Resist hibernating even on the darkest days.
We’ve held on for so long and it’s still dark out there, still cold. Don’t give up; get more creative. Put on more layers and always try to say yes to your kids when they ask to go outside. I’ve learned the hard way that asking them to wait while you put dinner in the oven doesn’t always fly. Ten minutes later and they may be involved in an indoor activity (like my seven-year-old playing with his video games, for example). And then—good luck reigniting that enthusiasm!
Because February can be particularly dreary and cold, it is helpful to make a habit of bringing what you notice outside into your discussions. For example, when you step outside, show your kids something beautiful or interesting. Ask them to tell you what they see, smell, and hear. If you don’t notice anything special right away, make a game of it. See who can be the first to point out something remarkable. Make this game a part of your routine and see if February feels different than it has in the past.
Fill ice cube trays with water and set them outside to freeze overnight. Have your kids build a city outside with the ice bricks (or build the city inside, if it’s too cold out). You can also freeze interesting shapes from mugs, bowls, and pans—anything that holds water!
On February 2nd, Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil in western Pennsylvania has a tradition of “predicting” six more weeks of winter if he sees his shadow. Make a tradition of watching for wildlife where you live. The National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Watch is a national nature-watching program created for people of all ages. You can look up pictures of animals to look for by region of the United States at www.nwf.org/WildlifeWatch.
Here’s a great family project: You can help preserve and protect the monarch butterfly through Monarch Watch (www.monarch watch.org/waystations). This organization will send you a kit to plant butterfly-friendly seeds in early spring, but now is the time to get started as some of the seeds need to be “cold-stratified” or exposed to cold temperatures (e.g., put seeds in between two moist paper towels in a closed plastic bag in the refrigerator) for six weeks and then sprouted in soil indoors before transplanting them outside when temperatures are in the seventies.
Place a bag near the door and fill it with flashlights, battery-operated glow sticks, a thermos for hot cocoa, and pocket guides to wildlife and the night sky. The next time your kids are going stir-crazy at night, take them out for an evening walk. Your kids can watch their “smoky” breath under a flashlight. Hold a flashlight under your chin and breathe out. See how your warm breath swirls around in the cold air! Your family will have fun exploring the natural world from a different perspective, and the lights will keep you safe and on the right path.
You’re only cold if you’re not moving! Pretend you’re at boot camp and jog up and down the sidewalk together, or venture further if you’d like. Try chanting to get you in line: recite an oldie but goodie (“I don’t know but I’ve been told…”) or make up one of your own. “Get those knees up! Faster, private!” See how much silly fun you can have, and how warm you can get.
When it’s cold, I love keeping muffin mix and hot cocoa at the ready for a snack outside. Watching the steam billow up from a cup of hot milk, cocoa, or hot cereal or muffins still makes my kids smile with delight! The kids can pile on their winter gear and play outside while I heat up their snacks, and then they are warm enough to sit on the stoop and enjoy it. Best of all, if we have somewhere to head out to, the boys are all ready when it’s time to go!
Some days are so dreary, you find yourself wishing for even a little brightness and beauty. Trust me, even in February, it’s out there—but sometimes your family has to work together to find it. Bring in everyone’s perspectives and head out to find something that is beautiful. Each person’s job is to look until they find something in nature that they like and to share why. For example, “Today, the green moss at the bottom of this tree is beautiful. I like it because the color is so bright compared to what surrounds it.”
Pick an interesting outdoor spot (in your yard or a local park) and search beneath the surface like Indiana Jones, winter-style. First, bundle up with lots of layers, head to toe, to stay warm. Warm hats, gloves, and socks are a must. Remember how Indiana always brushes off thick dust to uncover his treasure? Head out with a dustpan broom to sweep off layers of frost, snow, or dirt to see what is hidden beneath; if you don’t have a broom, brushing off layers with your gloves will do.
With a hat under a helmet and gloves keeping your fingers warm, riding a bike or scooter in the cold can be just as fun as any other time of the year. As long as it’s not too snowy or icy, ride around your neighborhood for fifteen minutes and you’ll be warmed up and ready for another activity outside!
As soon as the snow starts falling, my kids grab the shovels and are ready to race from one end of the driveway or sidewalk to the other, seeing who can scoop up the snow the fastest. Inevitably, they get tired just in time for the heaviest snow to accumulate for Mom and Dad. But a shoveling race is a great way to blow off some steam and warm them up to stay out longer.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to enthusiastically say yes when I am asked to play a game outside that I never liked growing up. I have to confess, it’s a big list: football, baseball, four square—really most sports! But take on the challenge; invite your child, grandchild, niece, or nephew outside and tell them you’ll play whatever they want to play for fifteen minutes. You never know, you may just end up wanting to play a lot longer!
On some days, your neighborhood turns into what feels like the arctic tundra, with frigid wind blowing across the frozen landscape. Go ahead and wince a little—then bundle up and get outside to see if you can take it. Make sure your faces are protected with scarves or fleece neck-warmers that can safely go up over your nose. If your kids have ski goggles or sunglasses, it’s a great time to use them to keep the blowing snow out of their eyes. Explore the neighborhood together. Dig a shelter in the snow or lean fallen branches around a tree to create a shelter from the “arctic” winds.
As a child, my friend Tina from Norway would stack circles of snowballs in a cone or evergreen shape, with space in each snowball for a votive candle. She would place votive candles in her tower and her parents would light them at night for a beautiful winter display. Whether you create a twinkling tower or a single snowball votive, it’s definitely a beautiful way to light up a cold February night. Of course, remember to keep an eye on your candles and blow them out before bed.
