Cures for Cabin Fever (page 3)

As the days get shorter and winter weather takes a turn for the worse, children spend more time indoors. Without fresh air and opportunities for vigorous outdoor play, kids can get that cooped-up, bored, restless feeling we call "cabin fever." Stuck indoors, too many children spend long hours watching television or playing video games, neither of which help them release excess energy or use their time creatively. Here are some ideas for reducing cabin fever and curing the "I'm bored. There's nothing to do," blues.

1. Provide opportunities for vigorous physical activity.

Bundle up children for cold weather and let them play outside for short periods of time. When that isn't possible, allow them to play actively indoors. Parents and children can dance or practice aerobics together. Parents may designate a space in the house where it is ok to wrestle and roughhouse. Furnish the space with old rugs and cushions and set limits on how rough kids can get. When you're changing the sheets on a bed (and you're in no particular rush), take a few minutes to play with your child. Drape the sheets over furniture and pretend it is a cave to explore.

Parents' Choice Picks:

Fitness, Yoga and a Healthy Lifestyle
Kids of all ages will be running, jumping, dancing, striking a pose or two, and learning lifelong healthy habits with these fitness and yoga products.

Treasure Hunting
Follow our suggestions for a treasure trove of entertaining indoor activities that are sure to stretch your children's limbs as well as their imaginations.

Introducing Fitness Through Playful Activities
Establishing a fit and healthy lifestyle is vital - for parents and kids. Parents' Choice offers the following suggestions for products designed to introduce and encourage physical fitness in young children from infants to age 6.

2. Drop everything when it snows.

Unless it's bitterly cold outside, let kids play in the snow. They can build snowmen or snow forts, make snow angels, go sledding and throw snowballs (at safe targets only, please).

Parents' Choice Picks:

Decorate a Snowman Kit
Ages: 5 & Up
HearthSong, $29.95

Iguanas in the Snow / Iguanas en la nieve: and Other Winter Poems / y otros poemas de invierno
Ages: 4 - 8 yrs.
Author: Francisco X. Alarcon    Illustrator: Maya Christina Gonzalez
Children's Book Press, $15.95

3. Look for fun winter sports - outdoors and in.

Ice-skating is a great winter sport, providing lots of challenge and vigorous exercise. Many rinks are open to the public. Bowling is a terrific indoor activity that offers friendly, fun-filled competition.

4. Put together a creative arts and crafts kit.

Get a goodsized plastic storage box and fill it with some or all of the following items:

Bring the kit out when your child is looking for something to do or when you want to do something interesting with him.

Parents' Choice Picks:

Arts & Crafts
Sculpture, finger-paints, fabric art, digital art, even doodles are just some of the ways kids explore their artistic interests. Keep their expressions flowing (and off your living room walls) with these art supplies, kits, books and more.

The Undiscovered Obvious
Copious quantities of simple items, particularly when combined with appropriate go-togethers, are synergistic.

Illustrating a Snowy Scene with Uri Shulevitz
Imitate Uri Shulevitz’s adaptation of snow piling up on the title’s letters on the book cover for Snow; the town, and the trees. Create a snowy transparency that will cover the drawing in just the right places with a thick layer of falling snow.

Puppetry, the Playful Art
Puppetry has been described as the "possible art for children." They take to it naturally. If you, the parent, realize puppetry's potential and know some basic rules, you can help children do more than just "put on a puppet show"; they can transform a corner of the living room into an enchanted place.

8. Unleash your child's inner composer.

Children and music go together like peanut butter and jelly. Children can take their natural enthusiasm for music one step further by actively participating and making their very own music, becoming composers themselves. Creating original music is not only empowering, it can be a wonderful springboard into a world of creativity promoting self-expression, problem solving, good communication skills, teamwork, and an appreciation for the arts. Make homemade instruments with pots and pans, plastic cups, thimbles and washboards, rubber bands, whistles, and other music makers you can find around the house.

Parents' Choice Picks:

Unleash Your Child's Inner Composer
Here are ten suggestions to help your children unleash their inner composer.

Kitchen Concerto
You may not realize it, but your kitchen is an orchestra waiting to happen. Pots, pans, eggbeaters, graters, forks and mugs are just a few of the items bursting with symphonic potential.

Scat Like That - A Musical Word Odyssey
Music and literacy go hand in hand. Rhythm, rhyme, meter, melody and wordplay are easily melded together in songs that are tons of fun, while almost secretly encouraging reading skills such as phonemic awareness, pronunciation, vocalization and listening.

Found Sound
Create a composition of interesting sounds you collect in your everyday life.

Soundscapes
Choose a story to tell in sounds. Create your own soundscape with instruments and objects, clapping hands, and weird voices.

9. Turn off the television and use the time for family games and activities.

Play board games together or put together family photo albums. Share your family's history and your own childhood experiences with your children.

Parents' Choice Picks:

Family Games for Family Fun
If you're looking for family fun, playing a game is a fine start. Our selections offer games of memory, matching, strategy, scavenging -- and old fashioned giggling.

What's Write for the Family
Photographs capture moments. Video records excerpts of life. But written words express a depth of thought that no electronic media can surpass. Writing requires us to choose our words carefully, to provide a unique perspective, and to scribble the contents of our imaginations and our memories.

Preserving Your Family History
There are many ways to share your family history including making a family scrapbook, recording family stories, and cooking favorite family recipes together. We hope that the following ideas will help you to preserve some of your family traditions, and perhaps set some new ones in motion.

10. Let children participate in household tasks of their choice.

Children who never seemed anxious to do household chores before may be willing to help out when they have nothing better to do. Cooking with kids is a great family activity. Teach kids how to bake and decorate a cake. Spend a chilly, rainy Saturday afternoon preparing meals together. You'll not only have fun doing something constructive, you'll find that the workweek is less hectic because of the meals you prepared in advance.

Parents' Choice Picks:

In the Kitchen with Kids
Kids love to watch and help their parents cook and bake. Cooking together is not only a great way to spend time with your kids, but can serve as an ideal opportunity to teach kids valuable skills and lessons about health and nutrition.

Your family doesn't have to be stricken with the winter doldrums. A little imagination and a lot of flexibility are all that's needed to pass the time until spring. By encouraging children to pursue creative alternatives to television and expecting a degree of indoor activity and messiness, parents can reduce their children's cabin fever.

Article reprinted from the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County Parent Page, written by Tim Jahn, Human Development Specialist.