Week 1:Make a Special Treat Together
Bake your favorite holiday treat together. Do this activity together from start to finish. Sit down and brainstorm what you love to make and eat at this time of year. Then find a recipe for it, visit the store together to pick up the ingredients, and make it together.
It doesn't even matter if it doesn't taste as delicious as you'd anticipated - the point of the exercise is spending time together doing something different and fun. It's in moments like these that you can begin to share with one another more and more what's been on your heart and mind.
Start With These Delicious Recipes From Guides on the About.com Food and Drink Channel:
Week 2:Go to an Art Museum
Go to an art museum. This is an activity that can be a lot of fun. As you walk around the museum, try to find the painting or sculpture that most looks like each person in the family. In addition, consider bringing along your own sketchbooks and just seeing what you come up with.
Additional Resources:
Week 3:Visit a Pottery Studio and Create Your Own Masterpiece
Go to a pottery studio and paint bowls, plates, or mugs. This activity can be a lot of fun, whether you consider yourself to be an artist or not. You may want to even spend some time together, ahead of time, designing your own family logo together to paint onto your masterpieces.
Additional Resources:
Week 4:Take a Long Walk Together
Take a long walk together in the snow at night. There's just something about the quietness of nighttime snowfall that makes it so peaceful. As you walk, listen to the crunch beneath your feet. Watch your breath in the cold night air.
Even get down on the ground and make snow angels! It's in the quiet moments like this that we have an opportunity to see our kids in a new light and share new experiences with them.
Additional Resources:
Week 5:Go to a Local Children's Theater Production
Go to a local children's theater production. This is a fun activity to share together. After the show, ask your kids which parts they would have liked to have played themselves. Also, which characters were most like them, and which characters were least like them?
The conversations after the show can be as enjoyable as the show itself.
Additional Resources:
Week 6:Go Sledding Together
Go sledding. Of course this is a favorite winter activity, but how often do the kids get to go sledding with you? Take them by surprise by initiating this activity yourself. It may seem silly at times, but bundle up tight and have fun!
Additional Resources:
Week 7:Sit By a Cozy Fire and Sip Hot Cocoa
Sit by cozy fire and drink hot cocoa. (If you don't have a fireplace of your own, visit a local coffee shop that does!) One of the things you want to do through these activities is carve out some time for you and your kids to simply be together.
Sometimes that will involve time-consuming, well-planned-out activities. At other times, something as simple as sharing hot cocoa can lead to discussions you didn't know your children were ready yet to have.
Additional Resources:
Week 8:Go Ice Skating Together
Go ice skating. (Roller skating will do, too.) What I love about this activity is that, in our house at least, the kids are more skilled than the adults. It may not be your favorite thing to do, but it's healthy for your kids to have a chance to laugh at...
with... you for a change!
Additional Resources:
Have a snowball fight or build a snow fort together. This is another activity that is probably quite familiar to your kids, but that you rarely - if ever - engage in together. In fact, your kids may be so used to hearing you say not to throw snowballs that this activity catches them completely off guard.
And what I love best about it is that it's one activity they're sure to remember for a long time.
Additional Resources:
Take a painting, drama, or dance class together. Here's another unique activity that's great for the months when it's just too cold to spend much time outside. Especially if you don't consider yourself to be very creative or artistic, this activity could be one that lets you and your kids see a different side of you.
Additional Resources:
Looking for some fun winter activities to enjoy with your kids? Scroll through the activities here in this step-by-step feature, or sign up to receive a different activity in your E-mail each week.
Bake your favorite holiday treat together. Do this activity together from start to finish. Sit down and brainstorm what you love to make and eat at this time of year. Then find a recipe for it, visit the store together to pick up the ingredients, and make it together.
It doesn't even matter if it doesn't taste as delicious as you'd anticipated - the point of the exercise is spending time together doing something different and fun. It's in moments like these that you can begin to share with one another more and more what's been on your heart and mind.
Start With These Delicious Recipes From Guides on the About.com Food and Drink Channel:
Week 2:Go to an Art Museum
Looking for some fun winter activities to enjoy with your kids? Scroll through the activities here in this step-by-step feature, or sign up to receive a different activity in your E-mail each week.
