NOW CLOSED Please come and tell Cathedral City's Chedds your best winter-afternoon child-wrangling tips – you could win a Nintendo DS

[NewGirlHelenMumsnet]

Hello. We've been asked by the folks at Chedds, the new kids' cheese snacking brand from Cathedral City, for your top tips on keeping your DCs happy, active and entertained as the colder, darker, altogether-grimmer winter weather sets in.

Do you hunker down inside and get creative with glue and paint? Do you dig out the board games or let them at the computer? Or perhaps you wrap everyone up in weatherproofs and get 'em outside, no matter what? Do you plan ahead for windy/rainy weekend diversions? Or do you just go with the (blustery, increasingly sodden) flow?

Do please post your finest tips here. Everyone who does so will be entered into a prize draw to win a Nintendo DS for their family.

Please note that some of the tips posted here will be published on the Chedds pages on Mumsnet in due course.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

[PosiesOfPoison]

We have a few favourites.
Welly walks, usually with a purpose: Who can collect the most/best/spikiest whatever. (each of us has full weather gear)
Playdoh is a winner.
30 minute bursts or things.
Make Christmas decorations.

[ouryve]

Lego. Lots and lots of lego!

DS1 has a december birthday and almost always gets new lego for that and for Christmas. There's not many things capable of occupying him for hours when the weather's too lousy to do much outside, but Lego does the job very well indeed.

[sleepevader]

Agree Lego!

Also woods are good fun as often quite sheltered even if weather bad.
Beach walks nice if not raining.

[northernmonkey]

Another one for lego!!!

Lots of reading books also :)
My dc's love to go out collecting colourful leaves, sticks acorns etc and making collages.
Baking goes far in this house too

[planetpotty]

We do brave the elements with the kids to
Get them out of the house and "there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing" is often heard here! When we get back we all get clean and dry then make hot chocolate and snuggle up and watch a film - really nice family afternoon

More housebound things we do play dough, train tracks, build dens, baking and seasonal pictures with things the DC would like to do in that season.

[JjandtheBeanlovesUnicorns]

We wrap up warm and do woodland walks, looking for pine cones for later craft activities.

Even been known to visit the beach in october/november as its nice and quiet and find big stones to paint.

Arts and crafts allways a winner.

Also cooking, they help cook tea a lot, chopping veg is a very popular task! Baking, I make dough and they do the topping on there own pizzas

We also visit lots of garden centres as they love the christmas displays

[OvOntToSuckYourBlood]

One of our favourites is to make a den. Pull the sofa out add the dining room chairs as the other wall and every quilt, blanket and pillow in the house!

[ChippyMinton]

All the above!

And if we watch a film, we do the full works - curtains drawn shut, lights off, big bowls of popcorn and sweeties.

[Reggiee]

Definitely get the winter woollies and waterproofs out. Get torches and chase each other around after school in the back garden/find the hidden ball. Hot chocolate when we get back inside.
Craft table with stickers and stamps/making Xmas cards all winners.
Make towns using play people and train track. Takes me the dc ages to build.
For peace and quiet, books and DVD's.

[Lilyloo]

We tend to follow the rule 'there is no such thing as bad weather just bad clothes'.
I have already ordered the snow boots. We either don wellingtons and waterproofs or hats , gloves and scarves and get outside regardless of the weather.
The dc's love playing out in the rain , dd 3 get's to be her idol Peppa Pig and jump up and down in muddy puddles !!

[sal1309]

we tend to go with the flow, unless its extremely bad weather.
We go down the beach in there all in waterproofs and wellies and go searching for crabs/shells, then home for hot chocolate and dippy biscuits.
Alternitavly we play board games, lego, snap or get the arts and crafts box out and do some painting/glueing.

[anne1234]

We have discos with a bunch of glowsticks made into bracelets or necklaces in the dark with some dancy music. Kids think it's really exciting and is a good way to use up some of that excess energy. Another good one is a glowstick treasure hunt in the garden once it's dark.

