Snow Day Fun: Playing "Home School"

We all know how to create one: Wear pajamas inside out. Keep a spoon under your pillow. Put ice cubes in the toilet. Spin around three times with your eyes closed and say, "Snow day, snow day, snow day."

But once that wish comes true, how do you keep kids entertained? Especially if it's too cold to actually go outside and play in the snow? (It's every parent's nightmare.)

We found out about the last snow day on the evening before, so I had a little time to plan and prepare. First, I asked my kids if they had any ideas. They had one; they wanted to play school. What kinds of activities did they want to do at our school? Of course, we had to recreate my first-grader's daily classroom schedule. In order.

ROCmomma's Tips for a Fun Snow-Day Home-School:

1. Assemble a supply bin with glue sticks, markers, safety scissors, crayons, and pencils
2. Gather materials for your first couple of activities
3. Print out & hang up the ROCmomma Circle Time Materials; print worksheets from links below

SNOW-DAY HOME-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES:

ACTIVITY 1: MORNING WORK
1. LEGO Challenge - We started on a creative note. The boys were each given a LEGO base plate, a marble, and a tub of LEGO bricks. The challenge was to create a marble maze, with one entrance and one exit for the marble. Once they finished building, they had even more fun guiding the marble through the maze!

2. Math problems - My first-grader wrote out four math problems for each of us to solve. (7+3= __, 7+1=__, 3+3=__, and 3+1=__) He wrote the problems three times so we each had our own worksheet, and then set them up around the table with a pencil for each of us. My little future teacher!

ACTIVITY 2: QUIET READING
Have some books handy in case one child is finished before the others.

ACTIVITY 3: CIRCLE TIME/MORNING MEETING
1. Calendar, weather - go over the days of the week, months of the year; fill in the date and weather
2. Month/season worksheets - try these free printable winter worksheets from Learning 4 Keeps

ACTIVITY 4: THE DAILY 5
There are five different activity stations; each person does one activity and will have the opportunity to do more later.

1. Computer Station: We set up the laptop so the kids could read/listen to the Pocoyo e-book "Baby Bird's Birthday Party" and play games on the HITN Early Learning Collaborative
2. Word work/writing: Word Detective worksheet (page 11 in the Freebie Word Work Activities from TeachersPayTeachers.com); Letter Grab Bag (pages 24-25 in the Freebie Word Work Activities)
3. Writing Journal - Provide some paper and pencils, and ask them to write (or draw, depending on the ages).
4. Read to someone
5. Read to self

The Daily 5,  Station 1: Playing Pocoyo games on the
Early Learning Collaborative web site

The Daily 5, Station 2: Word Detective worksheet

ACTIVITY 5: WORD FAMILIES
We wrote "___OT" on a piece of paper and the kids brainstormed "-ot" words while I wrote them down. Then we reviewed the list together. Finally, each child selected one word from our list and used it in a sentence.

ACTIVITY 6: THE DAILY 5
Station activities are the same as above; each child selects a station they have not yet completed.

ACTIVITY 7: BRAIN GYM
A well-deserved break for everyone! Choose a favorite song (You Tube, Pandora, or Songza are good options if you don't have a particular song in your music library) and have a mini dance party. We are big fans of Cha Cha Slide and Happy.

ACTIVITY 8: THE DAILY 5
Same as above.

ACTIVITY 9: MATH
1. Visit BedTimeMath.org together on the computer and complete a few problems together.
2. Math worksheets - try these free printables from TeachersPayTeachers.com

ACTIVITY 10: INDOOR RECESS
Be creative and get the kids moving:

• Use painter's tape to create a hop scotch board on the floor; use a bean bag or small stuffed toy as the marker.
• Play Simon Says.
• Play balloon volleyball.
• Play Freeze Dance.
• Set up empty water bottles in the hallway; roll a ball for indoor bowling.
• Play a physically active game on Xbox Kinect, Wii, etc.

ACTIVITY 11: LUNCH

ACTIVITY 12: STORY TIME

My boys love the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne. They snuggled together and we read "Afternoon on the Amazon" from cover to cover.

ACTIVITY 13: WRITING WORKSHOP
Write about your snow day (pre-school variation: draw a picture of your snow day).

ACTIVITY 14: ART
Make snowflake rubbings! Perfect for a snow day.

