25 things to do with snowbound children
“Too wet to go out and too cold to play ball. So we sat in the house. We did nothing at all. So all we could do was to Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! And we did not like it. Not one little bit.”
— from “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss
• Get ready for the best Valentine’s Day ever by getting out crayons, markers and water paints, and creating personalized cards.
• Plastic-cup bowling. Set up empty cups in a hallway or large room, grab the nearest soccer ball or basketball and keep score.
• Put on the salsa music, grab a broomstick or yardstick, and limbo, baby, limbo.
• Get out that old camera or cellphone, charge it up before the power goes out, and let the kids create their own fashion shoot.
• Puzzles. If you don’t have one, get out some paper, let the kids cut their own puzzles in 25 or fewer cuts, then trade the cut-up puzzles and race to see who can put them back together the quickest.
• Create a “treasure” hunt with maps and clues that will keep kids busy searching the house for hidden odds and ends or treats.
• Find empty shoe boxes and other small boxes and build skyscrapers.
• Take painter’s tape and create a zig-zag maze of lines by running it back and forth between hallway walls. Let the kids try to make their way through it without touching the tape.
• Create a snow-day book by taking photos, printing them out (if the power is on), and letting the kids tell the story of the day.
• Put on favorite music and have them learn the words to a song or two. Dancing while singing earns extra points.
• Make paper airplanes and have a flying contest.
• Teach and give. Find time to talk about others in our communities who don’t have as much as we do, then have everyone find clothes, toys and books to donate to Goodwill, the Salvation Army or other local service organizations.
• Cut out snowflakes and tape them to windows.
• Create lists of things to do on summer vacation.
• Play “I spy” while looking out different windows.
• Build an indoor mini-golf course. Hold a tournament. The winner gets to wear dad’s old green jacket.
• Get out old magazines and scissors and create mosaics or storybooks from the photos.
• The oldest and best standby in three words (again, if the power is on): Chocolate. Chip. Cookies.
• Get out the smartphone and let the kids make a 4-minute movie.
• If you resort to video games, be sure to use the games that have physical activity, such as dancing.
• Use toothpicks (older children) and marshmallows to create Tinker Toys.
• Play dodge ball using large marshmallows.
• Teach a pet a new trick.
• Create your own weather report on video. Be overly dramatic and then vote which one would receive the highest ratings.
• Interview an older relative about their life.
Just two weeks after snow and ice brought Atlanta to a standstill and closed schools for several days, parents find themselves once again scrambling for child care while trying to hold down a job from home.
From trading off with neighbors to searching for area babysitters (who can travel on foot), parents are muddling through another weather scare.
This time around, many teachers were prepared and gave older kids thick homework packets or a list of websites to help stay on track scholastically.
Even some kids reacted to school cancellations with tempered enthusiasm, or perhaps a bit of disappointment, since slippery ice could force them to stay inside.
Robyn Binger, a local Realtor, estimated she’s been working at 20 percent to 30 percent of normal capacity.
“I am trying to make the most of it,” Binger said. “You can be upset about it, but what good is that going to do?”
She is trying to focus on doing things she doesn’t always have time to do, like writing handwritten notes to clients.
Binger’s younger daughter Lauren, 9, organized items in the mud room Tuesday and helped with other chores such as loading the dishwasher. Meanwhile, Claire, 11, was having a play date. Both kids came home from school with packets of work; her younger child’s teacher sent classwork for the entire week.
Binger, who lives in the Oak Grove neighborhood of DeKalb County, said her job offers her flexibility, but she was still concerned about a property closing scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday. With county offices closed, the property title search that needs to be completed before the closing had been put on hold.
“I have a young couple who need to close on Friday and need to be out of their apartment this weekend,” she said.
Binger went to the store late Tuesday afternoon to get ingredients to cook with her daughters. On the menu: skinny chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies, quinoa cookies, and chicken tacos with rice.
“We better have one heck of a summer,” Binger said. “Beautiful and sunny, and heat. Last summer, it was so cool there were days I needed a sweater.”
As the weather forecast turned ominous, parents seemed less concerned Tuesday about keeping their kids busy, and more concerned about keeping them warm and safe.
Bill Armstrong, an attorney who lives in Chamblee — and who remembers an epic 1973 storm (card tables and blanket forts in the living room for a week without power) — said that, with it unclear just how bad the winter storm would be, he and his wife (who are parents to three kids between the ages 6 and 12) were discussing whether to get a hotel room.
While they’ve got flashlights and plenty of food, one thing they don’t have is a fireplace.
“I will be watching our heavily wooded lot very carefully tonight,” he said. “I’ll probably get up to watch and listen to the trees. I remember the creaking noises from 1973.”
Leslie Gordon of Atlanta said her biggest concern for her blended family (which includes six children ranging in age from 2 to 14) was making sure there was enough food for everyone in case they are stuck at home all week.
“With my sister staying with us, there are nine of us, and we stocked up. But with so many of us, the only struggle we will have is making sure we have enough food to last us,” Gordon said.
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