Cold Weather Winter Activities for Stay-at-Home Moms

Baking Desserts for Grandparents

• If your parents are coming to visit, you and the children can spend the afternoon baking desserts for them to enjoy when they arrive. If your parents love chocolate desserts, then you and the children can bake items such as brownies, chocolate raisin cookies, chocolate-covered apples, or chocolate pound cake. You can wrap the desserts in colored wax paper and place them in a medium-sized basket decorated with a large colored bow and a note of appreciation for your parents.

Holiday Scrapbook

• Another idea is to give each of the children a medium-sized blank journal and have them create holiday scrapbooks out of them. Give each child items that relate to their favorite holidays, such as old photos from previous celebrations in the family, wrapped candy canes, children's magazine pictures and some ribbons or yarn. You can also have the children write some funny sentences about the holidays on a few pages of the scrapbook.

Costume Contest

• Take the children to a local costume shop and let them purchase pieces of clothing to wear as costumes.When you return home, have the children put on their costumes and enter the room one at a time. Have each child describe her costume, while you and your spouse and other guests serve as judges. The winner gets to choose the dinner menu.

Create Your Own Story

• If you have school-aged children, you can have an activity in which they create their own story to discuss with you and your spouse. Before letting them write the stories, talk briefly about how they can write a good short story, then assign each child a topic to write about. After an hour, let each child stand in front of you and your spouse and talk about their stories.