Teaching Preschoolers: A Day of Winter Indoor Activities
By Mimi Rothschild
Anchorage, AK: Last night when my husband got home from work, he told me the temperature was already -12 degrees F. Brrrrr.
Today is still super cold, so I think we'll spend the day indoors. Which, of course, means to pull from my repertoire of indoor activities.
So, knowing that so many families have to keep the kids occupied inside, here's a day of planned out for you to use as is or as a template for your own plans:
Some Cooking: Start a pot of stew! That way, by this evening, we'll have a nice, comforting meal ready and waiting. My favorite stew recipe is Five Hour Beef Stew found at the Kids Recipe Club (http://www.kidsrecipeclub.com). There are also a few other stew recipes.
While we cook, we'll talk about the different nutrients in the vegetables and why they are important to our diets.
Some Homeschool: we took a day off yesterday because the kids weren't feeling too well, but today is a definite. We will need to burn a little brain power to help deal with cabin fever and built up energy.
Some Lunch: today we will be having sandwiches and home made hot chocolate. I like to do sandwiches with the kids as another way to help develop hand muscles. Slicing (when age appropriate, of course!) and spreading require use of gross and fine motor skills. The homemade hot chocolate creates camaraderie and is just downright enjoyable on a cold day!
Some Energy Burning: yes, I realize that the hot chocolate has sugar that's going to escalate things, so we'll immediately do something very taxing!
We'll start with some jumping jacks. The kids love them and that helps with coordination too.
Then we'll do a "bear hunt" and walk around the house doing movements for marching, swimming, climbing - hey, we'll probably go up and down the stairs a few times too. That'll give me a nice workout!
And then, to cool down, we'll play a little tug of war with our puppy.
Some Quiet Time:- after our physical activity, we'll all sit down on the sofa and I'll read to them.
Right now, we are reading two books. And, the one I'm pretty sure they'll want to hear today is some more of "Where the Red Fern Grows". I'm just dreading getting to the end!
Some Cooperative Working Together: it'll be getting close to dinner time by now. So, as a family, we'll set the table and get everything ready to enjoy our heart-warming stew!
So, whether you follow or plan or create your own, winter indoor activities can be fun and educational without emptying your wallet or leaving you exhausted. Plan your own "shut-in" day.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, children's rights activist, author, and Founder and C.E.O. of online education company Learning by Grace, Inc. Rothschild and her husband of twenty-eight years reside in suburban Philadelphia with their eight children.
Feeling that “our current system of education has broken its promise,” Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. to provide families with Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children all over the world.
In addition to her twenty years of experience as a homeschool mother, Rothschild has written a number of books dealing with education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Home Education Websites Blog consists of helpful online content and activities for Christian homeschooling families.
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