After moving to Washington, we are trying to adopt the local mantra: “No bad weather, just bad clothing.” As a military family, we are determined to embrace the lifestyle wherever we are. To be honest, since moving to rainy Washington, we’ve realized that some days it’s harder to endure the climate than others. Sometimes, a gloomy, rainy day in the forties does feel like bad weather, and no one wants to go out in it.
When asked for Christmas gift ideas for our children this past December, we begged family members for indoor entertainment. After living in the south for so long, a long and cold winter was foreign to us, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about it. Our Christmas lists included lots of play equipment and tools that would keep our children busy and, more importantly, get their energy out within the walls of our house for our first Pacific Northwest winter.
For any other parents out there looking for some ideas this winter, here is a list I’ve come up with for some of our favorite ways to entertain children indoors:
1. Indoor play equipment: Thankfully, our home has a large playroom with a high ceiling, so I will say this category might be tricky for those working with small spaces. However, if you do have the room (even a garage works), some of these things might be possible for you:
- Small bounce house: This was Santa’s big gift this year, and we were able to fit it in our Christmas budget by utilizing our favorite store’s annual 25% off one toy/book coupon! You should have seen the look on our children’s faces when they walked down the stairs on Christmas morning. It doesn’t get much better for a kid than a bounce house with an enclosed ball pit in their house. I’ll also note that the ball pit was a major hit for our one-year-old, who doesn’t know how to bounce quite yet.
- Modular play couch: There are some well-known brands and some cheaper versions that work just the same. We have had one for three years now, and it has been a great investment for us. We use ours most often to build forts and make vehicle ramps. They also make wonderful floor mattresses for sleepovers.
- Fold up play tents and tunnels: We have a 5-in-1 play tunnel that includes a foldable play tent, a large teepee and ball pit that all connect with tunnels and a tie system. It has been so wonderful for all three of our kids and can easily fold up for minimal storage space. We also have a foldable playhouse that my little girls have so much fun decorating and playing imaginary games in.
- Stepping stones: These are a win-win-win! They’re dirt cheap. Kids of all ages love them. They stack for minimal storage and provide hours of fun for make-believe games while also promoting balance and coordination skills in children.
2. Sensory bins: This has always been one of my indoor go-tos as a mother, especially after having a little boy who loves a good sensory experience. There are many pre-assembled sensory bins that exist for purchasing online but I enjoy the process of collecting items to make my own. It has become a creative outlet for me over the years. Sensory bins can feel daunting to make, but they only take three components: a base, props and tools. For instance, as a base, you can use any sort of filler, such as kinetic sand, Cheerios, beans, rice or even water! For props, simply choose some figurines like animals or small dolls. For fun, you can add in tiny vehicles, sequins, gemstones, rocks, etc. For tools, a simple spoon will work, or there are “fancier” tool sets online. If doing water play, you can add in some droppers and even some food coloring for a more colorful experience. I personally like to pick a theme and run with it.
My favorite sensory bin I ever made was outer-space themed. It had a base of black beans. I used several different props, such as sparkly star-shaped beads, mini planet bouncy balls, astronaut/outer space figurines, balled-up tin foil (space rocks) and glow-in-the-dark stars. My son spent two entire hours playing in it with just his hands and a spoon. I forgot to mention that little hands make a great tool as well!
3. Rotating table activities: Once the sunny summer climate began to dissipate here in Washington, and we found ourselves having more wet than dry days, I finally mustered up the motivation to take on the project of organizing our cabinets in the dining room to make space for activity supplies. I wanted to have a system that allowed me to quickly whip out some table activities for one or multiple kids whenever we found a lull in the day. I purchased some small and cheap plastic bins that fit perfectly on the shelves of the cabinets. I designated an activity for each bin, including watercolors, sticker books, play dough, kinetic sand, scribble scrubby animals (with markers), and lastly, a marker bin including regular markers and also our favorite dot markers. I don’t have a formal schedule for how I rotate our table activities; in fact, I like to take a child-led approach in this case. For instance, I will often give the kids options such as, “Would you like to do play dough or watercolor painting today?” and go with what they prefer. I never want my kids to feel forced to do an activity that’s meant to be fun, so I make sure I am getting out an activity that they will enjoy.
4. Monthly themes and activity bins: I began this last winter, when I found myself struggling to entertain my older two children indoors while I cared for their new baby sister. I sat down one day and made a list of every month, and I picked a theme (or two) for each month. I began a rhythm of collecting thematic activities, crafts and books to keep in a monthly bin. I could write an entire book on this because I enjoyed it so much! For now, I will just give some examples. I will also note that you can tie the first three ideas above into this one. Let your imagination go wild with how to relate your indoor play scenarios, sensory bins and table activities to your monthly themes.
One of my favorite months — just to give an example of how I do this — is February. (I will say, this month is extra fun if you have daughters!) The theme I chose last year was hearts and unicorns. For activities, I found some cheap Valentine’s Day coloring and sticker books. I made heart-shaped ice cubes, and we painted them with watercolors. We made heart- and unicorn-shaped cookies and decorated them with icing and sprinkles. We made Daddy heart-shaped sourdough biscuits on Valentine’s Day. We had fun with simple math activities like counting and making patterns with conversation hearts. We made beaded heart bracelets for each other. We made valentines to send in the mail to our loved ones. I made a unicorn sensory bin with sparkly pom poms and pipe cleaners to build unicorn houses. I found several Valentine’s-themed books at the library.
I know this can sound overwhelming and like a lot of work. If you invest just a small amount of time and money each month, you can slowly build up your monthly bins over the years to have some fun things. My favorite thing about monthly bins is changing up activities for the kids each month and more importantly, having these fun and new ways to engage with my children at home. It also makes it so effortless when you have a single bin that you can grab and pull from as you please. My best advice is to keep the bin accessible, such as on a high countertop or shelf — away from little hands — but in a place where you will see it often.
It can feel like a lot of effort to entertain your kids indoors, and that’s because it is. My best tip is to have fun with it and channel your inner creativity, and I promise it will be a fun time. Then on the days when you are struggling to motivate yourself to be “fun mom,” just bundle the kids up in their rain or cold weather gear, and you’ll find that nature offers endless activities with zero prep work for mom. You just have to learn to embrace the weather wherever you are and whatever it may be.
It’s OK (and necessary sometimes) to have fun indoors, too!