One great way to share your love on Valentine’s Day is to lead your loved ones on a walk and show them the places that mean the most to you. Take the kids to an outdoor spot that holds meaningful family history. The parents of a friend of mine fell in love while walking across the Brooklyn Bridge together, so that bridge now holds special meaning for the whole family. You can also flip it around and let the kids lead. My children took their grandparents on a walk from my parents’ house to the overpass where they loved to look at trains. The tour continued to the footbridge over a creek where they race sticks, and to the park rose garden where—in warmer weather—the fragrant flowers would return. In each spot the children told their grandparents why they liked coming to that spot with them.
Blow-up plastic pool rings (also known as inner tubes or donuts) get used in our yard all year long. They are great as extra cushions when rolling down hills, and they can also serve as inner tubes for sledding. Dig one out of the closet and you’ll be buying more later in the year at the local discount store’s end-of-summer sale!
On the way to school in the morning, my husband started asking my boys to guess the temperature. Over time, the children started to associate a temperature reading with how it felt outside. I found an old outdoor thermometer at a garage sale and now the children have learned to read the temperature, which makes the game even more fun. Knowing the temperature has helped them to gauge how much they need to bundle up.
In my experience, if you roll a snowball to a certain size, it is destined to become part of a snowman. Not so, according to my seven-year-old! In fact, it is possible to continue rolling the snowball for the sheer gratification of rolling the biggest snowball ever. What makes this activity wonderful for the whole family is that you all have to work together to keep the ball rolling, and man, it is great exercise!
When you’re making snow angels with your child or you just happen to be lying on the grass looking up at the sky, pick two or more clouds and watch them race. Select another cloud and count how long it takes to reach the finish line. Are all clouds traveling at the same speed?
Whatever music you like, that music is portable. Why not rock out in the yard? Any day is a reason to celebrate and have a good time together—and giggle too—as a family. Head outside with some tunes and show your family your best moves.
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln didn’t have TVs. Celebrate the presidents by experiencing the outdoor hobbies of their era. George Washington was a planter or farmer. Visit a local farm to see the animals. Or imagine and do what Abraham Lincoln’s children might have liked to do in winter outside: Hula-hoop? Build a snowman? Feed the birds? If you’d like to learn about some games from the 1800s, look up an article on the Internet called “Games Children Play(ed)” by Stanley Ransom.
Without vines, tall grasses, and brush blocking your way, it’s easier in winter to find a new walking or biking path together. Instead of taking your usual path, go “off-road” as a family to explore a new area or find a new way home. When my kids were two and four, we didn’t have many mature trees in our neighborhood, so we’d off-road frequently to look for the tallest trees we could find.
Of course, it’s great to climb a tree any time of year. But finding a good climbing tree in February can be a reason to get outside, and sometimes we need just that: a reason to get us out the door. Who doesn’t love to climb a tree? We don’t have a climbing tree in our yard, so we have to go looking for them. Local parks and historic sites can have great old trees perfect for climbing with a grown-up’s help. And it doesn’t matter if you can’t go higher than the first branch. Hanging from a lower branch or perching on top of it can be a lot of fun.
You don’t need a real soccer ball and you don’t need to stick to the official rules (my seven-year-old might disagree, but no matter). Pick a target together that will serve as your goal (in between two trees or two items from your closet will do). Then make up drills to reach the goal: pass the ball to each other, dribble around cones (or buckets or sticks—whatever you have), or kick it past a goalie. High five and celebrate your team’s victory!
In January, I mentioned finding tracks, but what about following them? It sounds slightly scary and exciting at the same time. My five-year-old and I followed some tracks in the deep snow that led around a path; they looked like small boot prints. After following the tracks into the woods we came upon a spot where the snow was cleared and there was lots of deer scat. That’s when we realized that the tracks must have been from a herd of deer! We couldn’t wait to trek back home and tell the rest of the family about our adventure.
Do something crazy with your kids. Shout, “Let’s play tag!” and see how fast you can all bundle up and start chasing each other outside. It may be so much fun that you’ll be surprised how long you stay out there. Best of all, coming in from the cold always feels fantastic, and you won’t be cold indoors anymore!
In most places, golf courses may not be open in winter, but yours can be open all year round. If you have a yard, a driveway, or a park nearby, you can create a crazy mini-golf course using tipped-over plastic or metal cups. You can even carve out ramps and holes for the golf balls in the snow. No kid-sized golf clubs? Just make your own with a stick inside a stuffed sock inside a shoe.
My Uncle Denny taught me another cool way to watch a seed sprout on a windowsill. Take a glass or clear cup, put some crumpled newspaper inside, and place a seed or two against the inside of the glass (some good seeds to use are pea, bean, or sunflower). Keep the newspaper moist and, over a week or two, watch the seed sprout! Transfer into a pot with soil (with a drainage hole and saucer underneath to catch water) when the plant outgrows its glass.
There are so many to choose from beyond the sledding that you can do in your neighborhood: downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing—and there are probably more. Find out from friends which winter sports they enjoy as a family and get the inside scoop on how to learn inexpensively. For example, you may be able to rent ski equipment for less at a local shop than it would cost to rent similar equipment at the mountain. Or a local ski resort may have discounts for first-time skiers. If you try a new sport and your family is hooked, many local shops offer discounted used equipment and trade-up programs for equipment as your kids grow.