Fall/Winter Indoor Activities for the Family

While many parts of the country have already been experiencing fall weather, we are just now beginning to see the cooler temperatures where I live. Last night, we had a storm system move through as the cold front met the warm air that was still present, which has resulted in a lot of standing water and cool, fall temperatures. While the cooler weather is great, the wet conditions make it impossible to let the little ones go outside.

Therefore, today we are finding fun activities to do inside. I know that as fall pushes its way through and winter arrives, indoor activities are going to become a must. Therefore, I have put together a list of fun indoor activities to help your family get through the fall and winter months.

1.      Watch movies together. Today, the kids and I have been watching movies – something we rarely have time to do together. I have to say that it’s been pretty nice. So far, we have watched The Land Before Time, The Lorax and now my oldest is watching The Goonies for the very first time. Although the television has been entertaining us all morning, it has been some nice quality time together, made complete with popcorn and pizza!

2.      Bake some homemade goodies. If you have children around the age of 5, then they most likely enjoy helping in the kitchen. When I am making dinner, my 5 year old is constantly trying to bring his step stool in and help. While I am able to let him help sometimes, a lot of the time, I just don’t have the time to slow down and let him join in. Therefore, on days when going outside isn’t an option, I like to spend a little time with him in the kitchen while we bake homemade goodies. Usually, we will do homemade banana bread or sugar cookies where he can use the cookie cutters to shape his own cookies. Of course, the day isn’t complete until he has decorated his cookies once they’ve came out of the oven. And, baking homemade goodies and putting together gift baskets for the neighbors is always a great way to kick off the holiday season too!

3.      Decorate pumpkins. Decorating pumpkins is always a fun way to get the kids excited about fall (and Halloween). It doesn’t matter if you are painting or carving the pumpkins…it’s all fun and a great way to spend part of the afternoon as a family. With the help of the internet, you can easily find a lot of ideas for decorating non-carved pumpkins, as well as, the traditional carved pumpkins. Of course, if you carve pumpkins with the kids, make sure to save the seeds and roast them for a unique, yummy snack!

The above ideas are just a few of the many ways you can spend those cold fall and winter days together in the house. However, there are many more things you can do as well. What are some of the things you and the kids enjoy doing indoors when it’s too cold to go outside?