Go to an art museum. This is an activity that can be a lot of fun. As you walk around the museum, try to find the painting or sculpture that most looks like each person in the family. In addition, consider bringing along your own sketchbooks and just seeing what you come up with.
Additional Resources:
- Learn to Paint - Your First Ever Painting Class
- First Drawing Lessons for Children
- Online Children's Art Galleries
Week 3:Visit a Pottery Studio and Create Your Own Masterpiece
Looking for some fun winter activities to enjoy with your kids? Scroll through the activities here in this step-by-step feature, or sign up to receive a different activity in your E-mail each week.
Go to a pottery studio and paint bowls, plates, or mugs. This activity can be a lot of fun, whether you consider yourself to be an artist or not. You may want to even spend some time together, ahead of time, designing your own family logo together to paint onto your masterpieces.
Additional Resources:
Week 4:Take a Long Walk Together
Looking for some fun winter activities to enjoy with your kids? Scroll through the activities here in this step-by-step feature, or sign up to receive a different activity in your E-mail each week.
Take a long walk together in the snow at night. There's just something about the quietness of nighttime snowfall that makes it so peaceful. As you walk, listen to the crunch beneath your feet. Watch your breath in the cold night air.
Even get down on the ground and make snow angels! It's in the quiet moments like this that we have an opportunity to see our kids in a new light and share new experiences with them.
Additional Resources:
Week 5:Go to a Local Children's Theater Production
Looking for some fun winter activities to enjoy with your kids? Scroll through the activities here in this step-by-step feature, or sign up to receive a different activity in your E-mail each week.
Go to a local children's theater production. This is a fun activity to share together. After the show, ask your kids which parts they would have liked to have played themselves. Also, which characters were most like them, and which characters were least like them?
The conversations after the show can be as enjoyable as the show itself.
Additional Resources:
Week 6:Go Sledding Together
Looking for some fun winter activities to enjoy with your kids? Scroll through the activities here in this step-by-step feature, or sign up to receive a different activity in your E-mail each week.
Go sledding. Of course this is a favorite winter activity, but how often do the kids get to go sledding with you? Take them by surprise by initiating this activity yourself. It may seem silly at times, but bundle up tight and have fun!
Additional Resources:
Week 7:Sit By a Cozy Fire and Sip Hot Cocoa
Looking for some fun winter activities to enjoy with your kids? Scroll through the activities here in this step-by-step feature, or sign up to receive a different activity in your E-mail each week.
Sit by cozy fire and drink hot cocoa. (If you don't have a fireplace of your own, visit a local coffee shop that does!) One of the things you want to do through these activities is carve out some time for you and your kids to simply be together.
Sometimes that will involve time-consuming, well-planned-out activities. At other times, something as simple as sharing hot cocoa can lead to discussions you didn't know your children were ready yet to have.
Additional Resources:
Week 8:Go Ice Skating Together
Looking for some fun winter activities to enjoy with your kids? Scroll through the activities here in this step-by-step feature, or sign up to receive a different activity in your E-mail each week.
Go ice skating. (Roller skating will do, too.) What I love about this activity is that, in our house at least, the kids are more skilled than the adults. It may not be your favorite thing to do, but it's healthy for your kids to have a chance to laugh at...
with... you for a change!
Additional Resources:
Looking for some fun winter activities to enjoy with your kids? Scroll through the activities here in this step-by-step feature, or sign up to receive a different activity in your E-mail each week.
Have a snowball fight or build a snow fort together. This is another activity that is probably quite familiar to your kids, but that you rarely - if ever - engage in together. In fact, your kids may be so used to hearing you say not to throw snowballs that this activity catches them completely off guard.
And what I love best about it is that it's one activity they're sure to remember for a long time.
Additional Resources:
Looking for some fun winter activities to enjoy with your kids? Scroll through the activities here in this step-by-step feature, or sign up to receive a different activity in your E-mail each week.
Take a painting, drama, or dance class together. Here's another unique activity that's great for the months when it's just too cold to spend much time outside. Especially if you don't consider yourself to be very creative or artistic, this activity could be one that lets you and your kids see a different side of you.
Additional Resources:
SHARE
