Free things to do on snow days and in a bad economy

March 3, 11:47 AMDC Grandparenting ExaminerNancie Meng

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Be prepared for snow days inside with the grandchildren

Whether your grandchildren live with you, you are the back-up childcare provider when schools are closed, or weather gets bad during a weekend visit, you should be prepared. Fill your arsenal with free and easy to implement ideas for indoor fun with which to keep grandkids busy and to repel an army of little voices shouting "I'm bored."  It's a simple concept: Occupy them or they occupy you.

Our mothers and grandmothers excelled at keeping us busy on rainy days, snow days, and other days when they were trapped... uh, I mean... lucky enough to enjoy at-home-time with us.  If you think back you probably remember games, books, crafts and all sorts of free and imaginative activities they shared with us, which were not only fun, but educational.

The good folks at grandparenting.com  provide 100 Free things to do with your grandkids as an easy download.  There are enough activities in this publication to keep kids busy without your having to stock up on supplies. 

For more ideas, check out the following sites:

• FamilyEducation.com: This site is a treasure trove of ideas for the most popular activities for toddlers to K12.
• HowStuffWorks.com:  Don't miss their Indoor Games for Kids or Indoor Crafts for Kids articles.
• Disney's FamilyFun.com: You might occupy the kids all day just by having them search this site for craft ideas, games, and printable activities.

Though the delightful Miss D (my granddaughter) is only a toddler, her aunts and I have already begun to supply our indoor activity arsenal).  We have:

• A box of old clothes for dress-up
• A box of favorite books that her mom and her aunts loved when they were young
• A box filled with child-sized scissors, crayons, markers, glue, and tape

Wow, random game idea:  Send your kid over to my house today.  Any child could be occupied for days in my office by handing her a pair of scissors and having her play CIA spy by shredding all the "top scret paper" on the floor.

If you think about it, you already have everything you need to spend quality indoor time with your grandchildren,

• Your full attention
• Your lap
• Hugs
• Family stories to share
• Endless love

but, it never hurts to have backup.

Share your ideas for free things to do with grandkids by posting a comment.

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