Anyone else get completely stir crazy in the winter? Come January/February, the cold seems never-ending and makes it hard to get out of the house and burn off energy, which my kids badly need. But holing up inside all day gets old fast, especially with little ones. I find that the key to surviving winter with little kids is to have a game plan and to get out of the house. You need to have a list of winter activities for babies and toddlers that you can do to get out of the house or keep the kids entertained inside. Otherwise, you’ll go crazy trying to clean up all the messes the kids make and trouble they get into when they’re bored or just listening to them fight will be enough to make you combust. As much as I hate leaving the house in the cold (I prefer to hibernate in winter), I’m a huge proponent of getting out of the house with kids every day, especially on weekends when you have so many hours to fill. Even if it’s just a short excursion, kids need a change of scenery and honestly, it always helps my mood too. Having a list of winter activities for babies and toddlers has helped us so that we don’t waste time debating what to do while the kids drive us crazy. (Here’s our winter bucket list with more family-friendly activities.)
Here are some fun winter activities for babies and toddlers that aren’t too hard to do with little ones and are actually fun for Mom and Dad too.
Play Dates
I don’t know why it took me so long to start planning these but omg I love play dates. It was hard when James was just a baby and his nap schedule was more limiting – trying to plan play date around it was always a crapshoot. Plus, he couldn’t really do much. Now that the kids are older, I love playdates, especially the drop off variety. But since Charlotte and Brooks are too young for drop off, we often are along for the rides, but honestly, I don’t mind. We can catch up with other parents, commiserate and compare notes while the kids play together. When James was a baby and toddler and we were living in the city, we had lots of similarly aged kids in our neighborhood so it worked out well and we didn’t even have to put on coats to socialize. But we’d also drive to the burbs to visit friends and let him nap on the way there and home. Now, playdates are one of our favorite ways to catch up with friends. I know sometimes it feels like so much effort, but we’re always glad we did it. The fact is it’s so much better to be with other parents than just running around after your kid alone.
Children’s Museum
Brooklyn has one of the best children’s museums in the country and we loved visiting when we lived in the city. Once we moved to the suburbs, we quickly got memberships to the children’s museums nearby because they’re such life-savers during the wintertime. Children’s museums are really great because you feel like they’re learning stuff, it’s actually cool as an adult and unlike The Met per se, they can actually run around and do interactive stuff without worrying about breaking some priceless heirloom.
Aquarium
We have loved hitting up the aquarium since James was a toddler. There’s one not far from us now that we used to drive from the city to visit. It’s such a fun, interactive activity to do during the wintertime. Walking around burns energy and you feel like they did something educational. Plus as an adult, you forget how cool it is to see all the fish and sharks and dolphin show.
Indoor Play Spaces
As a baby/toddler, James took gym classes during the week at a local Kids’ gym near our apartment in the city and as part of the tuition, you could hang out there during designated open play hours. This made the class worth the cost alone. We loved going there when it was cold or rainy or snowy outside, and quickly found one near us when we moved to the burbs. These are open spaces where they can can run, climb, jump, explore without getting hurt, so it’s basically a parent’s dream come true. We often will make a date to go to an indoor play space with friends and let the kids run wild while we grab some coffee and catch up.
Music Class
As babies, all my children were obsessed with music, and loved going to music class. Our nanny usually takes them during the week, but sometimes we’d go on weekends and always had a blast. It’s a great way to meet other moms and babies and it’s a fun way to burn some morning energy. Local libraries often offer mom and baby/toddler music classes for free.
Painting
Fair warning: This gets MESSY. But you can buy washable paints, smock up the kiddos, put paper or plastic all over the place and let them go to town. James loves any type of art project or craft, and even though it makes me so anxious because of the mess and spills, the kids have so much fun anytime I let them paint.
Baking
Our kids love helping me cook (when I actually do it). I learned that letting them actually help me bake is hard — they’re quick to put everything in their mouth and dump everything all over the place. And don’t get me started on cracking eggs. But I try to let go and let it be part of the process because it’s good for them and a great way to kill time when it’s bad outside. Plus, you usually end up with something sweet to eat at the end. But sometimes when they’re littler and getting into too much trouble, I’ll let them play with pots and pans, spoons and other rando kitchen tools while I do the heavy lifting and then I supervise the stirring and mixing.Check out my healthy muffin recipe, a favorite of ours to make.
Playing in the Snow
Sometimes you just gotta get outside. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, sometimes getting outside can help with the crankiness and stir craziness. Bundling up for the festivities can be a huge pain in the you know what, but when I see the joy on the kids’ faces while they run around after Dakota or jump into the snow, it’s all worth it. That and when they go down for a nap without a huge production because they burned off all that energy. Our favorite snow activities include sledding, building a snowman, making snow angels, and just letting the kids try to walk through snow drifts and throw snow.
Museums
I find that in general museums can be really fun for the kids, whether they’re walking or still in a stroller. They’re too young to complain that they’re bored (although James is at the age where he’s starting to). Anything visual that includes a new space to explore is fun. And you can enjoy the exhibits etc. (when not chasing after the kids) and feel like you did something educational. NYC is filled with amazing museums, but even local museums in the towns closer to us can be fun. We love the Natural History Museum because it has great exhibits for kids about animals and the planet etc., and of course, the dinosaurs. But sometimes we’ll drag the kids along somewhere more highbrow like The Met or Guggenheim or Brooklyn Museum, and honestly, it’s still a great experience. It’s fun for them to explore and we get some culture in.
Shoveling Snow
If you have to shovel your driveway, why not enlist your little buddy to help? Kids love doing grown up things, and for some reason, I have never met a toddler who doesn’t love trying to shovel snow. They feel like big helpers, they can’t really mess it up, and it’s a great way to burn a bunch of energy while getting some fresh air.
Ice Skating
We are so excited that a new skating rink just opened near us. I love taking the kids skating. It burns tons of energy and it’s a great way to spend time outside in the winter. I am not a skater but Andrew was a hockey player growing up and loves showing the kids his favorite childhood sport. We also have James in skating and now hockey lessons at a nearby rink, which is great because we don’t have to do much work and reap the benefits of burning all that energy.
Ok these are our favorite winter activities for babies and toddlers, but let me know if any you love that I’m missing. We can always use more ideas.
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