Materials needed: hot glue gun & glue sticks (OR yarn & craft glue - as per the original instructions on Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational), scraps of cardboard (an empty cereal box works well), construction paper, crayons

Instructions:
1. ADULTS ONLY: Use a glue gun to draw snowflakes on scraps of cardboard. (OR use the craft glue and yarn, per the original instructions)
2. When cool, instruct children to place construction paper on top of the snowflakes and use the crayons to create rubbings of the snowflakes. Children may then continue to decorate the page with additional drawings, etc.

ACTIVITY 15: SNACK TIME

ACTIVITY 16: SHOW AND TELL
Ask each child to select one thing from the house that is special. Sit together and take turns talking about the item and why it is special.

ACTIVITY 17: FAREWELL FRIENDS
Sit together and talk about what we learned today. If your kids have a goodbye song from school, ask them to teach it to you.

I was actually shocked that my kids completed ALL of these activities! We made the list the night before, and I prepared for all of them, but figured we would skip a few here and there. Oh no. They kept me on task and made sure we followed the list. In fact, my six-year-old kept tabs on the clock as well. School is over at 3:00, so we were not allowed to be finished until 3:00.

This was such a fun day for the three of us, and I'm glad we did it. If you're looking to fill an entire day with lots of boredom-busting fun (and a little learning, too!), then try out these snow day home-school activities. Be sure to Post a Comment and let us know which one your kids liked best! As always, thanks for reading.

Easter Games for Kids

Here in Rochester - and most of the northeast - we will not be having an outdoor egg hunt on Easter. The snow is melting, but the ground is soggier than your socks after some puddle jumping.

In preparation for our indoor festivities, my five-year-old helped me put together some fun, kid-tested, and kid-approved Easter games. We hope you find them helpful in planning your Easter festivities.

1. Egg Hunt
Players go on a scavenger hunt to find eggs, eggs, and more eggs!

Materials needed:

• plastic eggs
• small age-appropriate prizes or treats to place in the eggs (optional)
• baskets or containers for each player

To keep the hunt fair for all ages, one egg-hunt method is to hide different color eggs for each player. When the hunt begins, players must only find their own color eggs and put them in their basket; they leave the other color eggs alone.

Another method is a group egg hunt. Hide clues in the eggs - instead of or in addition to the treats, with the final clue leading them to their Easter baskets. Be sure to have one clue ready to direct them to the first egg.

Or, you could go the more traditional route of hiding a ton of eggs and letting the kids go crazy.

2. Egg Tac Toe 
Toss plastic eggs and try to get them into 3 cups in a row

Materials needed:

• 1 empty box
• 9 plastic cups
• glue gun, glue dots, or craft glue
• green construction paper
• scissors

Use glue to adhere cups into the empty box.

Cut slits into green paper to make grass; glue onto outer sides of box, overlapping pieces of paper as necessary.

Player tosses plastic eggs and tries to get them into three cups in a row. Depending on ages of children playing, you can limit the number of eggs they toss. For younger kids, let them keep going until they get it...and everyone is a winner.

3. Bocce Eggs
Roll plastic eggs and try to get your egg closest to the center target.

Materials needed:

• painter's tape
• plastic eggs (a different color per player)

Use painter's tape to create your target on the floor. Each player gets 3 plastic eggs of the same color (a different color for each player). Players take turns rolling one egg at a time, trying to get closest to the center. The egg closest to the center wins. Variation: Assign each area of the target a different number of points; add up each player's points to determine the winner.

4. Egg Race
Players use a straw to blow their plastic egg from the starting line to the finish line.

Materials needed:

• plastic straw for each player
• plastic egg for each player
• painter's tape

Use painter's tape to mark the starting and finish lines. Give each player a straw and a plastic egg. Say, "Ready, set, go," to start the race. Players use their straw to blow their egg across the finish line.

5. Egg-on-a-Spoon Race
Players try to be the first one to cross the finish line, without letting their egg fall off the spoon.

Materials needed:

• painter's tape
• spoon for each player
• plastic egg for each player

Mark a start and finish line on the floor with painter's tape, or use the same set up as the Egg Race, above. Each player puts a plastic egg on his or her spoon and then stands on the starting line. Say, "Ready, set, go," to start the race. Players walk to the finish line; if an egg falls off the spoon, the player picks up the egg and goes back to the starting line to try again.

6. Bunny Hop Relay

Players hop to a basket with an egg under their chin, and drop the egg in to fill the basket.

