Fun Things to do at Home with Kids Over Winter Break

Our family loves movies. From time to time I'll set a special day aside to have a day dedicated to a series of movies that one of my kids love. This is great for the wintertime as the weather is often cold. Kids can stay indoors and keep warm while watching some of their favorite movies. Of course, having a movie theme day involves more than just watching movies. I like adding food that lends itself to the movie theme along with other activities.

Let's say you want to create a princess movie day. Along with princess movies, set up an afternoon tea. Of course, you don't want to actually serve tea, but use a girl's tea set and serve hot chocolate, along with a snack. With all the free printable princess coloring pages available online, print out some princess color sheets. Have a dollar type store nearby? Pick up a princess tiara and magic wand. Some of my favorite princess movies include:

Tangled

Cinderella

Beauty and the Beast

The Princess and the Frog

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

In addition, there are some wonderful Barbie princess movies.

Have a son who likes superheroes? There are lots of great movies to choose from. I would suggest:

The Incredibles

The Fantastic Four

Superman

Spiderman

Thunderbirds

Sky High

Add to the movie theme by giving kids a chance to create their own superhero. Let them design a costume on paper and choose their superhero ability. Superheroes eat healthy food, so have some healthy snacks on hand. If their favorite superhero has a cape, give them a sheet to tie around them to let them feel like real superheroes.

This is also a time when you can teach a child about doing the right thing. Pose a question to the child and ask what a superhero would do. For example, "What would you do if you found a person's wallet?"

Do you have a Winnie the Pooh fan? Besides watching movies such as The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Tigger Movie and Piglet's Big Movie, serve some food with honey. It could be something as simple as Honey Graham Crackers. Want to cook a meal that is honey themed? How about some honey ham? I like to buy precooked ham, such as Farmer John. I throw it in a frying pan with some honey and Mrs. Dash Original Seasoning and I have a huge hit on my hands.

Anyway, this just gives a sampling on how to create a movie themed day.

Photo by Alvimann at morgueFile.

Take a day to discover what life in like in a foreign country. Let's take Japan, for example. Show kids some pictures and together, make up a story as to what life would be like there. Feel free to pick from the pictures below or find some of your own.

Teach kids a few words in Japanese. Here are a couple for starters:

Please=kudasai

Thank you=domo

Fans are very popular in Japanese culture. Give kids crayons and a blank piece of paper. Have them create a beautiful picture. Afterwards, fold the paper accordian style, fan out one end while taping the other end together. They now have cool new fans.

Make some Japanese food for them to try. Fried rice is always appreciated in my house. If you don't feel comfortable making it all from scratch, I suggest getting Kikkoman Fried Rice Seasoning Mix.

If they like to dance, play some Japanese music and let them express themselves. It's a great way to incorporate some physical activity into the day. You can make this day as educational or fun as you desire. It's just a great way to expose kids to another culture.

Photo by beglib at morgueFile.

Odds are you already have some items around the house that can be used to make some easy crafts for children. Here's a very simple one. Get a piece of white paper and a cup. Use the cup as a pattern and draw three circles in a row, each slightly overlapping the other. Cut out the design. You now have a basic snowman! Make one for each child who is participating.

Give kids crayons and have them bring the snowmen to life. Afterwards, get a piece of string or yarn, loop it and glue it in back. They can now hang their snowmen up. If celebrating Christmas, cut out pieces of paper in the shape of ornaments and let kids decorate them, hanging them on the tree afterwards. Crafts are a great way to spend time with the kids at home during break.

Photo by ppdigital at morgueFile.

Take a day and turn it into a read-a-thon. Kids can gather stuffed animals and blankets and get ready for a fun day of hearing stories and reading about winter. Although kids love books, be sure to share some of your favorite winter stories from when you grew up. Give kids some paper and crayons to make their own personalized bookmarks.

Another idea is to let kids make their own book. Have them draw and color pictures about winter, then afterwards put them altogether like a book. Use a hole punch, then tie the pages together with colorful yarn. The whole family now has a special winter keepsake book.

Photo by toymanron at morgueFile.