Stuck in the House

This winter has been a cold winter and even though there is snow outside it is just to cold and frozen to play outside. The kids are getting restless so I have been trying to do more active activities and games with them so they don't go stir crazy. These are a few of them that we play. 

SPIDER IN THE KITCHEN

I made this one up a few years ago with Gavin and it's still a favorite and we still have the same spider although the paper is getting pretty worn out. I printed a big cartoon spider onto a piece of paper and cut it out into a circle. I put tape on the back of it and then I would stick it to something in the kitchen, dramatically scream "there's a spider in the kitchen" and run into the living room where Gavin was and say "will you go smash it for me?" and he would run into the kitchen laughing hysterically, find the spider and "smash" it with his hand and then I would say something like "Phew! Thank you, that was so scary!" Then it would start all over again each time putting the spider in a different spot for him to find.

SHAPES AND ANIMALS SEARCH

I tear off about a 12 foot section of my roll end and draw shapes, animals, letters, numbers, etc. all over it. When I'm done I say to the kids "find the frog" and they go stand on it and then I ask them "what color is it?" etc. etc.

The kids love it because they think it's a fun game and I love it because it's getting their wiggles out AND they are learning!!

TREASURE HUNTS

We have been doing A LOT of these lately. I get index cards or paper and write clues/instructions on them that lead them all over the house, preferably up and down the stairs a few times and in the end there is a treasure like a bag of freshly popped popcorn, pretzels, cutie oranges and sometimes even candy. Although I wouldn't recommend hiding the freshly popped popcorn in your dryer, the smell lingers....trust me, I know from experience.

HIDE AND SEEK

I'm sure everyone knows how to play this game but sometimes instead of counting to 10 or 20 I have them say the alphabet just to help them learn it better. 

On a side note this is how Chloe says her ABC's:

A B C D E F G H I J K  L L L L P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

RUN CHICKEN RUN

Cody invented this one last fall. The kids were running from the living room into the toy room and back. Cody was sitting on the couch and started throwing pillows at them as they would run by. Then they started being "chickens" and didn't dare run past Cody so he said "Run, Chicken, Run" and thus the game was born. Now it's another favorite at our house. We just have to make sure that they stay away from the entertainment center so if they do fall down they don't hit it. 

TICKLE WARS

We do these all the time and it's just what you think it is. We tickle each other until the other once gives up. Pretty simple but the kids love it and it wears them out : )