7 Winter and Christmas Activities to Do with Your Kids

Simple Christmas Activities to Do with Your Kids

Winter is here! Oh, and Christmas is also just around the corner! Not only do kids love this time of year, but so adults do too! Even the most mature people in society can’t help but get a little giddy when it’s snowing outside and the bells are ringing! Christmas brings out everyone’s inner child. Of course, winter means it’s time for fun, family, holiday activities and lots of them! Read on for 7 simple winter and Christmas activities to do with your kids.

Seven Simple Activities to do with Kids during Winter Season

There's no need to spend a lot of money or stress over making glorious holiday decorations and delectable cookies to achieve the perfect Christmas with kids. Simple winter and holiday activities make the best, long lasting memories. Why not start a new family Christmas tradition with these simple activities for family time with the kids.

1. Decorate your whole house with fancy lights

Winter isn’t the holiday season without fancy lights. 

From the colorful to the vibrant, get creative and beautiful LED fairy lights to your favorite rooms. Make sure to get the kids involved by allowing them to have input on which lights go in which location. LED lights don't get hot like those old fashioned Christmas lights so go crazy this year!

To get some amazing Christmas lights, as well as other cool bulbs and lamps, go to powerpointelectrics.co.uk. Be a clever mom or dad by ordering your lights now before it’s too late! The more lights, the merrier the holiday season. Your kids will treasure this family tradition, so go make it a thing!

2. Spend a day at your local slopes

Fingers crossed; it’s going to snow this winter! When it does, the entire family should wrap up nice and warm and head down to your local slopes. They’ll probably be lots of other families and kids there, too, which will make the occasion extra memorable. In Indiana, you can also do some stellar snow toboggan sledding at Pokagon State Park.

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3. Create paper snowflakes

Kids love to get creative during winter and Christmas time. A great winter holiday activity idea is to create snowflakes out of paper. Follow this easy tutorial on how to make paper snowflakes from Martha Stewart. Make sure to carefully guide your kids through the steps, and don’t forget to be extra careful with sharp scissors! Once you’ve created your paper snowflakes, scatter them around your home for a special winter holiday decoration.

Here are some more fun snowflake activities from the Adventures of Kids Creative Chaos.

4. Read Christmas stories

It's impossible to count the abundance of classic Christmas stories. So, this winter, give your kids freedom of choice when it comes to which stories they want to hear. Maybe it will be The Polar Express, or – wait for it - How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Click here for some great holiday books for kids that you may not of yet read!

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5. Go on a Netflix marathon with the family!

Usually, the weather is freezing cold during the winter months in Indiana. Of course, this means that a lot of time is spent indoors (preferably with marshmallow.)

When your family is relaxing around the house during the holiday, load up Netflix and go on a movie-watching marathon! Elf, anyone? If you need extra help, here are 37 of the best Christmas movies for kids available on Netflix. 

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6. Have a cozy fire in your backyard

Bonfires don't have to be just for fall! If you have a nice spacious backyard, you should have a cozy (and safe) fire. You’ll even be able to toast some marshmallows, have some hot chocolate, and tell your best Christmas stories. While you're at it, make some savory s'mores!

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7. Build igloos and snow forts

When it snows, it’s only right that the entire family has a huge snowball fight! When you do, make sure to build some igloos and forts to make it extra exciting. You can even make indoor snowballs for an indoor snowball fight!

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Snow Day Activities

 5 Snow Day Activities to Keep Your Kids Entertained

Snow days are basically the best thing ever for kids. What’s not to love about a random day off from school? For parents, though, seeing their child’s school scroll by on the list of closures during the morning news isn’t always such an exciting experience. Having the kids home on short notice can be stressful for lots of reasons. For some parents, arranging childcare is a huge challenge. Even for stay-at-home parents, having the little ones home unexpectedly isn’t always easy. Don’t let the next snow day get you down. Prepare yourself by checking out these snow day activities to keep your kids entertained.

