Every parent knows how hard it is to keep a toddler occupied for even a few minutes, not to mention a whole afternoon or day. The under 3 ladies and gentlemen need lots of active play time. People living in an apartment and everyone during harsh winter days have to find a way to make active play work. Luckily, there are many ways you can keep your children active, engaged and learning all while having fun. All it takes is a little bit of imagination and effort. In the further text you will find our favorite ways to make this holiday season unforgettable.

Keep them active
Parks are probably the best places for toddlers to channel their endless energy. Unfortunately, not all days give us the opportunity to enjoy it’s benefits. Luckily, cold winter months don’t have be all about screen time on the couch. Your toddlers can easily get their daily dose of physical activity with specially designed playroom furniture that supports balance skills, awareness, gross motor skills, coordination, and learning development. These gyms (Activity Gym Set) are perfect for letting toddlers release some of that wild energy when playing outside is out of the question. You can also pump up some music and have a little dance party right in your living room. Toddlers love jumping around and mimicking adults so it would be a great time to show them some moves. Just find some kid-friendly songs and rock out! Come spring, the little energy bombs will have all the skills and confidence to tackle even the toughest challenges park utilities can throw at them. 

Cook together to raise smart and responsible kids
There are many lessons to be taught while preparing food together. Counting and measuring are skills we’ll need to apply when navigating a recipe with kids. Seeing how food changes with temperature and learning how certain food can be healthy for our body are great lessons. Cooking is also a great opportunity to practice new vocabulary as you describe how food looks, feels and tastes. Following a recipe from start to finish helps build the skills for planning and completing projects. Winter holiday season is an especially good time of the year to be together. Holiday baking can sometimes feel like a chore—all that mixing, measuring and decorating. Bringing your kids into the mix can actually be fun and can take away some of the pressure to create perfect results. Christmas cookies will taste that much better because you made them together. In this endeavor the learning tower is an irreplaceable item as it lifts your toddler to kitchen counter height to encourage interaction and togetherness between children and parents. Even washing dishes will become a fun activity as your child further develops motor skills, hand-eye coordination and adopts responsibility.

Snowy day reading time 

Though some of the days might seem cold and dreary, it’s also a great time to spend reading your favorite books! The long winter break can be an opportunity to introduce some new books to help improve your toddlers reading skills. We suggest picking winter-themed ones with magical descriptions from your bookshelf. Bring the cookies you made together, snuggle in the rocking chair and the fun may begin. You won’t notice the time passing by as you devour one book after another. This is an ideal bonding activity that both you and your toddler will remember forever. Make sure you use all your quirkiest voices and skills to animate the characters and get your child into the story. Talk about the book after reading it, incorporate questions about the content. You will start to see the wheels turning and your child think more critically about what they’re reading. Also, a good idea for would be to ask the child to retell or even better to reenact the story. These activities develop concentration and creativity. Building a daily habit of reading and labeling it as a fun activity in your toddlers mind will cultivate an intelligent bright mind. 

Creative times inside the tent 

Toddlers, as well as everyone else, love to have that special place they can call their own to chill and express their creativity. Tents are a dream item in that sense. Here, your loved one can immerge her/himself in various activities during winter. Drawing is the most obvious one. No winter would be complete without Christmas-themed drawings. They must include the jolly man, Santa Claus himself of course. Then come the elves, reindeer, the snowman, Christmas trees and the gingerbread man. When the artist wants some company you can join her/him and create together. You can suggest a creative project like making some Christmas decorations. Getting creative can get messy, but these kinds of activities are so important for learning and development and you don’t need expensive and hard to find materials. Amazing decorations can be made from simple things like paper plates or toilet paper rolls. Board games are also an option. 

Learn together
During winter break, the learning doesn’t have to stop. With a little bit of imagination you can encourage your toddler to learn many things. Domestic, wild or sea animals are a guaranteed way to fill those harsh winter days with fun educational content. 

Some extra ideas for you to spend your time with your children creatively

Paint on the windows! Washable tempera paint is perfect for this. You can add a little squirt of dish soap to make clean up even easier.  Your child can even wash the windows after everyone has had a chance to admire his artwork. 

Cutting paper. It’s fun for a parent to revive the craft of making snowflakes with scissors and paper but for our little ones, we need to start by simply introducing the materials of scissors and paper.

Water Indoor Plants Together

Fern trees are an especially great investment for this because they need little light and can take a lot of water. Provide your child with a small container with a spout or a spray bottle.

No matter which of these activities you decide on for your toddler, don’t forget to have fun!

What do you think about some of these hands-on activities for your toddler to do during the winter? Have any other ideas you care to share with us? Let us know!