Right now, the world outside our door is covered in ice! We have had a few days of ice storms, and my four year old swears she can see Olaf outside in the trees. π
We have enjoyed the blessing of being stuck at home. Even my husband has gotten to stay home with us. Everything has been canceled because of the recurrent icy downpour that would make even Queen Elsa herself impressed!
As a family, we have been discovering ways to make these icy, cold, stay-at-home days special, while still accomplishing the schoolwork we had planned. Being trapped at home with your kids for days can make any mama feel outmatched, but with some special snow day activities – even outmatched mamas can have your snow and your school work too!
Here are some ideas we have come up with, to make even icy school days filled with family fun!
1. Start with a Β fun, new snow day breakfast tradition!
Every snow day, we make my husband’s famous blueberry baked breakfast! It is delicious and with five ingredients, it is super easy to make! My children always think it is super special, because we don’t fix this for breakfast unless it is a snow day.
I keep the ingredients in the house at all times for other things, so we always have it when a snow day comes up. (We are always stocked with frozen blueberries, cream cheese, bread, almond milk, and sugar!) You can find the recipe HERE! It reminds me of a berry version of my grandmother’s milk toast – yum!
2. Still do your schoolwork! (<— not a typo… π )
My mother shames me for this one (haha!), but we still do our schoolwork on snow days (gasp!). We have lots of activities, field trips, and play dates with other homeschoolers. We also participate in a Classical Conversations co-op that is scheduled on a regular basis. If we want to participate in these and other fun things whenever they pop-up,Β a little snow can’t stop us from our studies.
If my children hear our neighbors outside playing, there is an effective motivator to get our schoolwork done quickly. (Works.every.time!) We can finish up the main subjects, and have the rest of the day for our snowy traditions!
3. Suit up for school!
School work is SO much more fun if you get to do it while dressed up! Having star wars – princess school is always a fun incentive to do well on your schoolwork.
Β
We usually reserve wearing costumes for play time, after our homeschool day is complete. It is a special treat to be able to DO your math as “Dark Vader!” It is also especially fun when your teacher plays along (….cue the raspy breathing: “May the force be with you, Oby Wan Jacoby, as you subtract 6 from 13!!!!”) Plus handwriting is always more pristine when a royal “Princess storm trooper” is wielding the pencil. π
4. Let the kids choose a FUN subject to cover!
With daddy at home, we have more hands on deck to accomplish the messy subjects that my children love – like science experiments! We usually save the involved ones for daddy to participate in anyways. Letting the kids pick a project or subject to do, has become one of our favorite snow day activities.
During this icy time, my kids decided they wanted to make a model of the planets in our solar system using balloons.
Other fun subject options would be cooking lessons or getting to choose the family read-aloud books for the day. Baking cookies totally counts as math and reading! Bonus points if you can read the recipe and measure the ingredients without mommy’s help (I hear she is outmatched anyways π ) The books we are reading are usually dictated by our curriculum, so my children feel super special if they can choose any novel they want!
5. Build an epic blanket fort!
Nothing gets my kids more jazzed up, than a blanket fort! They will do ANYTHING if it can be done inside of an epic tent (think – full bedroom filled with fort). My husband is an expert hide-out constructor. By using our dining chairs and a few sheets, hours of playtime and snugly reading time ensues. We also LOVE this fort building kit!
I am always trying to find creative ways to get my kids excited about reading. Equipping them with a fort and a flashlight is one way to make our daily reading time super-snow-day special. In fact, my kids are reading to each other in their blanket tent as I am writing this (mama win!)
6. Watch a family movie!
Family movie time is always a favorite treat at our house. We limit the amount of time the T.V. is on in our home because we have so much fun doing other activities together, so slowing down to watch a movie together is always a blast!
Pop some popcorn (or whatever your favorite movie time snack is), cuddle up under a blanky, and enjoy some time relaxing together.
During this ice storm we have been watching Wild Europe and Wild China on Netflix. These videos have been wonderful for learning about different habitats and creatures from other continents. They have also been a great reinforcing tool for the kids’ geography lessons (“Remember that awesome lemur, came from here mom!”) Β The kids have been begging for the next episode!
7. Play in the snow and drink some hot cocoa!
After their schoolwork is done and you have made some fun new snow day traditions, get outside to play in the snow!My family enjoys making snow angels, sledding down the big hill in our backyard, and building snowman.
You could also make this a learning opportunity by doing a unit study on winter themes (think arctic animals or winter wonders, so fun!) or doing snowy science experiments (great ideas here!)
Spend some time enjoying the winter playground that the Lord provided for your family. Soak in the calm stillness of the snow, and kiss your children’s pink cheeks!
Tiffany
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