Five DIY activities to do with your kids this winter

Winter can be a difficult and expensive time to find things to do with your kids. DIY projects are a great way to entertain your kids on a budget when it’s too cold outside to play, or the little ones are bored. Try one of these five activities for you and your kids this winter:

Create your own hallway lazer maze: It’s often hard to find activities to get kids to be active inside the house - this one is extremely easy and will have your kids feeling like spies. Give your kids a roll of crepe paper and some masking tape and let them go crazy designing mazes in the hallway and working their way through them. Try letting them design the mazes themselves, or design it yourself to make it a bit more challenging for them.

Cooking: Choose a meal or dessert that your kids can make with minimal to no supervision. They might really enjoy the freedom in the kitchen, and if nothing else they'll get some built-in education in following step-by-step baking instructions and figuring out measurements. For a fun winter theme, try making these Chocolate Pear Penguins that are easy enough for little ones to make.

Play a game of balloon ping pong: All you do is staple some large paddle pop sticks to paper plates for the paddles and then let them play ping pong with the balloon! This is a great game for kids of all ages and has no mess or clean up required.

Make a miniature indoor snowman: Since we can’t build snowmen out of real snow here in Australia, we have to improvise a bit. With a couple of boxes of corn starch and some shaving cream, you can make adorable miniature snowmen from the comfort of your living room. Find the full instructions here.

Create window art: Another great craft idea that’s simple with endless possibilities. They just involve transparent contact paper, construction paper, and pieces of tissue paper. Trim shapes, letters, and numbers as learning tools for younger children, and let the older kids express their creativity with more complex designs, such as stained glass, or winter themed designs. Get the full instructions here.