Parents & Kids Enjoying Winter Together – A Customised Guide
Snow, Sub-zero winter for 6 moths a year. “Brrr! Winter’s here, and sometimes, it can feel like everyone’s stuck inside. But guess what? It doesn’t have to be that way! Let’s talk about winter family fun! Forget the screens for a bit. We’re going to dive into ways to make this season awesome. Think snow forts, hot cocoa, and memories that’ll last a lifetime. Are you ready to ditch the winter blues and create some real joy? This is your guide to turning chilly days into the best winter family fun adventures. Let’s make this winter one to remember!
Family Fun with your Physically Active Children
- Build a model together. “Visit your local hobby or craft shops for model kits – pieces for cars, places, buildings, etc. Alternatively, you can carve out a car or plane with soft wood. Adding a new piece every year becomes a proud collection to display. Furthermore, it may later become an heirloom to display and pass on to your kids when they grow up.”
- Visit the indoor rock-climbing facility for some active fun together. (In South Edmonton: Vertically Inclined Rock Gym)
- Visit an indoor amusement park (here in Edmonton we have Galaxyland). Alternatively you may visit a neighbourhood indoor play centre (e.g. Play Gym in Summerside, Ellerslie), book time at the local recreational centre gymnasium for an hour family hoops. Some community recreational centres (e.g., Terwillegar Recreational Center) have drop in/ playrooms too.
Coming soon : Outdoor winter family fun
Family Fun With Your Social Children
- Have them help host a family (or family & best friend) themed party for the holidays. It could be Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, or New Year’s Day. It might also be the last Saturday night of the holidays. Choose whatever time works for you.
- Play family party games: Charades, Taboo, Cranium, & Pictionary, are just some of my favourites. I am sure you kids have ideas for other trendy party games so be sure to ask for their input. Maybe select a family member to chair family game night on a rotational schedule.
- Take your child out on a one-on-one date. It is to the local coffee shop for hot chocolate. Or, checking out the latest released movie at the cinema.
Family Fun With Your Talkative/Expressive Child
- Take your children out for a night-time drive to look at the holiday lights and displays. Engage in and enjoy the conversations that emerge (or that you, well,… initiate).
- Read aloud a classic or contemporary book.
- Read a chapter or 2 together aloud at night before bedtime. (Trust me, even the disengaged teenager warms up to listening to a good story. Keep your expectations low because s/he is not gonna “show” it). Some of my favourites are: Anne of Green Gables, Little Woman, Chronicles of Narnia. I also love Oliver Twist, Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, and The Christmas Carol. Ask your local librarian for suggestions.
- “Want to borrow a library book?” Then place it on hold early. For example, my family reads the Chronicles of Narnia. Therefore, I always reserve those books ahead of time. Also, preview the book first. You’ll avoid surprises. One year, I brought home Treasure Island. The old English was too hard. Even though the story was good, we couldn’t follow it. That’s the teacher in me, always planning!”
Family Fun With Your Analytic, Systematic Child
- Visit your local hobby shop or bookstore and purchase a logic puzzle book for the season. You can solve puzzles together. It is okay to be competitive. You may purchase multiple copies of the same book. Then, race to see who solves the puzzle first.
- Recruit your logical/analytical child to help support your social child in planning any family gathering parties.
- Play strategic games together. Some great traditional board game are Chess, Mancala, Monopoly, and Chineese Checkers. Many of these are available as apps. Two cool websites to check for online smart games are coolmath-games.com and sheppardsoftware.com. Two other apps you may check out are Unblockme and Elevate.
Coming soon related: Family time apps
Family Fun With Your Musical Child
- Create a CD of your favourite holiday or Christmas songs. Host a Holiday Karaoke party.
- Attend a Christmas pageant or play at a local church or school. If you have teenagers you might consider visiting a show in a distant, unfamiliar neighbourhood. Try this to avoid losing your family time to your teenagers’ friends.
- Re-compose a favourite holiday song as a rap, country or a reggae tune. This is especially fun if you incorporate musical instruments. An electrical keyboard often comes pre-programmed with beats that represent various styles of music. No musical talent is required. I don’t have any myself.
Family Fun With Your Artistic Child
- Make your own ornaments together. It may be as simple as cutting out shapes from foam sheets and stringing it with pipe-cleaners (from Dollarstore). Craft stores also offer a range of wood-cut outs, paper mache or ceramic ornaments to personalise.
- Create a snow-globe together. Each person places an item in the globe which represents a special memory they had with the family this year. This memorabilia can be made of modelling clay.
- Create a holiday scrapbook or blog. Take pictures of special events and experiences over the season. You can create a few scrapbook pages with printed pictures, or you can create a family digital album. Dedicate a time every year to look over previous holiday memories.
Family Fun with Reflective/Service Oriented Child
- Volunteer with a shelter or food bank to help pack hampers for families.
- Celebrate Positivity & Kindness – encourage conversations where family members share a story about something inspirational or encouraging to them. It is a quote, a story of someone else act of kindness, or an experience they had helping someone recently. Sit around in a circle and pass around a symbol which gives the holder sole speaking rights.
- Family Ladder time
- Ladders are symbolic of climbing towards reaching a desired item or goal. Winter is a great time to reflect on how our lives have unfolded in the last year. It’s also a perfect moment to visualize what you would like to become in the new year. Host a family meeting. Invite each of your children and teenagers. Adults should also set goals for their personal development.
- Write each goal down on a 3 x 5 inch index card and post them on a foam-core board. In family therapy, I invite families to draw a ladder with 4 rungs representing every 90 days. In a family counselling session, families review their goal cards. They share in honest accountability where they are in their journey. They discuss what challenges they’ve had, changes made, and success stories. After each person shares, they move themselves to the next rung. (Sharing a short version of one of my play therapy activities with you).
Fun with your Nature Loving Child
- Go for a nature walk, collecting your own greenery for homemade wreaths of garlands
- Go for a walk around your neighbourhood in the full-moon. Look up on almanac when the next full moon will be. Bring along a mug of hot chocolate.
- Collect the sand castle molds and shovels and go out in the snow and build snow castles.
- Sit by a park lake and watch the animals. Squirrels can be very entertaining, at least,… for a while. Or, if you have really young kids hunting for cloud pictures is always. Or, play a game of 10 questions with young teens. The whole idea is to be outside enjoying nature together. Do whatever you love to do together.
Final Thoughts.
Our children have naturally different interests. As wise parents, we will try to consider their individuality when planning family time with them. If you have more than 4 children, you might need multiple activities in a family time. Alternatively, have family times more often. It is impossible to please everybody all of the time. However, do try to please everyone once in awhile. This effort will greatly help build a sense of belonging. It will reduce conflict. It will also protect your family from needing interventions from counselling professionals like myself.
Related Family Fun Posts
Share your ideas, what do you do with your family in the winter months? Do you have a child with special needs, how would you adapt any of these to fit your family?
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