Indoor snow play
It rarely snows in Portland, so it's always a delightful event. Not neccesarily so in a reliably snowy winter climate. Here's Melissa's hack for when she doesn't feel like going through the whole dressing/undressing drama:
It's been snowy here in Ohio and my 3 year old twins love it. I, however, do not. So the other day I filled two washtubs with snow, covered the table with a vinyl tablecloth, and we played inside for over an hour. We used cookie cutters and made shapes plus used cereal and Mr. Potato Head parts to make mini snow people, which we freezed so we could show their big sister. No cold feet, only marginally messy.
Related:
Playing in the snow...in the bathtub
Old tube socks protect exposed wrists from snow
(or any Amazon link at Parent Hacks), you throw some change into our tip jar without any extra steps or cost to you. Thank you!
For those of us who are "snow challenged", spread out a vinyl tablecloth on the floor and put a hot air popcorn popper in the middle. Sit back and watch it "snow" all over! (caution: hot)
Posted by: Jill in Atlanta | 03 January 2008 at 11:51 AM
My initial reaction to this was that if the kids want to go outside to play, unless it is hazardously cold/windy out, mom/dad should just be tough and go outside and play.
However ... as I reflected on it a little more ... I started to see the wisdom in this when
a) your kid is rather sick and/or recovering and you want to keep them warm/dry/relaxed.
b) your yard is full of icy-packed snow over a foot deep, which is just not fun for a toddler.
c) variety in its own sake.
So - I'll be doing this tomorrow, for all three reasons.
Posted by: TisDone | 03 January 2008 at 06:43 PM
Our daycare facility did this and all of the babies loved it! (Ours was five months at the time) They really just let them play with the snow by itself, but I love the potato head idea!
Posted by: Rob | 04 January 2008 at 07:28 AM
I think it's kind of sad that the lady from Ohio chose to stay indoors rather than giving her children the freedom of building a real snowman outdoors or making angels in the snow or a snowfort, as well as the beneficial effects of fresh air rather than recycled indoor winter air. Unless it was prohibitively cold or icy, outdoors is better for snow play. It seems to me this suited the mother rather than the children.
Posted by: Elizabeth F | 09 January 2008 at 06:09 AM