[stickylittlefingers]

scrap booking - you can get scrap books cheap from Wilkinsons (and glue). The Littlewoods catalogue is great for putting in.

Cooking - Bread rolls are great for play-doh that you can eat afterwards! I cheat by making the dough in the bread machine. Add raisins etc to decorate.

[feedtheghoul]

Opportunity tails off in later winter but ds loves going into woods late autumn/early winter collecting things to make nature pictures. He is happy to go out in woods in mid winter as long as it isn't raining.

Indoors it is lego, crafts etc. He has just started year 1 and has found a sudden and unexpected desire to practice his writing. Setting up his many build a bears for bear school is a favourite. We also have friends over in holidays and odd weekend for an indoor picnic, complete with blankets and tupperware!

[StellaAndFries]

DD2 will play out on her bike whatever the weather and as long as she is suitably dressed its fine. If it's too dark or inclement all 4 dd's like to play Just Dance or try some zumba moves on the wii. They also love making dens with quilts, dressing up and performing the entire "Tangled" repertoire.

[MrsWeasley]

Very much depends on what the weather is like! If its just cold we wrap up warm and go out to somewhere we all enjoy. If its raining or too cold we bake; bread, cookies, pancakes, cakes etc.

We also dig out the paints or "tidy" the toy cupboard, which in reality means the kids dig in and find a game or toy they havent seen for a while and it becomes their new favourite.

Den making is another favourite with Blankets, pop ups etc.

DVD or playing on the Wii!

We love the winter months. [hsmile]

[philmassive]

A favourite in this house is good old cutting and sticking and junk modelling. Ds2 particularly likes cutting out pictures from catalogues, magazines etc and collaging them into his own 'favourite house, toy shop, bedroom' etc etc

They also both like going through the recycling and making models which they then decorate with stickers, paint and random things glued on.

Keeps them happy for ages but the tidying up can be a challenge

[ASuitableGirl]

I think everyone else is more resourceful than I am.

Sometimes I will drag everyone out somewhere and if we had a nearby beach I could imagine though probably deluding myself that we would occasionally make our way there. DS and DD sometimes make up amazing imaginative games either on their own or togetger often involving some of their many toy animals. Or Lego happens. Or board games. Should do baking more I think. And maybe organised craft (although DD in particular should be a Blue peter presenter I think given her love of creating junk wonderful things out of junk.

There is also the Wii. And DVDs. And winding wool around the house is good fun

[magnolia74]

Dvd's in pj's with popcorn is always a winner.
Playdoh, moon sand, sock puppets, loud music with air guitar!!!

[CaptainMartinCrieff]

Glue, glitter and paper!
That's all I need to keep my DS entertained quite literally for hours!
I then spend weeks cleaning up all the glitter, it gets everywhere!

[maybeyoushoulddrive]

Baking, making, den-building, snuggling up in our king-size bed watching movies, walking the dog (via pub with open fire to warm up by), steam train trips, visiting the local museums, library etc etc. Nothing ground-breaking but all good fun

[saffron]

the kids and I love winter walks and baking

[Shakey1500]

I let him think he's "leading the day" (he's 4) with some slight manipulationguidance

Makes him much more co-operative if he thinks he's telling me what we will be doing and when.

Dvd's are a favourite, though I could do without watching/listening Snow White for the 655527th time. Good opportunity to potter around the house though..

"What's that DS? Snow White has run into the forest has she? Well. Who'd hae thought?"

[PinotScreechio]

1. Hoover floor thoroughly.
   
2. Get masking tape.
   
3. Tape two parallel lines in a 'track' formation all round the carpet and up over sofas/chairs (if not leather that is. Test first for glue-back)
   
4. Race mini-cars all round it - if no cars, use potatoes and imagination.
   

Leave it stuck down until kids go to bed, then race again with DH and throw strop when he wins by cheating.*

* This last part is optional.