As winter begins to creep up, many kids are getting stuck indoors and are looking for things to do in their free time. Here are some of the favorite activities from our Calgary Montessori Preschool to keep your child busy throughout the winter.
As November starts to come to a close and the true winter months begin, it's becoming more difficult to get your child outside to play, learn, and burn off some energy. Keeping your children active and engaged while they are stuck indoors during the winter months will help boost their:
- Mental health
- Physical well-being
- Educational development
- Self-confidence
- Overall mood and happiness
To help you keep your child engaged, occupied, learning, and having fun while indoors, we have come up with 8 healthy activities that are easy to do at home during the winter.
At Our NW Calgary Montessori School, We Understand the Importance of Keeping Your Children Busy During Winter
At Grey Matter Montessori Preschool, we know how important it is to keep your child busy, active, and learning while indoors during the cold weather. We encourage all parents to be involved with their children at home to keep them learning during the winter months.
Are you looking for some advice on how to keep your children occupied while at home this winter?
CONTACT OUR CALGARY NW MONTESSORI PRESCHOOL
8 Indoor Activities to Keep Your Child Active Throughout Winter
Not only is it important for your child to keep busy throughout the winter, but it's just as crucial that they are busy doing healthy activities. Here are 8 activities that you and your kids can do together:
1. Board Games
Whether you choose to bring out the board games during the days, or on cozy Friday nights, your children will get big benefits out of this special family time. Board games will encourage your child to be competitive, motivated, and determined, and it will teach your little one valuable skills, such as:
- Social skills
- Decision making
- Problem-solving
- Goal orientation
2. Indoor Obstacle Course
In the summertime, it is easy to get your child to blow off steam through countless outdoor activities. Keeping their activity levels up during the winter is more complicated. Luckily, creating an obstacle course for your kid is easy and it will provide endless hours of fun, challenge them, and promote their physical well-being during those days when it's just too cold to venture outside for a walk or other forms of activity.
3. Create a Storybook
Nurturing your child's creativity will be invaluable as they move forward in life. Promoting creative thought and expression has been shown to develop cognitive thinking, boost self-confidence, and build emotional health. Creating a storybook filled with interesting characters, colorful drawings, and an original plot is an excellent method of creative self-expression for your child and it will also be fun to reminisce over when they reach adulthood.
4. Arts and Crafts
Sure, arts and crafts can be messy, but children of all ages love them, and this is an excellent indoor activity that will promote your little one's development in a few areas and enhance skills such as motor and coordination skills, creativity, decision making, critical thinking, and even their academic ability. Whether you opt for baking, painting or drawing, or even creating cards for family members and friends, these activities will allow your child to become more independent and learn useful skills that will help them later on in life.
5. Learn Something New
Children are incredibly curious and love to learn new things. The more that your child learns, the more likely they will find something they are passionate about. There are so many things that you and your child can discover together and have fun doing so. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Magic tricks
- Origami
- DIY lava lamp
- Build a bird feeder
- Safe science experiments
- Learn a musical instrument
- Lern a second language
BENEFITS OF LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE AT A YOUNG AGE
6. Bake Some Goodies
In life, some of us are better at cooking than others. While part of the skill likely does come from natural ability, most of it comes from working and improving our cooking skills over time. Starting your child off early with basic baking and cooking skills can develop their love of food and cooking from a young age. The best part? Your home will smell amazing, and you and your child will have some delicious sweet treats to snack on after!
7. Put On a Play
Turn your living room into a magnificent theatre for your family. Have your child create their costumes, write their script, and set up the theatre for you and your family to enjoy! Snuggle up next to your cohorts in the audience (stuffed animals), and enjoy watching your child express their creativity in a fun, healthy way.
8. Clean the House
While not the most fun activity for you or your child, cleaning the house is something that needs to get done. Picking up their toys, vacuuming, dusting, and mopping are essential tasks in your home that will teach your children the value of being responsible. Having trouble getting your children to clean up? Try turning it into a game such as "beat the clock" or "race mom to finish a similar task" to get your child more engaged.
Contact Us Today For Winter Enrollment Applications to our NW Calgary Montessori Preschool
We are now accepting applications for winter enrollment! If you are looking for a preschool environment where your child can be creative, learn valuable life skills, and develop a lifelong love of learning, Grey Matter Montessori is an excellent option.
For more information on how to register, contact us at 587-707-4739 or fill out our online contact form.