Tips for Surviving the Winter with an Active Toddler

Winter can be tough for toddlers and moms. I can imagine stay at home moms go even more stir crazy but even as a working mom, I have to stay busy and more importantly keep Mckai busy so that we avoid as many tantrums and messes as possible. Here is a list of things we've been enjoying this winter and a few we've yet to try out. If you have any more suggestions, I'd love to hear them! It seems winter is just now coming to Utah so it may be awhile before spring actually gets here. :)

1. Let your little one help you cook dinner or bake cookies. Watch them cook in the oven, and then enjoy!

2. Go play at coconut cove (or any indoor play place! In California, we loved Wacky Tacky!). For only $5, it is big! Mckai loves the ball area and I'd have to say that the only downside is that it's hard to sit and just chat with mom friends, I felt like I still had to follow Mckai around.

3. Thanksgiving point - we finally got a pass and it has been the best! The curiosity museum, dinosaur museum and if it's >50 degrees and sunny, the farm! If you're not in Utah, any children's museum is perfect! We loved the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia when we were living there.

4. Go to the dollar section at target and pick up fun, easy crafts! Mckai's favorites have always been the window stickers but we've tried quite a few. Bonus: walking around target for as long as you want!!

5. Visit a local museum (the natural history museum in salt lake is amazing! and we've been meaning to check out the bean museum at BYU.)

6. Go get lunch at chick-fil-a, del taco, arctic circle or any fast food restaurant with a play place! No shame, we live at these places when Tristan is out of town.

7. Go to the library! They often have an area dedicated to kids, the one in Park City had a whole magnetic cave with lots of letters and numbers, stuffed animals, pet hamsters and of course so many books! We also love to go to story time. Even if you can't make it to the library, reading books takes up lots of time and it is so important!

8. Go get ice cream! You can go to arctic circle for courtesy cones but my personal favorite is something more gourmet :)

9.  Go swimming at an indoor pool. We've been meaning to do this all winter and we finally did last week. It was amazing pretending that it was summer for a day! Next on the list is to schedule swim lessons.

10. Go shopping at the mall for yourself, then finish the afternoon letting the kids run in the play area. (if your closest mall doesn't have a play area, I promise it's worth a little drive! :)

11. Take long baths. There are so many way to make this exciting for the little ones. We bought bath crayons and paint, that made Mckai happy for over a week of baths! Add bubbles. Bring the legos into the bathtub. No joke, some days Mckai will stay in the bathtub for over an hour and when I finally drag him out, he still doesn't want to get out!

12. Take advantage of the sunny and warm days! We've had a super mild winter this year with lots of spring like days so we've made sure to head to the park or go on walks as much as possible!

13. Take advantage of the snow. I know I'm pretty alone in this but I love the snow. So when it snows we have to take advantage! Bundle up and go sledding. Build a snowman. Have a snowball fight. Go snowshoeing.

14. Go to a movie. I haven't tried this one yet but at 2 and a half years old I think Mckai would love it. Popcorn and snacks and a show, what more could he want? :)

15. Play dates. What is it about someone else's house and someone else's toys that entertain for days? We went to my sister's house the day after Valentine's Day and I didn't hear from Mckai the entire time we were there. Bonus: they get social interaction with other kids and you get to spend time with your good friends or even just have adult interaction!

16. Put them in a mommy/me class or go to open gym hour at a local gym. I haven't gotten to this one yet but I've been meaning to. One of the biggest reasons I haven't yet is money, but I just had a friend tell me about a mommy/me open gym at Arete Gymnastics on Fridays from 11-12 pm and it's only $3/child.