Another snow day: Staying sane and having fun with your children

You got the email from OPM. Your child found their school on the School Closure list. We’ve seen most activities listed on our Weekday Adventures cancelled, so we come to you with some alternatives.

Watch:

We aren’t advocates of having our children sit in front of the TV typically but snow days can call for a bit of relaxation in between sledding and baking. We’ve highlighted a few movies that your child will be excited to watch whether you have Netflix or On Demand.

Netflix:
Dr. Seuss’ Lorax
Car Toons: Mater’s Tall Tales
Disney Hercules
Disney Mulan
Thomas and Friends

On Demand:
Frozen: Buy from$21.99
Planes: Buy from $16.99
Free Birds: Rent from $4.99

PBS:
Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday all-week long

Eat:

What’s a snow day with no treats? In our house we call these “Power Bars”. We do NOT add sprinkles to ours like the photo.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions:

In a saucepan heat the coconut oil, honey, and peanut butter until melted and creamy. Stir in the vanilla. Pour over the oats in a large bowl. Stir until thoroughly coated. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Stir in the mini chocolate chips and sprinkles. Take Tablespoons of oats in your hand and press very firmly until it forms a ball shape. Set on a piece of wax paper and let set. Makes 20 granola bites. **You can also press the mixture firmly into a greased 8×8 pan, then cut into 20 even squares. From there you can either eat them square or press into the ball shape.

Snowmen on a Stick:

You most likely have all of these ingredients at your house and won’t need to search empty shelves at the store in order to make these weather appropriate treats. We love the idea of these because your child can absolutely help make these!

Ingredients:

Bananas
Grapes
Carrot
Apple
Bamboo skewers/Toothpick
Mini chocolate chips
Pretzel sticks

Instructions:

For each snowman, you will need three thick slices of banana, a grape, a sliver of carrot, and a triangular piece of apple. (Tip: Poke a hole in the apple piece with a bamboo skewer first to make assembly easier.)

Have your kids slide the fruit onto the skewer, then use the carrot slivers for noses, mini chocolate chips for eyes and buttons, and pretzel sticks for arms.

Move around:
Your weekly yoga class is cancelled, again….The gym is closed, again….here’s a fun family friendly yoga session you can do with your child.

Make:

It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day and quite frankly we are tired of making snowmen and snowflake crafts. Have wine corks you’ve been saving for some reason? Take 3 together and have your child dip them in paint and make shamrocks. Dip their hand print in paint and make a cute leprechaun.

Do:

Sled! Besides the sledding hills we listed in a previous snow day post, we’ve come up with a few more.

Washington Waldorf School- 4800 Sangamore Rd, Bethesda, MD
Takoma Park Middle School – 7611 Piney Branch Rd. Silver Spring, MD
Westgate Park- 7550 Magarity Rd. McLean, VA
Book Hill Park- 1693 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20007
Wheaton Regional Park- 9500 Brunett Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20901
George Washington Masonic Memorial- 101 Callahan Dr, Alexandria, VA
Fort Reno Park- 3800 Donaldson Pl NW, Washington, DC 20018

Lastly on your snow day agenda, while your kiddos are sleeping, you can think of warmer weather and sign your child(ren) up for Spring Break and Summer Camp.