The cold winter months leave us spending more time inside than we would often like! These indoor days feel like they can drag on forever and if you are anything like me, too much screen time only leads to me feeling guilty and my kids acting crazy! These days can be a great opportunity to engage with your little and big kids in a new and fun way through toys, puzzles and games.
Kim Panton, owner of the beloved Rock Paper Scissors in Duxbury, has you covered. Kim’s store and expertise have never failed me when it comes to age-appropriate games and activities that so often save me from these long days!
Here are some great ideas to get you started!
Puzzles: puzzles are a great way to engage in conversations with your kids without them even knowing it. They are focused on the activity and sometimes it is easier for them to share without the focus being just on them. Puzzles are also a great way to develop patience and reflection. They also are great for the development of fine motor skills, visual motor and visual perception skills, cognition, eye- hand coordination, spatial awareness and so much more!
For the younger kiddos: Crocodile Creek, Floss and Rock, and Djeco Puzzles.
For the older kiddos: Eeboo and Ravensburger Puzzles.
Board Games: board games are always a good idea and a great way to engage kids of all ages! Board games help children learn important social skills such as waiting, turn taking, sharing, how to cope with losing, making conversation, problem solving, compromising, collaborating and being flexible.
For younger kiddos: Duck Duck Dance, Stone Soup, Feed the Woozle, Count your Chickens, Hoot Owl, Pancake Monster, Hide N Squeak, Spot It, Charade, Hoot or Toot
For older kiddos: Some favorites are Catan, Gobblet Gobblers, Sleeping Queens, Zeus on the Loose, Tightrope, Slapzi, Topple
Arts and Crafts: can be a great way to spend time with your kiddos or encourage them to create independently of you. It is a great way for them to express themselves and can even be used as a coping strategy when upset or overstimulated.
Create a treasure box of basic arts and crafts: the box can contain various styles of paper, like tracing, watercolor, drawing, sketching and basic construction. Also include different forms of media, like markers, wax crayons, paints, do-a-dots, switcheroos markers, glitter clue, paint brushes.
Get a craft kit: Whether it be jewelry kits, collage crafts, puppet making, sand art, clay building, or coloring, they are bound to have fun either spending time with you or engaging solo.
Kim and her staff at Rock Paper Scissors are true experts when it comes to finding the right toy, game or activity for your kiddos. Before our next “snow storm”, be sure to visit and stock up to help keep your kids entertained and happy on the long days stuck inside!
