by Olivia Emisar

Created on: November 12, 2009   Last Updated: February 21, 2011

Our home is our castle and castles can be a lot of fun. Winter activities indoors require a bit of imagination and creativity that takes into account the age and abilities of all family members

There are several things we can do at home as a family to have fun, be creative, learn and give or ourselves to others.

* Toddlers and Young Children

Create a fort in the living room made from couch pillows and old sheets and pretend to be in the wilderness camping. Tell stories around a pretend campfire made of Legos. Make shadow puppets using a flashlight.  Children that still take mid-day naps will be eager to do so in their cozy living room tent.

* Engage Creativity

If pre-teens and teenagers have a creative side, collaborating in creating family albums not only brings back good memories of years past but invites conversations about feelings and thoughts they would not express to their parents otherwise.  Allow them to create collages, special pages depicting birthdays or family vacations.  Cut-outs made of construction paper, decorating with glitter, and allowing them to express themselves creatively while chatting away can not only be fun but a wealth of information that has the potential to delight and surprise at the same time.

* Games

Board games have always been a staple of family fun activities.  It may seem silly, but even a teenager would get a kick out of playing one game of Chutes and Ladders with a younger sibling.  Board games become less repetitious when old games are alternated with new, or seldom played, games.  Some popular games are: Jenga, Chutes & Ladders, Monopoly, Mouse Trap, Uno, Chess, Parcheese, Life and Deal or No Deal.

Playing board games is a great way to reinforce values, math skills, collaboration and critical thinking.

* Exercise

Exercise can be fun and a Wii console can provide hours of competitive entertainment.    A lot of the games will accommodate four players at a time and the variety of tennis, swimming, yoga, balancing, running in place and stretching will keep boredom and pounds at bay. 

* Couch Potato

Everyone is entitled to a day of doing as little as possible while being entertained; a family movie marathon with a bowl of popcorn can be a lot of fun in a winter day.  Super Hero action movies, comedies and fantasy themes are good choices for the entire family.

* Give to others

Enough construction paper in various colors, tissue paper, child safety scissors, glue and

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