Materials needed:

• 2 baskets per team
• plastic eggs
• bunny ears (optional)

Divide players into two teams (for younger kids or a small group, you may want to just play together on one team...more of a team-building game rather than a competitive game). Place a basket full of plastic eggs near the players; place an empty basket on the other side of the room. Say, "Ready, set, go," to begin the game. Players take turns placing an egg under their chin, hopping with it to the empty basket, and dropping the egg into the basket. That player hops back, and the next player goes. In a competitive version, the game ends when one team fills their basket. In a team-building version, the game is over when all the eggs are in the second basket.

7. Easter Moves

Players show off their moves, and shake out their sillies by picking two cards and following the instructions.

Materials needed:

• 2 baskets
• 2 colors of construction paper, 2 sheets each
• scissors
• marker
• Easter-themed stickers

Cut each sheet of paper into roughly 2.5" x 2.5" squares. On one color, write a number from one through six on each square. There will be multiple copies of the same number. On the other color, use the Easter-themed stickers to put an image on each square; we used bunnies, chicks, eggs, and flowers. Fold the squares and place them in a basket, keeping the colors separate. 

Each player selects one card from each basket and follows the instructions. In our game, the stickers represent the following:

• Bunny sticker = hop
• Chick sticker = flap your wings and say, "Tweet!"
• Egg sticker = roll on the floor (or a somersault)
• Flower = do a crazy shake

For example, if a player picks a number "2" card and a "Bunny" card, he or she must hop like a bunny two times. Continue until all of the cards have been used.

8. Bunny
This game is similar to Cootie, except players are building an Easter bunny instead of a bug.

Materials needed:

• white card stock (6-7 sheets)
• construction paper: pink, black, and assorted colors for the bows
• scissors
• pencil
• black marker
• 1 glue stick per player
• 1 white paper plate per player
• 1 die
• markers or crayons for each player

Use the card stock, construction paper, pencil, marker, and scissors to make features for the Bunnies: eyes, noses, cheeks, mouths with tongues/teeth, ears, and bows. This was my free-hand guide:

To play, each player will need a paper plate and a glue stick. Everyone takes turns rolling the die and selecting a feature for their bunny based on the number rolled:

1. Eyes
2. Nose
3. Cheeks
4. Mouth
5. Ears
6. Bow

As each feature is acquired, the player glues that piece onto their plate to create a Bunny face. Continue playing until everyone completes his or her Bunny. Provide crayons or markers at the end to add whiskers or other details.

9. Easter BINGO

Use jelly beans as Bingo markers and try to get five in a row.

Materials needed:

• Easter-themed Bingo cards and calling cards (free download)
• jelly beans for each player

Each player gets a Bingo card and some jelly beans; everyone places a jelly bean on Free Space. Use the calling cards to call out an object and players place a jelly bean on the matching square on their own card. First player to get five in a row wins (and all players get to eat their Bingo markers at the end). 

10. Pin the Nose on the Easter Bunny

Just like Pin the Tail on the Donkey!

Materials needed:

• Easter Bunny face (hand-made or purchased decoration)
• pink construction paper
• scissors
• masking tape
• blindfold

Use the pink paper and scissors to cut enough noses for each player; place a roll of masking tape on the back of each nose. Hang the Easter Bunny face low enough that the players can reach easily. Players take turns getting blindfolded (optional for younger players), spun around, and then trying to place the nose on the Bunny - as close to the real nose as possible.

Whether you have a winner for each game, or make everyone a winner for participating, we hope these games provide tons of entertainment and laughs at your Easter celebration. As always, thanks for reading.

#1 Sane-Parent Tip: Join the Y

I can't speak for all YMCA branches in the country, but if you have pre-school or school-age kids in the Rochester area, you must join the Y. The exercise classes, the child watch room, and the programs will make the monthly fee well worth it. We belong to the Southeast Branch but we've also utilized the facilities at Eastside as well as Camp Arrowhead.

What's In It For Mom & Dad? (or Mom & Mom, or Dad & Dad, or Baby Momma & Baby Daddy...)

With the warm weather finally here, many of us are dreading squeezing back into last year's shorts and swim suits. The Y can help! Around this time last year, I lost 16 post-postpartum pounds at the Y after I started going to step aerobics on Tuesdays and kickboxing on Thursdays. That was enough to finally start dropping the baby weight. This year I'm still going to step aerobics every week, but due to a scheduling conflict I replaced kickboxing with Body Combat and added a session on the treadmill once a week. Now I'm almost at my pre-first-baby weight.

