What does everyone do in the winter???

[opinionsrus]

Please help. I have an "active" 3 year old and am 5 months pregnant.

Summer is great cos you just let them loose in the garden on trampoline/climbing frame/bikes etc etc but what do you do in the winter when its freezing/raining??????On top of that all the great day trips/trips to the coast/hols etc etc.

Would love to know how anyone keeps their little darlings occupied when you are stuck within the four walls. Theres only so many episodes of peppa pig you can watch!!

PLEASE HELP.

I wanna know too, I have 2 active 3 year olds.

it's not raining here today just cold so were off to the park to collect leaves and will them paper rub them later at home

I need soething they can do to amuse theselves, so I can have a bit of e time.......why oh why cant they go back to napping in the day

I gave up on the park two weeks ago when we were the only only ones there. Everything was soaked, nowhere to sit, everything covered in mud and FREEZING!!

But good luck anyway!

Here comes the guilt trip aswell everytime you don't spend doing jigsaws/colouring/reading you feel like you're neglecting them. God I just hate the winter.

It's hard in the winter, you have to make a bit more of an effort. Take them out. Anywhere you can. Wrap up warm and go to the park, put on wellies and stamp in puddles. I always find that when it's colder they get tired quicker, which is a result.

In the house, play dough and cutting and sticking - ds was never particularly 'crafty' but we spent hours chopping up the Argos catalogue and sticking the pictures to make collages - they particularly like it if you let them use the glue and if it's pritt stick it's not too messy.

What about swimming and soft play - some pub soft plays have 'pre-school' sessions in the week which are just for under 5s and you can get a cup of coffee and a chat too.

My tip would be to invest in some decent cold weather clothing - warm and waterproof. Plan to go out first thing every day, no matter what. Children really don't mind the cold or rain, and the fresh air does you all good.

Hopefully then that fresh air will wear them out a bit, and give you some chill-out time when you get back home.

I am a real "outdoors" person but theres only so much bad weather I can stand to be honest. Plus theres not a soul around in the park for DS to play with.

Arts and crafts I abide but thanks for the idea on that one.

Hes at private nursery 2 days a week, play centrer one morning and playgroup one morning so tobe fair most of the time we are both out its just the other 3 days that are a nightmare...

Oh yes, the camp idea is a great one. They stay in there for ages and you can leave them to it and have a cup of tea with the paper .

Let them play with something they don't normally do. I give mine the pegs, ladels/big spoons, big bowls and saucepans. They like decanting from one container to the other and its easy to clean up when they are finished! At the moment my eight year old is making a nest in a large suitcase I got out to put the summer duvet away in! Also get out all your scarves, tea towels, a sheet and let them dress-up or make rivers or dens.

Loads of tips everyone thanks!!

I braved the cold and wind today and ventured out to the park, only to be told I'm cold and I want to go home.....you can never win.

I like the tent idea he loves stuff like that, although I can see that ending in tears as you give him something to climb on and he thinks hes ready to climb everest.

"My tip would be to invest in some decent cold weather clothing - warm and waterproof. Plan to go out first thing every day, no matter what. Children really don't mind the cold or rain, and the fresh air does you all good. "

I like this the best even though its not as great as the summer its still good to get out - helps you get things in perspective!!!!!

Pet shops are quite good, especially the bigger ones, ditto garden centres at this time of year for xmas displays, bonus if they have a cafe for cakes as well.

I'm in the same position ORUS, 5 months pg with a 2.5yo. I'm normally quite gung ho about getting to the park in bad weather but my waterproof coat no longer fits and I'm also lacking in energy to propell myself out of the door!

Thats exactly how I feel - it does slow you down a bit to say the very least...

I too am 5 months pg and struggling a bit with a lack of energy! My DD is still OK with freezing at the park, but if I can't face it then we go on the bus / train etc for a short trip, see how many red cars or whatever we can count, or off to the museum for a look round or even just a cup of tea if she's not in the mood!

We also make cakes etc if we are housebound, or put on a cd to do some singing and dancing. If really desperate, we look through magazines / cataloges so that DD can name what she sees! I'd do collages etc if she were bigger.

If you are bout 5 months pg you must be due around March .... why dont' you come and join us on the March thread? We are a very friendly (and chatty!) bunch.

Oh yes, cakes, dd loves making them but not eating them! I'm getting far too round far too quickly ....

invest in waterproof trousers and go to park/playground as usual. we spend a lot of time at our local farm - has indoor bit for bad weather.

also - swimming, library, toddler groups...

I tried the tent one today. He was really excited about it for about 3 mins but then he said he was scared cos it was too dark in there and wanted to come out.

So any more ideas people would be great!!

Think I'll give the biscuits a go this week.....yum chocolate topping yum yum...

Put down a waterproof mat and then let them have their plastic teaset (ELC do one for £5 if you don't have one) with some water in the teapot - this amuses my children for hours on end.

Playing with all sorts of bottles, jars, containers, funnels, plastic tubing etc in the bath with food colouring in the water

the best toy I ever got was plastic food. dds are 6 and 4 and still play with it loads. you can make shops - sort the food into boxes - fruit/bread/cakes etc; you can have teddy bear picnics, you can feed all the dolls, you can cook it. if you haven;t got any put it right at the top of your christmas list. a small microwave, a shopping basket and a plastic till - maybe hints for the gps?

ooo and I've made a recent cooking discovery - bread. doing cakes drives me nuts coz the girls are only really interested in eating all the mixture, before its mixed and I hate it. bread dough on the other hand is great - it tastes like crap so they don;t eat it - and it requires kneading (unlike cakes) which they love - and shaping - make lots of small bread buns - and let them get adventurous. it takes up much more time than cakes, and allows for more active involvement.