By RASHIDA DHOOMA
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Mom, I’m bored.
It’s the words every mother dreads. It wouldn’t be so bad if you could tell the kids to go fish off their favourite rock or to collect flowers for pressing. The problem is, it’s cold, it’s raining and the mood inside the cottage is starting to match the weather.
The kids have already played card games and snakes and ladders, polished off the remaining ice-cream and gone through two bags of popcorn.
There’s always the TV and video games, but perhaps you want to save that for later. What’s a mom to do?
Start a “collection box” for shells and other odds and ends from around the cottage to use on a rainy day.
Here are some things to do to prepare for indoor activities:
Collect flowers, press them between pages in a heavy book for about one to two weeks and use anytime to decorate picture frames and other crafts. (Cut flowers in half or remove some petals if they’re too big). You can also make your own stationery by gluing the flowers to the pages, cards and envelopes.
Creativity is the name of the game. Just ask Corry Ricci, whose husband Steve Zinanni devised his own version of “Survivor” when bad weather forced the family to stay indoors in their Balm Beach Cottage on Georgian Bay last summer.
Ricci, Zinanni and children Katie, 10 and Matt, eight, had to find items that had been hidden in various parts of the cottage within a specified amount of time. There were obstacles and challenges along the way, including a “gross-out challenge.”
Steve hid gummy worms among Oreo Cookie crumbs. The object of the game? To find the most number of gummy worms – using their mouths.
“Our faces were quite a sight,” laughs Ricci.
The family likes to play Crazy Eights and Hearts and board game favourites are Monopoly, Scrabble and Battleship.
“We sometimes rent a family movie that we can all watch together. Castaway with Tom Hanks proved to be quite a hit,” she adds.
Muskoka cottagers Liz and Carl Porritt and their two children used items collected during good weather to make crafts when confined indoors.
Evidence of crafts done by their children Shelly and Scott two decades ago still adorn the cottage on Three Mile Lake in Utterson (between Bracebridge and Huntsville).
There are Little People rock creations and a picture of an owl made out of pretzels glued to a piece of fabric by Shelley, who’s now a real estate agent. Shelley and Scott, a Toronto accountant, also made boats out of pieces of wood.
Here’s a selection of books that contain great ideas and activities for those indoor-bound days.
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The Kids Cottage Memory Book by Jane Drake and Ann Love, illustrated by Heather Collins (Kids Can Press, $19.95). Take a break from other indoor activities and get the kids to fill in special events that took place in previous weeks. There’s lots of room to write and draw. Chapters include home, friends, nature/weather, outdoor and indoor activities and celebrations. Complete a section on “wackiest projects”. Draw and write about your wildest creations, your never-ending projects or your amazing sandcastle (before it got washed away). You and the kids can pull out the book every season and reflect on the changes they’ve observed in nature and in themselves. |
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Squashing Flowers, Squeezing Leaves, A Nature Press & Book by the editors of Klutz. (Klutz, $32.00) It’s a book and nature press rolled into one. It contains full instructions for drying flowers and leaves, has its own fold-up press and a range of ideas for things to make with flowers and leaves. |
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The Kids Cottage Games Book by Jane Drake and Ann Love, illustrated by Heather Collins (Kids Can Press, $16.95) This general activity book has a section on indoor games. It includes card game instructions and details on how to make your own version of Pictionary or Charades. Some ideas under other sections are also suitable for indoor play. |
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My Very First Nature Craft Book illustrated by Anna Curti (Little Simon, $13.50) The book demonstrates how to make crafts using natural objects such as leaves, rocks, shells and nuts. Make rock animals, straw dolls using straw from neighbouring fields, leaf masks and shell mobiles. |
Do you have a fun, indoor family activity you’d like to share? Email me at rdhooma@rogers.com. A selection of your suggestions will be used in an upcoming article.
