Since we're snowed in...

Lit.er.al.ly. Snowed in.  

The perk for being awake at 4 AM is having a sneak peak to what you are all waking up to in the morning.  Holy COW!  This blizzard is amazing!

Our front door will not open.  Covered in snow at least 2 and a half feet up.  Mostly from drifts.  And our neighbor's back door has a snow drift almost reaching the top of their door.  Lovely.  And this is only the beginning of the said "worst blizzard in 53 years".  (please don't read this with a negative tone...I think it is REALLY COOL!--mind you, I'm indoors, with power, and a heater, and a wealth of hot chocolate when needs be.)

So, since we are all snowed in tomorrow, here are some ideas to do to make your day super fun, seemingly less cold, and what we will be doing tomorrow:

Indoor Water Play

• Bath time- an obvious option, but we can’t do ten baths a day.
• Finger paint the tub-  A natural extension of bath time, or a way to extend bath time: give blops of finger paint on the tub side and have the kids paint the sides.  It cleans up right down the drain.
• Car or dolly wash- I have the kids grab a few of their toy cars and we put soap in the kitchen sink.  They use rags or sponges to give the cars a bath.  You may let them wash a stuffed animal or doll instead, but only if you know it won’t cause a melt down if that doll is wet still at bed time!
• Wash dishes- Set up a stool at the kitchen counter and let them wash, just the tupperware if need be.  Or throw in some play dishes.  Or even bath toys.
• Blowing bowl bubbles- Get out the largest mixing bowl you have and fill it part way with water.  Ad a splurt of dish soap and get out the straws and show how to blow out to make bubbles.  Once you have a mountain of bubbles you can do fun things like blowing into a bubble and making it bigger or hiding a toy under the bubbles.  Blowing can be a very calming activity for kids
• Water play on the kitchen floor- Set up a water station on the kitchen floor using thick towels.  (I'll do one spot for each kid).  Then fill two big bowls 2/3 full with warm water and equip the kids with pouring tools -- measuring cups, funnels, cups, spoons, cups, jugs, anything your kitchen drawers and tupperware cupboards disgorge.   Sometimes I add food coloring to the water to make it extra exciting.
• Sponges- We get out two bowls and a sponge to transfer water from one bowl to the other- lots of good SQUEEZing to do.
• Mop the floor- I always forget that my four and three year old think mopping is SO cool.  I ought to do this more often. Not just because they think it’s cool either.

Or try your hand at colored rice:

okay, so the pic is 3 years old (see Baby Addison and friends), but the fun is still awesome!  It'd better take a more up to date pic tomorrow.

See my "how to make" post on fiverealmoms.com, here.
and how to play with it here.

You can also do the same, fun, sensory activities with plain white rice, dried beans, shaving
cream, pudding, etc.