The fun doesn’t have to stop when it’s cold so check out these playdate ideas for the winter!
Playdate Ideas to Keep Your Child Busy and Entertained This Winter
1. Have Some Ball Pit Fun
Who says you can only use the inflatable during the summer? Well, it’s great for a winter activity, too. Instead of filling it up with water, fill up the pool with balls for some ultimate indoor fun. Even the adults can join in the fun!
2. Run a Coat Drive
Can you imagine how the cold winter season can be for the homeless? Hit two birds with one stone by running a coat drive and letting your little kiddos help!
Send a message to people you know to ask for winter clothes they can donate and let the kids do simple tasks. You can use a playdate app to organize your coat drive with your mom friends and their kids.
3. Make Art
Unleash the kids’ creative side and have them make art! It can be painting with a brush, finger painting, or hand painting. They can make sculptures via clay or kinetic sand, or they can make arts and crafts with simple materials like buttons, yarns, ribbons, and etc. A holiday theme will be great this time of the year.
4. Create Christmas Cards
It’s a holiday for giving and saying thank you to those around you, after all. Help your child and his/her friends create cute Christmas cards to give away to their friends and family. It’s going to be a thoughtful gift!
5. Make a Snowman
If the cold is bearable, go out and make a snowman! It’s a winter classic and the children will enjoy building one together. They can also make some snow angels and have a snowball fight while they’re at it. Just make sure to keep a close watch to prevent any untoward accident.
6. Enjoy a Movie
When the kids have gathered around, it will be nice to let them watch their favorite movie together. You can ask them to tell you their favorite movies, then write them on a piece of paper, and draw the winning movie from a jar after.
7. Run a Pretend Business
We’re not exactly suggesting a lemonade stand – that’s for the summer, after all! Have the kids run a pretend business inside the house.
Create a grocery corner, a cashier area, and any other areas needed in a business. You can then assign the kids to different areas and watch them run a business together.
Who will be the customers? The parents, of course!
8. Dance Your Heart Away
Go ahead and let your inner Britney run loose and sing and dance to your heart’s content. Let the little ones play Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, or Justin Beiber and get the show moving. This will be more fun if all the parents and children get on board. No audiences, all superstars!
9. Do a Lego Project
Stuck indoors with loads of free time? Get going on a huge Lego project! You can opt for the structured Legos that come with instructions or go classic and let your imagination run wild with all the possibilities. You’ll love the outcome after hours of working together!
10. Hold a Tea Party
Who says you need to be a royal or high class to enjoy a tea party? Let the little kids dress up and hold one in your home. Invite the neighbors and have your own adult tea party while the children have their own little tea time going on.
Tell them to bring with them dolls and action figures for added guests. The more the merrier, after all!
RELATED: 15 Indoor Activities For Kids This Winter
11. Camp Indoors
The weather may not be friendly enough to camp out, so have some fun camping indoors! Set up a tent in the living room or make one using blankets or bed sheets. Turn off the lights and have the kids exchange stories with flashlights on their hands.
12. Organize an Alphabet Scavenger Hunt
Create a banner from old scratch papers around your house and write in the 26 letters of the alphabet. Have the kids look around the house for items that start with each letter of the alphabet. They can check the letter in the banner once they are done with it. It will be a fun learning experience for the little tots.
13. Throw a Pizza Party
Who doesn’t love pizza, right? While the cold weather goes on outside, heat up your oven and whip up some delicious pizza. Let the kids help out with simple kitchen duties. They will love to have the opportunity to see the parents cook and even help with it, too.
14. Create and Play with Sock Puppets
Who says sock puppets are outdated? They may have been around for a while now, but there’s no limit to the fun they bring! Get creative and make your own sock puppet, and let the kids design their own.
Create a storyline for them afterward or just have fun making them talk. Take turns putting on a puppet show having each parent partner with their child.
15. Have Some Fun with Cardboard Boxes
With all the technology around you’d think it’s difficult to entertain kids without them. The truth is, kids may just want a simple cardboard box!
Invite your children’s friends over and give them huge cardboard boxes and let them have fun using their imagination. Spongebob and Patrick did loads of fun activities with it, your kids surely will too!
16. Read a Book
Have a simple quiet but fun time and read a book to your little one. Read him or her favorite story or pull out a new book he or she hasn’t read yet.
Another idea is to invite their friends over and let them read their favorite book to the group. Reading dates like this can increase the likelihood of your child being a book lover when he or she grows up.
17. Have a Fashion Show
Let the kids rummage through their closet and model around your house with an ensemble they chose themselves. Play some music to really get a fashion show vibe. Allowing kids to choose their own clothes and dress themselves up is a good way to let them develop their own taste.
18. Play Indoor Hopscotch
Sure, you can’t go out in the park because of the weather, but you can still bring the park games to your home. You can DIY an indoor hopscotch setup and let the kids have fun playing it inside the house.
19. Make Some Jelly Blocks
Make snack time even more fun by injecting playtime into it. Cook up some colorful jelly blocks they can play and build with before they eat. It’s an instant snack after a fun playdate.
Bonus: Have An Indoor Race
An indoor race using a balance bike can really be fun for the kids. It can also improve balance, mobility, and engage their leg muscles. When you set up a race track for the kids, make sure to clear the path to avoid any untoward incidents like the kids hitting the edge of a table or a hard surface.
Tip: Separate the kids and parents into teams. Yes, you will ride the mini bike for more fun!
This video from Family Days shares a few great indoor activities for kids during winter to help them keep occupied:
It may be difficult to go outside during the cold weather, but you don’t have to rely on technology to entertain your kids. Too much tablet or gadgets can be harmful to them, and there are a lot of ways they can have some unplugged fun. Try these playdate ideas this winter season, and it will be spring before you know it!
What’s your favorite winter playdate? Let us know in the comments section!
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