Guest Post by: Carrie Spencer
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When you’re spending most of your time at home, being able to send the kids outside to play can relieve boredom for them and provide a much-needed break for you. If it’s snowing or raining outside, or simply much too cold, you may need to come up with some alternative ways for your children to have fun and stay occupied. In fact, you may want to prepare for the colder months ahead by keeping these ideas in mind to keep those blustery days less stressful.
Encourage Them to Explore a New Passion
If your kids have some downtime and can’t get outside, then why not have them fill that time picking up new skills and interests through hobbies? More than just a way to kill time and prevent boredom, hobbies like cooking, painting or even reading help fuel your child’s development and could inspire them to keep on creating and learning well into adulthood.
Sewing, for instance, is a fun activity that has many benefits for children, including improving fine-motor skills, teaching them how to be patient, and letting them use their imagination. The Sewing Room is currently offering online sewing classes for kids of all ages so your children can get the support they need.
To learn more about The Sewing Room’s online camps and classes, call 510-332-9807 or email jennifer@TheSewingRoomAlameda.com!
Another option is photography, which could even lead to exciting job prospects in the future! There are plenty of ways for photographers to earn an income while expressing their creativity. Now before your little one starts exploring a new hobby, you may need to pick up some essentials and supplies. For future photographers, that could mean investing in a quality digital camera, but you don’t necessarily have to spend a small fortune. There are plenty of options for children of all ages.
Help Them Care About The Environment
It’s up to the children and adults of the present and future to protect our environment, including the rain forests. So it’s up to parents like you to educate your little ones about the role they play in reducing pollution, climate change and the multitude of issues plaguing the ecosystems humans and all other living things depend on for survival.
So the next time your kids are bored on a snowy or rainy day, plan some fun that focuses on this sort of environmental education. Using a few basic supplies like different colored paper, scissors, post-it notes and painter’s tape, for example, your kids can create their very own layered rainforest. Then they can learn about the different plants and animals that inhabit each layer and they can even use their creation to teach others about these vital ecosystems.
Allow Them Some Educational Screen Time
Look, if it’s cold or rainy outside the first thing your kids may want to do is to break out their screens. Before you decline their requests, you should know that recent studies suggest that the age of your kids and the quality of the programming they watch may be more important than how much time they spend using screens. Stricter limits are a good idea for smaller children, but older kids can be allowed more screen time for movies, TV and games. So don’t feel guilty because screens are one of the few things that can keep your kids entertained on winter days!
Aside from these studies, other research has found that gaming can help your children develop problem-solving and social skills. Playing games can even be a fun family activity and a safe way to stay connected to long-distance loved ones. If you want to keep gaming and screen time stress-free for your family, you may want to invest in a quality laptop or tablet. If you purchase your next device directly from the manufacturer, you may be able to save substantially.
Photo by Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas from Pexels
Rainy and cold winter days don’t have to give your family the boredom blues! Especially when there are so many fun ways to stay busy and entertained indoors. To give you some peace of mind, all of the activities mentioned above are beneficial or educational for your little ones. So don’t get stressed by bad weather!
