How To Get Crafty In The Winter Time

The beginning of winter is a pretty exciting time with the lead up to Christmas filling up our time with; parties, plays, carol concerts and the anticipation of a visit from Santa himself.  After all of the excitement, the rest of winter always seems to be so dark, cold and a long wait until the longer days and warmer weather.  When the days are bright and crisp it is an amazing opportunity for children to play in the garden or for the whole family to go for a walk and enjoy the cold beauty of winter.

Unfortunately winter is also a time of persistent rain and wind that bites your nose and fingers making outside very unappealing compared to the warmth and comfort inside. On days like these it is prudent to have a few crafty activities up your sleeves so that you can alleviate boredom and encourage your children to put down their tech toys for a little while.  Craft activities not only help your child to practice their fine motor skills they also provide a great opportunity for conversation and interaction with parents and siblings alike.  

Here are some craft activities that will entertain you and your children and brighten up your house at the same time:-

Paper Snowflakes

Making paper snowflakes is the best way to make sure that you get to see snow this year.  They look great stuck to the window and are so easy to make.  All you need is a pair of scissors and lots of paper.  To start off with cut the paper into a circle shape and then fold so that it becomes a flat cone shape.  Use your scissors to cut through the paper and when you have finished open the cone up and you will have a delicate circle with patterns cut out of it. As you get more confident with your cutting the patterns can get better and better. The best thing about this activity is that it doesn't matter how good you are at cutting you will still produce a unique decoration.

Biscuit Decorating

Bake or buy biscuits to decorate with icing sugar, chocolate beans and raisins.  If you bake them yourself you can decide on a theme and shape your biscuits accordingly if not any plain biscuit is a great canvass for design.  Allow your children the freedom to decorate their biscuits however they like and talk about their designs.  When all of the icing sugar is dry and the kitchen is clean and tidy there is nothing better than snuggling up to watch a film snacking on a home decorated biscuit and steaming hot chocolate.

Make Musical Instruments

Sometimes keeping quiet can be impossible for children so why not control the noise by making home made instruments out of household items and singing at the top of your voice.  Shakers can be made from bottles, tubs rice, dried peas, marbles, in fact anything that makes a good noise - make sure you seal the top on tight or you will create a mess all over the floor.  Drums can be created with with pans and wooden spoons while elastic bands wrapped around a box with a hole in it makes a great guitar.

 Read a Story Book

Children of all ages enjoy having a story read to them particularly if you make it a magical experience by sitting on cushions, inviting the teddies and dolls to listen and involving your children by asking questions and getting them to join in with repetitive phrases.  Older children will just relish the opportunity to have your undivided attention and a cuddle; you could even take it in turns to read the story.

Once you get the hang of entertaining your children on cold wet days you will be amazed at the brilliant craft ideas you can come up with.