15 of our Favorite Ideas to Keep Kids Under 10 Busy Inside on Ice Days
We’re prepping for some snow or ice days. That’s not typical for us and we’ll all be at home. And we know that kiddos get really excited about these days. Which means big energy, high expectations, and a lot of dysregulation. If you’re in the same boat and have kids under 10 yrs old to keep entertained, check out these ideas!
We’ve got 3 categories. 1) Science & experiment things that need some adult involvement. 2) Things you can do several days in a row. 3) Ideas of free things that you probably have around the house that can keep the kids entertained. Read on for ways to keep kids under 10 busy and entertained during those icy days inside.
5 Wintery Science Things to do to Keep Kids Under 10 Busy!
–Ice Escape: Freeze tiny toys in a container or ice cube tray inside the freezer. On a towel, drip water on and break apart the ice to help the tiny toys escape! Just be aware that if they use a little hammer and break apart the ice, little plastic things might also break. (We’ve broken some dino legs this way)
–Bubbling Ice: Grab an ice cube tray and fill it with baking soda and a little water. When they are frozen, you can drop them in cups or bowls with vinegar. The vinegar and baking soda form a bubbling chemical reaction. Play to Learn Preschool has a good post about a similar experiment.
–Giant Ice Marbles: Put a couple of drops of food coloring inside of a balloon and fill it up with water. (Warning that this can get splashy and messy) After they’ve frozen, open up the balloons, take out your new ice marbles. Place them outside of a window and watch how the sun impacts them and how long it takes them to melt.
–Salt Temperature Check & Paint: Salt makes ice colder, but it also melts the ice! The Space Gal has a great explanation for that here. You can test this out with ice, salt, and a meat thermometer. Another fun thing to do is to get a piece of paper in a container or tray. Put salt and snow, or ice, on it. Drop food coloring or water colors on top and watch them melt! After it dries, shake off the salt and you have a beautiful art print.
–Freeze Fishing: Ice fishing is a fascinating experiment. Place some water in a tray or cup. Put yarn on top of it, then cover it with salt. After a couple of minutes, you can lift the string out and check out how many ice cubes you caught! It might take a few tries, just like fishing.
5 activities you can do several days in a row to make snow days easier!
–Board Game Olympics: Especially when you’re working from home, taking a break every hour or two to play a 15 minute game with concentrated attention can make a huge difference. Keep a scoreboard (eg: 3 points for 1st place, 2 for second, 1 for third- and the person with the most points at the end of the week gets to decide where you go out to eat when you can leave the house again!)
–Movie Madness: Everyone gets to pick a movie. Watch those movies and everyone votes on their favorites. You can print bracket out and have everyone vote multiple times as well. Check out our movie reviews here for some ideas!
–Fort Mania: Build a fort, knock it down at the end of the day, and see if you can make it even bigger the next day!
–Downloading a New Game: This does not have to be expensive. If you have a device your kiddo can be on during the day and they’re under ten, chances are they will love something on the PBS kids games app. It’s free and has about a hundred different games they can choose from. Already have it? What about Kahn Academy or Drawing Games? Both free! New games can provide multiple days of entertainment.
–Family Olympics: Find 3-5 minute to win it games that you already have the supplies for. Play one game a day and see who emerges as the family champ. Or, hand out fun awards for everyone. (eg: Most amazing candy cane grabber. Best tissue box dancer.)
15 More Indoor Activities for Kids in Extreme North Texas Weather
5 FREE Things to Make Snow Days Easier and Keep Kids Under 10 Busy!
–Out of Sight: Putting a few older toys and some newer Christmas ones in a box or in the closet and pulling them out one at a time can be a fantastic distraction for littles.
–Sweep Away Boredom: Kids have really high expectations on snow days. So the probability of hearing “I’m bored” or “What’s next?” is about 8,000 times more likely. Scientifically speaking of course. Nothing gets rid of boredom faster than the suggestion of cleaning something. Either they find their own activity to do, or they actually help clean something. That’s what we call a win win win.
–Painting Ice: watercolors are fun to watch on ice. It quickly melts and you can keep painting. Don’t have water colors? Try food coloring or markers.
–Audiobooks and Open Ended Toys: get out the blocks or legos and pop on an audiobook or podcast that everyone can enjoy. Pre-k to 2nd try Wow in the World and 3rd and up try a chapter book. Most libraries have free audiobook apps.
–Scheduling Treats: Putting together a schedule helps my fam immensely. Picture schedule for youngers and a short written one for the olders. Reduces questions, anxiety, and also gives you all things to look forward to. (EG: 11- lunch 11:15- prep for snow play 11:30- play outside 12- hot chocolate and a movie 1:30- drawing)