NCM Presents Tips to Cure Winter Blues

The National Children’s Museum (NCM) is providing families with fun and educational ideas and activities to challenge winter boredom during the chilly season.

“Most families think of winter as a time for being trapped indoors,” said Linda Coulombe, Manager of Science Programs at the National Children’s Museum. “However, without the temptations of long summer days and swimming pools, the cold months can be a fabulous time for jumpstarting your child’s creativity and imagination. Whether they are creating their own snowflake experiment or thinking of fun ways to help the community, the winter months can be a great time to let imaginations run wild.”

Ready to have some winter-time fun? Coulombe recommends the following tips to engage kids during winter months.

Activities for Studying Snow:

Winter is almost here and that often means snow and ice. Some of us are familiar with snow, but how much do we really know about it? Here are some fun activities that will help your family look at snow differently!

• Examine snowflakes: Put a sheet of black construction paper in the freezer for an hour and then go outside and catch some snowflakes. Examine the snowflakes with a magnifying glass and notice how each one is unique! You can even draw the snowflakes on the black paper with white chalk.
• Create salt crystal snowflake pictures: Add several teaspoons of salt to a cup of boiling water. After salt has dissolved and there are salt crystals at the bottom of the cup, use the salt solution to paint designs onto a heavy black cardstock. Let dry overnight.
• Make paper snowflakes: Fold a square piece of white paper diagonally in half, so it looks like a triangle. Now, fold the triangle in half again (you should have a smaller triangle). Fold it in half one more time and cut a pattern along each of the three sides. Unfold and you have a snowflake!
• Enjoy outside snow fun: Play a game of snowball basketball or try making colorful designs in the snow with spray bottles of colored water.

Activities for Helping Others:

Helping others during the holiday season is a great way to teach the importance of community service. Here are a few compassionate crafts and ideas that the whole family can do from home.

• Winter-inspired cards: Create greeting cards or artwork to bring to a local children’s hospital.
• Help animal shelters: Fashion catnip toys or small blankets with felt and yarn for pet shelters.
• Tasty treats: Bake cookies in seasonal shapes to donate to a nearby nursing home.
• Lend a hand: Help an elderly neighbor by shoveling snow or picking up the newspaper from the sidewalk when it’s icy.
• Blossoms in winter: Raise some bulbs inside and bring them to a neighbor when they bloom.