There are so many great classes offered at all hours. If you prefer a solo routine, the indoor pool and the wellness center (treadmills, elliptical machines, stationary bikes, etc.) are excellent. Plus, the child watch and infant rooms are available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays at the Southeast Branch; you might want to check the web site of your local facility for details. The child care service is included with family membership, and can be utilized for two hours per day per child. The staff members are wonderful with children; they will soothe the criers, read stories, play games, and even initiate sing-alongs to keep everyone happy. Your child(ren) will be in great hands while you workout.

In addition to your new sexy body, you can also gain a little me-time beyond your workouts. Our branch offers a Drop & Shop program where those with a family membership can reserve a time to drop off their kids at child watch and leave the facility for an hourly fee. The current rate is $7 per hour per child. This has made it so much easier for me to schedule appointments for me - doctor, dentist, hair cut, etc. When I was working, my oldest son attended child care and so I made those appointments for my lunch hour and didn't have to worry about him. When I became a stay-at-home mom, it was a struggle to schedule things for myself before I discovered the wonderful joy of Drop & Shop. I keep meaning to reserve a Drop & Shop time so I can actually shop or do something fun...but that's another story.

What's In It For the Kids?

The Y definitely fosters the development of social skills. When I first started bringing my youngest son to the child watch room, he was eight weeks old and didn't fuss. Several months later, he began crying every time I left him. It broke my heart, but I'd peek in the window after a few minutes to see him smiling and crawling toward some toys. Little stinker! Now he's two and I refer to him as the Mayor of Child Watch. He knows the names of the other regulars, he knows the names of the staff members, he knows which toy belong to which child. When we walk into the building, staff will greet him by name and he usually knows who they are as well. It cracks me up.

My four-year-old attends pre-school at the Y three days a week and he loves it. His teachers are wonderful; he gets so excited to see them each school day. They are so patient and have an endless supply of energy and creativity. This week he happens to be the VIP - the line leader in the hall, first to do activities, and the teachers will read to the class a book all about him that we filled out. The classes have a swim lesson one day a week, plus play time in the gym and in the Adventure Center so there's plenty of activity in addition to learning.

On nice days, we stay at the Y after school to play outside. It's like a social event for the kids and the parents. There is a playground in the back, but most of the time my boys want to play on the little slide, balance beams, and hop-scotch stones out front because that's where the most children are playing. Or we'll head to the side of the building where there are two trees that are perfect for climbing, and that also attract a crowd of kids. I pretty much have to bribe them to get them to leave, or wait until their little tummies are grumbling for lunch.

When it's rainy, snowy, or too hot to play outside, we head to the Adventure Center at the Y. It's basically a padded room where the kids can literally bounce off the walls. There are over-sized blocks to make towers and forts, there are slides, and even a tunnel. We go there to "get the sillies out" before dinner time.

During the summer, we utilize the outdoor pool and spray ground at Camp Arrowhead. They're open in the late afternoon during the week and a fellow ROCmomma had a great idea - she brings her two kids on Friday afternoons, and her husband picks up a pizza after work and meets them there to eat dinner and play.

Yes, it's a terrible photo but I couldn't bring myself to publicly post my husband or me in a swim suit. Above is the spray ground; the rainbow in the background has water showering down from each arc, and my husband is carrying our son through a spray coming up from the ground. There are all kinds of structures that get you soaked, but zero depth so you don't have to worry about little ones in a pool. Personally, I prefer spray grounds to pools any day of the summer.

What's In It For the Family?

The programming at the Y rocks. There are Family Fun Fridays with pizza for $1 per slice, free healthy snacks, crafts to make, family swim time in the pool, the Adventure Center is open, and a different activity in the gym every week. This month the activities have been rollerskating, fast fitness stations, family Zumba, and there's still movie night and an Easter egg hunt to come.

In December there is a candy cane hunt and in the Spring there is an Easter egg hunt at Camp Arrowhead. Both start with a pancake breakfast, followed by some crafts and indoor activities (December) or outdoor activities such as a bounce house (Spring). Then there is the hunt in the woods. We've been to both and had so much fun! Below is last year's candy cane hunt, followed by the Easter egg hunt (even my brother and his girlfriend joined the festivities). We'll be heading out for some pancakes and Easter eggs again on March 31st at Camp Arrowhead.

So if you live in the Rochester area, you have kids, and you want a little more sanity, my number one tip is: join the Y.

Thanks for reading! Please utilize the comments section - what do you like best about the Y? What's your #1 tip for staying sane? What do you do to be a fit & healthy ROCmomma or ROCpoppa?...