Hobbies And Interests
Board and Card Games
On a cold day it might be cozy to huddle around a table and play traditional board or card games where children not only enjoy themselves, but also receive an educational benefit. Traditional games, including "Ludo" or "Snakes and Ladders", teach children to take turns, to loose and to discern between various colors while also learning to count. Games for older children, including "Battleship", "Chess", "Halma" and "Draughts", teach strategy and encourage thinking skills while being entertaining and fun. If you do not have a game compendium, you can play easy card games, including "Go Fish", "Cheat" or "Memory" as an educational entertainment.
Art and Crafts
Arts and crafts activities inspire children to be creative and encourages fine motor skills. There a several possibilities to make ornaments without having to leave the house to acquire materials. Salt dough crafts can be made easily with flour, salt, water and an oven, while paper-mache only requires the use of old newspapers and a homemade glue solution prepared from flour and water. If you have food coloring and cream of tartar in addition to flour and salt in the larder, you will be able to prepare a homemade play dough. With some cardboard cut into strips and yarn or Rexlace you can make worry dolls, or puppets for use in a theater build of cardboard boxes. With the help of paper, crayons and old magazines and newspapers the children can make posters, paintings or even their own story book.
Cooking and Baking
Involve your children in the art of cooking and baking simple dishes, cakes and biscuits. Being able to make their own food helps children to gain self-confidence, to develop new skills and to learn important facts about nutrition. Make easy dishes, including spaghetti with meatballs or vegetable soups and give the children jobs that they can perform safely. Conclude the cooking and baking sessions with an indoor picnic on the living room floor or parental bed where you can talk about food, tell stories or listen to music.
Construction and Engineering
Challenge the engineer or builder in your child by getting out the building blocks and interlocking plastic brick pieces to create towers, vehicles or entire cities. Older children can also build structures with cardboard boxes, empty toilet paper or kitchen towel rolls and glue. If you are willing to move some furniture for the day, your children might want to construct a den or tent with a selection of throws, blankets and pillows together with some chairs or cardboard boxes. While having lots of fun and being occupied on a cold day, children will hardly notice that they also learn a great deal about principles in physics, math and design when trying to balance building blocks and cardboard boxes, counting brick pieces or creating a city.