Surviving the cold winter months

Jan 23, 2012 9:00 AM by Marva Soogrim

Posted in Parenting / Family Fun / Family Activities

While working as a nanny on the East Coast for over two decades, I have witnessed many children become antsy at home during the blistery cold days of winter. However, I suggested some simple yet fun homespun ways to make the time go faster than they could have ever imagined. Just like when you're in the great outdoors in the summer, inside your house can be an unchartered territory of exciting new adventures in the winter. Here are some ways to bring some new excitement into your home as well as enjoy some local excursions as a family.

A camping we will go

In the summertime, you may all enjoy going camping together. There's nothing like roughing it as a family in the wilderness during the warm months.

However, you can still go camping in the winter inside your very own home. Pitch a tent in the living room, grab your sleeping bag, toast some marshmallows on the stove or in the fireplace and turn out the lights for some ghost stories. The best part of camping at home is that the bathroom is much closer and cleaner!

A healthy family

Get the whole family into exercise during the cold months. Pick up an exercise video that offers you workouts that you can all as a group. Usually, yoga videos can be good for children because the workouts are not too strenuous and it will keep them limber. Remember, a family that works out together stays healthy together!

Musically Inclined

If you want your child to pick up an instrument, this is the best time to learn. Look into an at-home tutor or an after school music class for your child to learn something they may grow to really love. This will hopefully spark a long-term interest and before long you might have a budding American Idol in your own home!

Spare Me

The house can be confining during a cold winter, so spare yourself the boredom by making some spares! Going bowling as a family is a great way to spend some time together and to get out and about as a group. You could even offer the winner ice cream. Even though it's wintertime, they will all want to win that ice cream. Watch them put their game faces on and have some laughs.

Winter Reading List

Make a list of great books for your kids to read during the winter months. With school work due, they might not be as eager to keep up with the books as they do in the summer. But make an incentive where you suggest books that were made into movies and once they are done reading the book, they can watch the film.

Arts and Crafts

Letting your child let out their inner artist is a great way to spend the winter months. Buy them a water color painting kit. Or, have them pick up some knitting tools and show them how make a scarf and mittens. They will need it when the snow hits and it's shoveling time.

Dress-Up

Playing dress-up with your kids is always a blast. The girls getting all glam with lots of costume jewelry and the boys looking all dapper with dad's ties is the thing a mother's Facebook page is made of. Take lots of photos and put them up for all of your friends and family to see. Dress-up is a great way for everyone to express their creativity.

Sleepovers

A great way to keep your eye on your kids and let them have some fun inside during the winter with their friends is to host a sleepover. You may even want to incorporate the camping suggestion I made earlier with this sleepover option.

Life is a stage

Encourage your children to do little plays in the house. Having them put on their own little production is a great way for them to learn how to come up with an idea and follow through to make it happen. Make sure you film it because you will want to watch this again later when they're older. The great thing about the winter months is that it can create many happy memories for your family.

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More on the Nanny to the stars

Marva Soogrim, world-renowned nanny to the stars, has more than two decades of experience with her unique whole family approach to caring for newborns and integrating this new experience into the family.

Born in Trinidad, Marva came to the U.S. at the age of 21. As a mother of four, she has continued to work hard to offer the best for her children as well as her clients. With medical assistant training and impeccable references, Marva began her calling as a baby nurse/nanny to some of New York's most prestigious families.

News of her novel and calm approach to caring for babies spread and she quickly became the nanny of choice for celebrity A-listers including Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts, Courtney Cox, Sheryl Crow and Chris O'Donnell to name a few.

She is currently at work on her first book, Marvalous Babies. You can follow Marva on Twitter.

Tags: winter activities