This winter has been one for the record books. Out in the West we got our blast out of the way early — November and December were among the snowiest on record. While in the East and Midwest, January and early Feb were major. And while an occasional snow day is fun, when they pile up, kids get a little rowdy. I just read about this book that might help you keep cabin fever at bay. It’s from gardening and outdoor lifestyle expert Rebecca P. Cohen. She put her own family to the test taking them outside every day for a whole year and came up with a bunch of fun outdoor activities in her book Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids.
Here are two that I can’t wait to try out with my kids:
Create Art and Architecture with Ice
Fill ice cube trays with water and set them outside to freeze overnight. Have your kids build a city outside with the ice bricks (or build the city inside, if it’s too cold out). You can also freeze interesting shapes from mugs, bowls, and pans-anything that holds water!
Search for Animal Tracks
Take a walk outside-in the park, the yard, or the woods-and see what kinds of tracks you can find. Sometimes the tracks you find may be your own. How can you tell? Compare your footprints to those you may find on a trail or a path. Are there other signs that animals are around? A bird’s nest? A hole at the bottom of a tree? Animal scat? Broken nut shells?
Do you like to be outside in the cold weather? Do your kids? What are your favorite family-fun snow-filled activities?
Written by Dana Sullivan Kilroy
Vera Sweeney is a mom of two beautiful children and the founder of 
at 12:50 pm
This looks great! I have already put ice cube trays on the grocery list so we can try that this week and I ordered the book from Amazon. Thanks, Vera.