that will be good too.
If you have impending days upon days at home with young children and no plans, maybe you can pull from some of these ideas too! Here's what I came up with:
Gingerbread houses--With the girls aged 3 and 5, this is the first year I haven't felt stressed by the thought of this activity, so we are going for it! I bought TWO kits from ShopRite, one for each girl to avoid any drama, and am looking forward to doing this with them.
Baking--Still causes me to shudder, but it's a good practical activity that the girls love and are getting fairly competent at. On our baking list: sugar cookies (to use with our cookie cutters) and kringla, which is a two-day project but so, so delicious and just the right amount of sweetness. Our recipe came from an old classmate of the girls, whose Norwegian grandmother made them, but this is a similar one.
Sibling gift shopping--I don't know if I am going to attempt this one at our favorite toy store, or maybe we'll do it online, but I do think the girls are getting old enough to select one little gift for each of their siblings. I think they'd be tickled by the idea. I'm not exactly sure how to do this if we do it in-store, since I can't be bothered to make more than one trip, but if I figure it out I'll be sure to report back.
Playdoh--Always a hit, and if you make your own, it increases the length of the activity. This is our go-to recipe.
If we need an out-of-the-house activity:
Library
Zoo if it's not too cold one day Ice skating
We also plan on getting them their first skiing lesson this winter, but I'm not yet sure how that will work with George. The logistics of a larger family!
Any great activities I'm missing here?
Some of the ideas from my At-Home Summer Activities for Toddlers would work too.