After a heavy snow, your kids will likely want to spend their morning sled riding or building snowmen. Once the chill sets in and they get tired of being outside, though, you can expect to listen to a chorus of “I’m bored” all afternoon. That is, unless you plan ahead and come up with some indoor activities in advance.

Activities for Snow Days

Bake Up Some Tasty Treats

Baking is always a fun way to warm up and pass the time when you are stuck indoors. Most kids love helping in the kitchen, and with proper supervision, baking is an activity that is fun (and rewarding) for kids of all ages.

There are all sorts of kid-friendly recipes for things like cookies, breads, cupcakes, etc. Pick out a few options and stock up on the supplies necessary to make them. Keep everything on hand and you’ll be prepared for the next snow day.

Baking with your kids is a great way to work on your holiday gift list, too. If a snow day falls prior to the holidays, spend the day making cookies and other goodies to share with your loved ones. The kids will have fun and you’ll get to check something off your holiday to-do list. Talk about a win-win!

Customize Clothing

Arts and crafts projects are the standard go-to when it comes to keeping kids entertained when they are stuck indoors. If you want to try something a bit different from the usual drawing, painting or stringing beads activities, though, consider stocking up on wholesale clothing. There are many ways to customize blank t-shirts and other apparel, and kids of all ages enjoy making their own wearable art.

Wholesale kids’ t-shirts are the perfect foundation for tie-dyeing, drawing, painting and much, much more. You can dye cotton t-shirts with food, use readily available dye kits, customize them with iron-on decals… The options are virtually endless.

Older tweens and teens can also use blank t-shirts and sweatshirts to make entirely new garments and accessories. They can transform t-shirts into purses, skirts, headbands and all sorts of other fun things. There are plenty of ways to give sweatshirts a makeover, too.

Build a Fort

Sometimes, the best activities are the tried and true classics. Chances are, you have your own happy memories of building a fort in your living room or bedroom when you were a kid. Why not help create those memories for your little ones, too?

You can keep things old school by building a fort by draping blankets over chairs and tables or making one out of a large cardboard box for a nostalgic feel. Or, if you want to be a bit more modern, there are now fort building kits that make things much easier. Whichever option you prefer, you and your kids will have a great time building and playing in a fort. You’ll also have a blast getting to see your little one’s imagination at work as they design their creation.

Read a Book Together

When the weather is cold and snowy and you are trapped indoors, you can escape to a place where the weather is a lot more pleasant (or simply doesn’t matter) by getting lost in a book. Consider picking up a few adventure books and tucking them away for the next snow day. Any genre works, but adventure books are great when you want to help your kids mentally escape for a little while.

Cuddle up on the couch with a soft, cozy blanket and read together. Put on your best performance to help your child feel like they are really in the story rather than just listening to it. You may find yourself getting lost in the book, too!

Have a Treasure Hunt

Keep a special toy or treat on hand to surprise your child with when they are home on a snow day. Hide it and then create clues that they need to follow in order to solve it. Riddles are great for older kids. For younger kids, each clue can be something simple, like a picture of where they need to go next.

Putting together this type of scavenger hunt does take a bit of time and planning. If you are running short on time, you can make it a simple game of “hot” and “cold” instead. Tell your child that you have hidden a surprise, and when they are getting closer to it, tell them that they’re getting “warmer.” Tell them they’re getting “colder” if they move farther away from it.

If you have older and younger kids, ask your older child to hide the prize and draw a map that their sibling will then use to find it. As you can tell, there are all sorts of ways to have an indoor treasure hunt. Get creative with it!

The Bottom Line

Keeping your kids entertained when they are stuck at home doesn’t have to be difficult. With a little bit of creativity, you can come up with all sorts of snow day activities that will pass the time and keep you from having to listen to whining, arguing, etc. Look at a snow day as an opportunity for making family memories instead of as a burden. Changing your perspective will make it way easier to have fun with these unexpected days off rather than dreading them.

