One of my friends asked me, how do you occupy four little children on these long, dark winter evenings?
I hardly know myself. I have a few tricks, but not as many as I wish. We live in town, which limits what our kids can do after dark.
(Actually, keeping them busy is not a problem. Keeping them from destroying the house in ten minutes flat is the problem!)
So here’s your chance to help bear the load of tired mothers. How do you occupy small children? How do you keep your house reasonably organized when it’s overflowing with little ones and all their mess? What are some fun things you can do with them that don’t require running to Walmart with a craft shopping list a yard long? Or blowing up the house with dangerous chemicals? (My boys would prefer the last one.) It could be as simple as favorite games (board games or otherwise), good books for reading aloud, and helpful resources from the internet.
Send an email to rosinaschmucker at yahoo.com, and if I get enough response, I’ll publish your ideas in a post within the next few weeks. I’ll put your first name with your blurb, unless you let me know otherwise.
I debated about doing a drawing to entice my readers to help with this. But every prize I thought of was either too practical or not practical enough. So maybe you will be nice and send ideas without bribery. Or maybe I will change my mind and send someone a $20 gift certificate to Olive Garden.
Ready? Let’s do it!
Update: Please read my post Children and Winter Evenings: Plan of Action to see all the great ideas!
arabah rejoice 
Pingback: How Do YOU Keep Your Children Busy on Winter Evenings? | Wildflowerdays
The first thing that came to my mind was Legos for the older ones. Some people make Lego building centers with drawers beneath it to store the extra Legos and build on top of the stand. A rolling Rubbermaid tote may work well for this where it could be rolled into a room or closet out of reach of the littlest ones when not in use and the Lego construction underway could still be kept intact. My brother allows his kids to take turns to pick out a game or project each night. This allows everyone to have a voice. I pulled out my old stamping and card supplies the other day when I had kids at my house and they had a blast. Hope you find some fun things to do.
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Wonderful! I especially like your ideas for storage! I’ll add your comments to my new post in a few weeks. Thank you!
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Mom always read to us in the evenings and we could color or make cards or snip paper or do latch hook rugs (now there’s a throwback for you!) or crochet or look at the National Geographic maps pasted to the wall while we listened. So many good books she read to us….
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