Indoor Play - Shaving Paint

The gross cold bug that's been going around has made its way to our household. Actually, it's more like it moved in here around Christmas and decided to stay a while. I've been sick for almost two weeks now and finally went to the doctor yesterday and I officially have a sinus infection and a mild ear infection. Yuck. I'm the last of us to get truly sick this season. Every single one of us have been prescribed antibiotics in 2017. This fact is, to quote my dear husband, "Crazy. And gross."

BUT

I am all about silver linings and I have two for this bout of ick.

1) I hate being sick but love sick days. And I'm taking one right now. After filling up my entire work trash can with tissues (so gross) and seeing the doctor, I decided it was time to take one full day of rest. So here I am, in my quiet house. Resting. And hopefully healing. (Antibiotics, werk!)

2) This sick day has given me time to update the blog with all of the indoor fun we've been having.

So without further ado, I give you shaving paint.

Here's what you do:

1. Gather materials. You'll need:

• Shaving cream
• 2 colors of paint
• A large zip top bag
• Masking tape
• Postage tape

2. Squirt two different colors of paint into the corners of the bag, one color on each side.
3. Squirt the shaving cream into the bag.
4. Seal the bag.
5. Tape the top for an extra secure close - I used masking tape followed by postage tape but duct tape would work too.
6. Let your kids go to town.

This activity allows kids to experiment with color mixing and completely eliminates the risk of getting paint everywhere. No mess, no problem.

This is what we started with. One bag for each kid.

And this is what they did with them.

indoor play - sticker tracing

Here in Michigan, our winters can stretch for months, sometimes from November to March, sometimes even into April. We've had a fairly mild winter so far, including a glorious 60 degree day last weekend but it's very possible that that day was the last time we'll get out of the 30's for the next month.

Our weather doesn't allow for regular or predictable outdoor play and, let's admit it, I'm not super enthusiastic about playing in the snow. Or being cold. This means I've been spending time on Pinterest lately looking for indoor play ideas and trying them out with the kids.

We've been having so much fun trying these new activities out and I'll be sharing them all here on the blog over the next week or so. I hope they inspire you and your family to play in new ways this winter.

First up... Sticker Tracing!

winter walk

Today we went on a snowshoeing hiking adventure. Due to warmer than average conditions, our planned snowshoeing and sledding adventure turned into a lovely winter hike. No one seemed to mind.

sledding video

Since everyone seemed to enjoy the sledding photos so much, I thought I'd share a video of Elia's first solo run down the hill. Small but mighty both. Enjoy!

zipping down the sledding hill

On Sunday, Todd tried to convince me to layer on multiple pairs of pants and socks and put on my winter boots so we could go on a family sledding adventure.  After he promised me hot chocolate afterwards, I obliged.

We headed out to a nearby elementary school that has a perfect hill for pint-sized kiddos.

Seeing Elia's face as she zipped down the hill was worth the bundling.

Our brave girl even went down the hill by herself.  (This was her father's idea.)

And I even did a run with her. Turns out I'm not photogenic when I sled so this is all the documentation of that we'll be sharing.

Elia has always loved the wind in her face and since she didn't seem to mind the cold, I'm sure that this won't be our last sledding adventure this winter.

How are you keeping your kids busy and active this winter?