When the weather turns cold and frosty, all most people want to do is curl up by a warm fire with a blanket and a hot drink – but don’t let the cold weather stop you from enjoying the great outdoors! There are plenty of activities the whole family can enjoy, so embrace the cold weather this season. Take the opportunity to wear your cozy hat, scarves and gloves and your toasty winter coat and enjoy the festive season. Once the kids are kitted out in their winter warmers, they will feel more enthusiastic about enjoying all the exciting winter activities!
Ice skating
This is a great way to help kids with balance and agility (and it also helps out mom and dad!) A lot of ice rinks have aids that help kids when they first start out on the ice, so check for that if your family are all novices. Keep fingers wrapped up in gloves or mittens, even if the ice rink is indoors as it will still be cold! It’s worth seeing if your local rink holds lessons, just to help ease the whole family into skating on the ice. It won’t be long before they’re skating backwards and showing off new tricks!
Sledding
When the snow starts settling, the big retailers usually start selling sleds. Go to your nearest hill and take the kids on a thrilling sled ride – lots of fun at not much expense! Take it easy to begin with to test how fast the sled goes (and obviously depending on your kids’ ages) but once you build their confidence up they will be racing to get up the hill to begin their ride!
Hiking
Going out for a hike is a great way to show your kids the different sights and sounds of your local area, whilst getting some exercise. It can be as gentle or as fast-paced as you like, but it’s worth making a lot of preparations and avoid this if the weather is due to take a turn for the worst. It’s probably best not to go somewhere too remote, just in case the weather changes but you should be ok if you go somewhere fairly populated. Take a guide book with you to show your kids the different wildlife and plants.
Animal tracks
Snow provides endless entertainment for everyone, and one simple but engaging activity is checking snow for animal tracks. Use your camera to take pictures of the tracks; this will help you and the kids find out what the culprit is, and also check and see if the animal is a regular visitor to your yard. The internet will normally pull up some results when trying to find out who your garden visitor is, and will help the kids get some perspective when it comes to what goes on in your garden.
These are just a few ideas to help kick start your winter. After your outdoor pursuits you can snuggle up with a hot drink in front of roaring fire – it will feel much more satisfactory!
