Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Snow day cabin fever

Looking for ideas on how to keep my DD from bouncing off the walls.

She would just read or spend the day on the computer given her druthers but I am wondering how others here handle it...

Play outside.

yup - send her out! shoveling/snow forts/snow sculpture, experiments with snow + hot water etc. etc.

the other thing is chores - this is from my own childhood, actually. my mum used to say, "even when you're not in school, a contribution to the family is still required." she would leave me a small list and i could do it anytime, but it needed to get done by the end of the day.

making holiday cards...

make frozen bubbles!
http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/schoolzone/try-this-out-frozen-bubbles.cfm

Snowshoeing, tobogganing, or cross country skiing, followed by a shower or bath and a hot bowl of homemade soup that you make together. Then kick your feet up, read a book by the fire, or have a nap.

That pretty much describes my perfect winter morning.

Snow days for me meant cooking and baking. My sister and I used to make really elaborate cakes that looked great but tasted horrible. We used to also run a test kitchen and go through different versions of a favorite dish and see which was the best. We were very successful with little projects like cookies and such but we're both still searching for that perfect risotto recipe.

If your DC isn't into cooking, then I'd make them clean, organize, etc and collect items to donate a charity. Every time I suggest this to DD when she asks me to play with her while I'm busy with chores, she suddenly stops whining and disappears to her room.

We don't have snow but if it stood raining here we go for a bike ride. Visit friends, bake (but my childhood would never allow making fancy inedible cakes or cooking more than could be eaten), playdough, Lego, games, building if you have a warm enough work area.

DD4 wanted to do a survey tonight so we posed a question on Facebook (something easy: what's your favourite colour) and every once in a while we check and she records the answers. Obviously not an ongoing activity to keep them occupied but something fun to have going on in the background.