Winter Activities

Actually I'm in the same boat, trying to find activities for my almost 18 month old son. We live in bedford, and nothing that I know of is really close, and inexpensive. If any one knows. Would be great :)

I bet if you look around at some centers in your area they have a mom and tots group. They also have them at the YMCA. I just signed my son up at one in the city I live in (Englewood) at the Earl Heck Center and it is really cheap and they have a great time.

Check out your local art museum, childrens museum and natural history museum. They have great programs. Also your YMCA has a lot going on. Your local city recreation center will have activities going on as well. I also am a big fan of bundling them up and heading on out into the wonderful winter. Run around like crazy and explore how things are different each day, even when it's really cold! And then come in and have Hot Chocolate and draw pictures about what you discovered.
Have Fun.
-S.

In Dayton we have a great Children's museum. I'm sure you must have one near you too. I save and buy a yearly membership to ours, then take them about once a week to cut loose and play! We also go to children's plays, the library story times, and I love getting activity books from the library and doing fun things at home. And I hope it snows a lot this year so we can do some sledding!

The Museum Center in Cincinnati is great. It has 3 museums in it. It has a fantastic Childrens Museum. Plus between Thanksgiving and Christmas there will be the Holiday Junction Train Display in the Cincinnati History Mueseum. There is also a Natural History Museum.

depends on where you live and how old your kids are take them to the mall if they are young they have that play area for the kids to play. or go to chuckie cheese you don't have to spend alot of money there just eat before you go. and then let them run around and have fun. Even go to the library I know they have programs for the kids there.

With proper clothing, I always send my children outdoors in the winter. They need the exercise and fresh air - joining them is exhilarating and tiring for me, too! We do many of the same things we do in warmer weather - parks, walks, playing soccer or football - we just bundle up and probably do it for a shorter period of time. And snow - yahoo! the possibilities are endless! Take care and I hope you enjoy nature! J.

I agree with one of the other posters- bundle them up and let them play in the leaves, take hikes and collect treasures, play in the snow, go for walks, go to the park, etc. As long as it isn't 30 degrees or less, they can go outside. I grew up in Minnesota and spent every winter outside skiing, hiking in the woods, sledding, having snowball fights, ice skating, making snow angels, forts, and attempting to make igloos. I rarely ever got sick, and neither did the rest of my family. For indoor ideas when there isn't snow to play in or when it is too cold, try the museums, the zoo, or my favorite, the Newport Aquarium. They have yearly memberships for around $36 or so, and you can go as often as you want. They have so many things to see that I don't tire of it, and if you go often, the cost is minimal. If you pay each time it gets expensive, so the membership really is the way to go. For ideas at home- try crafts or baking, or teaching your kids to cook, or stamping, scrapbooking, reading a book, helping daddy in the garage, helping you to organize or clean or do chores, or play family games. For craft ideas, Michael's always has a wall of free ideas that you can take, or watch the Home and Garden Television channel, or go to hgtv.com for ideas. Oh, if your kids don't know how to swim or are still learning, you can get them into swimming lessons- they have them during the winter at some places as well.

I am not sure the age of your kids, but I would recommed arts and crafts. Joann's has classes that they can take. They get to learn creativity while having fun and they have something to take home. Also, scrapbooking classes are fun. Good luck.

I just recently discovered Amazone...it is located in Medina. I've never been there but have heard it is awesome...and cheap too! http://www.myamazone.com/home.htm

Why should outside be out of the question? We all played outside growing up. Just maybe not as long during winter as during summer days. Go sledding somewhere, or just for walk, or build a snow fort, or snow person/dog/alien/whatever and then come in for hot chocolate.

Lots of people mentioned craft ideas. If you want to put a different spin on it, get together with another family your kids are friends with, and invite them to your house for crafts. Then another time you guys can go there. The moms can visit too, or each mom can have a little "me" time. This would also work for cooking or board game sessions.

Reading aloud can be fun too. you can take turns. A tutor for one of my kids said that it is good for them to hear fluent readers (that would be you) even up through the high school years.

I am sure you will figure something out! Have fun!

K. Z.

Check out your local YMCA. We enjoyed indoor soccer, swimming, kids jazzercize, etc. Every Y offers different programs, but there's usually something fun going on.

Hi Gina not sure how old your children are but I have a few things that my children love to do. They love to go to the ice skating rink at Kettering Rec. They have a ball and its not too expensive, also for those days or nights that are just too cold I stock on up on simple crafts from JoAnn Fabrics they always have the dollar bins with these in them and for a buck you cant lose. They love the picture frames and anything they can paint. These are also great to help teach following directions. We bake cookies and at this time of year it helps get everyone in the mood for the holidays. There are some great recipes for homemade play-doh and slime that are made with basic household ingredients. Another cheap favorite of my children is drawing and coloring. I buy a stack of poster board some white some colored they can go to town on them with washable markers, glue, construction paper,I let them tear things out of any magazines that have already been read. They think this is great. My oldest calls them posters and hangs them on his walls which I dont mind. I hope some of these idea's help out.

A.

How about the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton?
www.boonshoftmuseum.org

Something for kids of all ages there. The play structure is great for buring off excess energy fro the 4-10 year old crowd. There is a soft play area for smaller folks.

The museum has a zoo area, with wildlife from Ohio. The otters are a lot of fun to watch. There is also a tidal pool with sea life from the northwest.

The current traveling exhibit is on science and sports, and includes an air hockey game, pitching area to measure how fast you can throw the ball.

The tree house is a great place to observe birds.

Can you tell we spend a lot of time there?!?!?!

there are also places like Pump It Up, and Air Adventure. Great exercise (for you and the kids) and not bad pricewise. my kids of varying ages love both.