Beating Winter and T.V

Have ya'll felt like winter is depressing and LONG?

This winter seems so much different. I always dread winter but this year it's way worse. I think it's because my boys are so busy and we are stuck inside a lot. We have especially tried staying home more because of the bad viruses going around as well as the flu. We have been so lucky that we have only had small head colds. Praying and knocking on wood, nothing sneaks in :)

So what do you do with your kids during the winter when your stuck inside?

We I have been busy thinking of new things to keep them busy and promote learning without 

relying on the TV to keep them entertained. We normally only watch 2 cartoon shows per day and allow Karson to play his Wii for about 20 minutes per day. I just have a underlying negative feeling towards kids and too much television. But of course if it's for your family, then that's great!

Here are a few things we do DAILY:

• Puzzles
• Playdoh
• Board Games
• Hide & Seek
• Dress up
• Good guy/Bad guy
• Daily chores

I have learned a few things about Playdoh playing. I normally keep it in the kitchen at the kitchen table but then it made a big mess under the table with all of the little pieces that they would drop on the wood floors. It is also hard to sweep up so I decided to bring it into the toy room with a blanket on the floor. I gave the rules to the boys that we only kept the playdoh on the blanket and not the carpet. Then afterwards we just balled the blanket up and put it in the washer. It was so much easier. You could also use a plastic table cloth cover but we just didn't have one. 

Boys like making snakes, and worms the best :)

What about you? How are you keeping busy at home?