The holidays are over: decorations are packed away for another year. Long-anticipated gatherings are now mere memories tucked snug in their beds, only to be awakened on occasion. The older kids are back at school, and the return of “routine” is welcomed.

But what about the youngest members of the family? Time at home with little ones is some of our most important time; it can also be some of our most challenging. Where’s the adventure? Just how long can winter last?

At WeJoySing, we believe ADVENTURE is all about BEING TOGETHER. Simple, joyful activities don’t have to cost much at all, and winter doesn’t have to be “blah” when you discover FUN TOGETHER.

Author Josh McDowell once said: “You don’t ‘make’ memories with your kids. YOU ARE the memory.”1 Truly, someone special is interested in who YOU are.

Try this month’s “Baker’s Dozen--” ideas for heartwarming, cold-weather adventure-- and BECOME your child’s irreplaceable MEMORY this winter.

WeJoySing’s Top 13 Heartwarming Cold Weather Adventures

13. Play "store;" practice being pleasant about holiday “returns…”

12. Have an indoor picnic/tea party with friends and/or stuffed animals.

11. Make FACE PLATES ...staple top & sides of paper plates together making "puppets." Draw faces depicting various emotions. Write “emotion” on back of plate. Sing using that emotion. Laughter abounds and your child learns about controlling emotions.

10. Feed the birds! Try making a bird feeder by tightly tying a string to the top of a pine cone, covering the cone with peanut butter and roll it in bird seed.

9. Buy inexpensive wood shapes and paint at the craft store and create away!

8. Make snow ice cream or snow cones (eat at your own risk!)

7. Play outside in the snow! Make snow angels or other shapes. Add a “flair” to your creation by misting it with color. (food coloring, water, spray bottle; some melting occurs.)

6. Make a Fox and hound track/trail in the snow, then play a chase game: no leaving the trail.
    
5. Go sledding – Parents-- hop on or glide alongside (even if you stay on the bunny slopes!).

4. Play inside in the snow! Fill a dish tub with snow (put plastic down first) and play with cars or sand toys. 

3. Make MUSIC! Paper plate instruments:

Tambourine - soup beans inside and streamers for movement

Shakers - MORTIMER style!!  Soft = salt   Loud =pop corn seed inside butter containers, taped shut. (Read “Mortimer” by Robert Munsch.)

2. YOUR CHILD is the WeJoySing teacher! Be sure to ask for “la-la’s!” Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands! Take your music “on the road” when you visit (or adopt) a great-grandparent.

AND THE #1 way to MELT WINTER “BLAHS:”

1. Come to Winter Session of WeJoySing’s HeartStrings or Music & Me. Your winter blahs will melt away as, together, you and your child find yourselves “WeJoySing” through another special season.

 

 

A Note From Mrs. Jo
Sharing these “cold weather adventures” with my grandson, Keaton, has brought back fond memories of when his Mommy was little. Many of these are “time tested” adventures from our home! Now, it’s your turn to have fun with our top picks for winter fun…I know I have!