Beating the New Year’s Blues: Tips on Turning the Long, Cold Winter into Fabulous Family Fun

With the December holidays now a dim memory and the long winter stretched out before us, we Moms know that the January Blues continue to hover on the horizon. From parents worn out from holiday travel and celebrations to toddlers dealing with cabin-fever to teens stressed about the second-half of the school year, January can result in tumultuous times for families.

But with a little thought and creativity, we can kick-start the New Year with excursions, activities, and strategies that can leave the January Blues in the cold. Read on for some of my favorite tips:

Ignore the Weather and Head Outdoors

• Plan a winter scavenger hunt – look for evergreen trees, frozen streams, and other signs of winter. Chat about your findings when you get home over mugs of steaming cocoa.
• Help your child mix water and a few drops of food coloring into an assortment of spray bottles and brighten up a gray winter day by spraying colorful patterns and rainbows on the snow.
•  Plan a fun afternoon in the snow with your toddler using easy-to-handle items from around the house. Make a snow shovel with a dustpan, and use cookie cutters, cups, plastic spoons, or spatulas as toys.
• Make snowballs and freeze them in aluminum foil or freezer bags. Bring them back out in the heat of summer to remember the winter season.
• Bring snow indoors for your child to play with in the kitchen or bathroom sink.
• Make a “snowy” miniature golf course by burying a few plastic cups level with the snow. Hit colored balls across the snow with a stick or bat and see who can get a hole in one!

When the Weather Just Won’t Allow Outdoor Play, Get Creative with Indoor Activities
Younger Kids:

• Save junk mail and play Post Office – sort by color, size, and family member name.
• Have a parade – make costumes from old clothes, towels, and paper bags. Pick up a few pots and pans for the marching band section.
• When fulfilling those “clean out the closet” New Year’s resolutions, put aside old shoes, handbags, formal dresses, boots, and wraps for your child to play dress up.
• Have an indoor picnic – complete with blanket, basket, and lemonade.
• Get creative with art projects. Collect rocks from the yard and paint them crazy colors or decorate with glitter.
• Hang butcher or craft paper on the walls and encourage your child to draw or paint a mural. Keep Wet Ones® Antibacterial Wipes nearby to wipe your kids’ hands before they move onto the next messy activity.

Older Kids:

• Interview grandma and grandpa and write, as well as illustrate, a family tree. Decorate it with pictures cut out from magazines that depict items from their heyday.
• Help your child write a letter to the president or a favorite author.
• Find a topic of recent interest to your child – anything from tigers to a favorite soccer player – and help him do Internet research on it.
• Research how to grow indoor fruit plants and start your own indoor garden with fun fruits like pineapples and avocados.

Start the Second-Half of the School Year Off Right – Refresh Backpacks and School Supplies

• Empty out your kids’ backpacks and give them a good wipe-down. Toss out old snacks, crumbled paper, misshapen art projects, and old supplies.
• Since kids return to school at the height of Cold & Flu Season, make sure your child’s backpack contains a fresh supply of tissues.
• Remind your kids to clean their hands frequently and pack their backpacks with Wet Ones® Antibacterial Wipes in either singles or travel packs. And don’t forget to replenish Wet Ones® Wipes into older kids’ lockers or your daughter’s indoor soccer bag or music case at the same time.
• If your child’s backpack seems a little tired, help kids jazz it up with collectible keychains, sports stickers, colorful fabric, or decorative ribbons.
• Consider updating frayed school folders or beat-up notebooks with a fresh supply. And a new set of markers or colorful pencils can help inspire kids for the New Year.

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Disclosure: Wet Ones® Antibacterial Hand Wipes is a client of Mom Central Consulting, and Stacy DeBroff is serving as a Wet Ones spokesperson.