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Classroom Safety Tips

Safety Tips for Children in Early Childhood Education from ChildCare Education Institute

Anywhere you go, the safety of our toddlers and preschool children is a topic of concern. We need to become vigilante when it comes to the safety of our kids. A recent study shows more than 794 children were killed by vehicles in 2017. Unfortunately, many of these deaths took place at daycare facilities under the supervision of early childhood educators. Back up cameras are not enough. All adults need to know these safety tips for children from ChildCare Education Institute.

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According to the CDC, Unintentional injuries—such as those caused by burns, drowning, falls, poisoning and road traffic—are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children in the United States. Each year, among those 0 to 19 years of age, more than 12,000 people die from unintentional injuries and more than 9.2 million are treated in emergency departments for nonfatal injuries. Read the CDC report on Childhood Injuries.

Safety Prevention in the Classroom

Safety in the classroom doesn’t just happen, teachers must be prepared and plan for it. What can we do to prevent these senseless deaths and keep our youngest family members safe? When child caregivers and other adults equip themselves with the tools needed to protect children in their care, they can reduce unnecessary injuries and accidents. Safety education is key.

ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI,) the industry leader for online professional development, offers over 55+ safety courses for ECE teachers. These high-quality and research-based courses provide early childhood educators with operating procedures and best practices for keeping children safe on and off school grounds.  I highly recommend all ECE professionals explore CCEI’s vast online course catalog and enroll to take their safety courses today!

CCEI has over 35+ certificate programs offered in both English and Spanish! They’ve graduated over 15,000 early childhood professionals from its CDA and other certificate programs -- with over 5 million online course hours completed by students. CCEI’s web-based coursework is available 24/7/365. 

Here’s a list of some of the 55+ safety courses offered online with CCEI:

• CCEI112A: Child Abuse: Signs of Abuse and Reporting Requirements for Early Childhood Professionals identifies and defines the major categories of child abuse, explains the responsibilities of mandated reporters, lists methods of reporting, and emphasizes the importance of visual checks.

• HLTH110: Protecting Infants: Reducing the Risk of SIDS and Shaken Baby Syndrome  introduces the risk reducing and preventative strategies designed to keep infants safe.

• CCEI110A: Indoor Safety in the Early Childhood Setting introduces early childhood professionals to indoor safety standards in an early childhood setting. Topics covered include toy safety, poison control, the development of appropriate play space, controlling high traffic areas in the center, and other safety standards.

• HLTH104: Basic Health and Hygiene Practices for the Early Childhood Setting  provides basic information everyone should know about preventing the spread of infectious diseases in the child care setting.

• CCEI119: Food Allergies in the Early Care Setting provides an overview of food allergies and basic food allergy safety principles to employ in the early care setting.

ChildCare Education Institute offers professionals 150+ online child care training courses (in English and Spanish) to meet licensing, recognition program and Head Start requirements. It’s the perfect online training for busy early childhood teachers. Read our review on CCEI here: Continuing Online Study for Early Childhood Education. I highly recommend you try these safety courses today from CCEI, so you can create a safe environment for your students. The courses are easy to digest and easy to apply to your daily schedules.

Maintaining a healthy and safe environment for children in an early childhood environment is essential. Parents count on caregivers to keep their children safe, healthy, and happy when they're in the classroom. Early childhood professionals need to stay up-to-date on the changes to licensing regulations, best practices, and health and safety standards set forth by governing agencies. Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs has been updated. Learn more about the recent safety standard updates.

Have you considered any of these safety tips for the childcare environment?

• Cots/cribs are placed 3 ft apart or have barrier and assigned to a specific child or cleaned and sanitized after each use
• Furniture and equipment is in good repair (check for broken toys, accessories, wrinkled/disrepair rugs/carpet.)
• All chemicals are locked/out of reach of children. 
• All entrances/exits are kept clear of clutter, snow, ice, etc. 
• Tables and chairs are not stacked while children are present.

