Indoor Snow Play!!


INDOOR SNOW PLAY!!!

Yes, you read correctly.  Bring some snow inside!!


Last year, I saw some Pinterest pics of people bringing it in and filling up their bathtubs for their kids to play with.  Fun idea, but I prefer a smaller scale version for my kids.  A fraction of the work and all of the fun.  

We use a giant, disposable aluminum pan - when temperatures are too cold for them to play outside, I shove my boots, hat and coat on, then sprint out to the back yard, fill up the pan, and bring it back into the warm, cozy house.  You could use an under-bed storage bin or your a cake pan - whatever works!  We did this for the first time last year and the kids played with it for 2 HOURS! 


What in the world did they do with it that engaged them for 2 hours?

Here are a few things we did to prolong the fun:

1.  Digging - Provide cups, spoons, snack-sized applesauce or yogurt containers, and other digging tools.
 I always keep a few kid-snack food containers washed and dried under my sink, in case they need to dig in something. If the snow is moldable, they can make mini-snow castles.

2.  Caps! - Milk carton lids, apple juice lids, orange juice lids, 2-liter pop bottle lids - these multi-colored lids can be easily washed and dried then saved for a snowy day.  Kids can use them for stepping stones, "map" paths, and sleds.

3.  Characters - Encourage your children to find some of their favorite plastic characters to play with in the snow.  Sesame street, Star Wars, My Little Pony...they can create endless scenarios and story lines (for older kids) or they can play hide-and-seek, and search for buried treasure (younger kids).  Let them be creative!

These are just a few basic things my kids like to do when we have indoor snow play.  It's also nice to use when they are sick and cannot enjoy the snowy playground in the backyard.

The best part about this activity (for mom) is if the snow lands on the table or floor and melts, it is easily wiped up.  

In fact, I find my table and floor are cleaner after this activity than it was when we began, which is saying something. 

Most of our activities make a giant mess ~ a clean activity?
YES, PLEASE!!
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