To ask how you entertain your children all day (in winter)

[Emlou07]

We’ve all been ill for weeks and weeks and have fallen in to the trap of watching films and too much iPad time!

I’m at a loss on what to do with my 4 and 2.5 year olds to get them out for a bit. Or even just interacting with each other and burning some energy.

(Obviously we do things, they aren’t sat on a screen all day every day. I’m just lost for ideas!)

Parks? Walking? Feeding the ducks?

Groundhog day continues (swim, parks, walks). Just with more layers.

Also off to watch the diggerscat a nearby building site is a good one!

Soft play

What sort of ill are you talking? If it's cold or sniffles then there are a million things! We love being outside in the winter and it might blow those sick days away! Beach walks, wood walks, park walks, outdoor playgrounds - the cold won't freeze you and you won't dissolve in the rain!

Obvs if it's something that's highly contagious or vomitty then indoor games, let them den build with sheets, paint, take the cushions off the settee, order some of that fine stuff for the bath and let them play in that! Read read and read some more. Make crap out of rubbish, bake.

I hope you start to feel better too!

Not fine stuff I meant gunge stuff for the bath!

Finding good puzzles to jump in. We’ll be making Christmas cards out of the ones we’ve just taken down this afternoon as well.

We do a lot of baking, which of course means I have to eat lots of cakes and biscuits but oh well. Crafts, colouring, I looked up some simple science experiments online that use household objects, my dd loved those. Musical statues, card games. When we go out, my dd likes to stop at each house and read the number on the door as she's practicing her numbers, stupid but it fills in a lot of time!

We also do treasure hunts, I write clues for dd to solve and hide them around the house. My 1yo just follows her excitedly, picking up discarded clues.

Have a look on Pinterest for things like home made play dough etc. There are lots of ideas on there for free ways to entertain them.

Good luck and I hope you're feeling better soon.

Library - I know they vary but our local one has a lovely children's section complete with a few toys and drawing materials. Free too!

Swimming - wrap up warm for the journey there and back. Have got choc after to warm up.

Lots of free stuff like walks/feed ducks etc - wrap up warm and take a flask of hot choc with you.

Struggling here too - mine are 7 and 11. My car is broken and the public transport here is terrible plus we are totally skint and can't afford bus fares anyway. (Woe is me )

We have dogs so have to get out for a walk everyday which is good but the 11 is being very teenage and making such a fuss. If left to his own device he would be, erm, on his electronic device!

Sometimes stick mine in the bath for entertainment purposes rather than to get clean - give them some bubbles to blow, water pistols etc. Lush do these bubble bars which are squishy like play do that they can model with, and my two had fun earlier with these Crayola body paint stamps.

At that age my two would play playgough for ages, duplo and brio were great at entertaining them. But they weren't allowed to use the iPad at that age (not being nasty, I promise) I decided I wanted my kids to learn to play first before I let them use technology. It's hard to change once they're used to that instant stimulation. Do you take your little one to messy play sessions or forest school clubs. They're great for that age.

I also used to put a load of old pasta/couscous onto a big tray on the kitchen floor and put cars and diggers in to play. Just anything different for a change. Bubbles, glow sticks in the bath, moons and etc. Lots of ideas on Pinterest. Also on Family Days tried and tested Facebook page.

Take them to story time at the library, and borrow some books to read when you get home.
If you have a garden, let them run around there. Only need to buy, say, a soft football if you don't have outdoor toys.
Let them chase bubbles, or balloons, indoors.

Get all over rainsuits, boots and warm hats and scarves and you can go to the park in most weathers. We do long walks - the children go on their micro-scooters which are really good.

We have family membwrship of a gym and use the pool several times a week so it works out very good value.

We go to the kids club in the cinema early on saturdays and sundays as its very cheap then.

My DCs watch a good bit of TV but after a certain time it is off and they have to play. Sometimes they go out the back garden - on rainy days they go out in their rainsuit and boots and on dark evenings they love going out with torches. They have buckets and shovels and love digging up the garden and making a mess with the mud.

Lego and drawing keeps them entertained all year round. They don’t need much more. Has been from about 2.5 years old.

Making wooden spoon puppets - easy for them to do and relatively mess free

Paper plate art - they love it, sturdier than paper and cheaper than card

Love jigsaws as I’m really lazy and can lay on sofa to do it

Cooking (not baking) - makes an actual meal, something I have to do anyway and they are more likely to eat it!

Hide a teddy in the house (not my bedroom!) they have to find it - comes with the danger of huge mess whilst they pull house apart

My kids love hoovering and cleaning (weirdos), so I give them a duster as a treat