Your state likely has many resources available to help guide the safety practices and policies in your classrooms. Download this free Childcare Health and Safety Checklist PDF from Indiana.gov.

CCEI offers many continuing ed courses for ECE staff and caregivers. I encourage anyone working with children to take courses with CCEI. That’s right, anyone! If you’re a homeschooler, you’ll find many of the courses beneficial to your homeschooling learning environment as well.

ECE teachers in a brick and mortar environment will find that CCEI is convenient and easy to navigate, most classes take about an hour. Preschool teachers and daycare providers alike, will definitely want to take a look at the safety courses and maintain a weekly safety checklist for their program environments. 

Looking for fun ideas and activities for preschoolers? Check out our Preschool Scavenger Hunt Group on Pinterest.

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Big Cats in Indiana: Exotic Feline Rescue Center

Things to do in Indiana: Visit the Big Cats at the EFRC

Are there big cats in Indiana? You bet! If you love animals, especially cats, you must visit the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in southern Indiana. It's not a zoo, there's no real parking, and it's in the middle of nowhere. No worries, they want you to come visit the amazing Indiana cats. This is a wonderful idea for a field trip or a one tank trip on a weekend get away.

This post contains affiliate links.

What will you see there? Sure, there are native cats like the Bob Cat, but you'll also see Mountain Lions, Serval Cats, Leopards, Jaguars, Tigers, Tigers, and more Tigers! Most of the cats were raised as pets or used in animal shows and have been rescued from very difficult situations. They are finally free and live their lives loved in as natural an environment as possible.

Each ticket purchase helps feed and house the cats. You can also make donations to the EFRC or attend any of their special events, including a summer camp for kids! They also offer an overnight camp for adults. You read that right! Stay in a cabin on site with a view of the cats and then wake up and make the rounds with the caretakers. Sign me up!!

As we toured the facility, we couldn't help but make note how if felt like Jurassic Park, right down to the dinosaur sounds (tigers talking back and forth across the center) and the atvs used for feeding. I'm guessing if a big cat escaped, there would be similar results. These cats are lovable but clearly wild animals.

The tigers like to play with the water bowls which also serve as swimming pools in hot weather.

The Exotic Feline Rescue Center is open from 10-5 daily. Rain, shine, or snow. They mentioned that the cats are especially lonely when no one visits during the winter months. So, go see some cats in the snow!


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Diy Christmas Gift Bag Ideas

Make Christmas Gift Bags at Home

These gift bags are the perfect things to make at home. Purchase plain bags at deep discount and then do these DIY Christmas Gift Bag Ideas to personalize them for friends and family. Whether you decorate with a Christmas Tree, Santa Claus, Reindeer, Elf, Gingerbread Man or even a Star of David for Hanukkah, these bags are sure to get a smile. Enjoy!

Diy Christmas Gift Bag Ideas to make at home.

DIY Santa Gift Bag Decoration.

For this Santa Claus gift bag, we used an oversize gift tag, sticky stars, and cotton balls. Total Cost is under 25 cents! We bought the tags and bags in bulk.

Gingerbread Man Craft Decoration for a DIY Gift Bag.

This Gingerbread Man is a foam form that came in a pack of 100 different holiday characters. We added glitter glue, mini pom poms, and sticky stars.

DIY Reindeer Gift Bag Idea Craft.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is a cardboard cut out. We bought them in packs of 50 at Michael's. They make great traceable patterns for kids. The tree below is traced from the Christmas Tree pack. We added glitter glue, sticky stars, and mini pom poms.

Christmas Tree Gift Bag Craft Idea.

Trace a Christmas Tree on felt and cut it out, add some glitter glue and sticky starts and then pop on some cottonball snow to make this gift bag decoration.

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