Winter Doldrum Cures
Friday, January 21, 2011
By Patty Dow, MA, Life Coach/Parent Educator
The weather so far this winter sure has been cold, grim and grey. What impact has this dreariness had on your moods? How about your children's moods? In this month's PARENTING TIP, find many ideas to put the kibosh on the winter blues and chase away post-holiday let down.
1) Physical Activity. It's said so many times that you're probably sick of hearing it, but exercise is so important. In addition to the many physical health benefits, it also helps the brain to produce endorphins and serotonin, two chemicals which aid in our sense of emotional well being. Exercise also provides a positive outlet for pent up energy that will find another way out, such as aggression towards siblings and friends or grumpiness, lack of cooperation and defiance towards you.
*Go on a family walk, or take a winter trip to the playground.
*If it snows, go sledding or build a snow family.
*Get a child sized shovel at your local hardware store and have a family shoveling session. A plus to outdoor activity is vitamin D from the sun.
*Take a trip to the mall the purpose of which is simply to walk around, or create a scavenger hunt to do at the mall.
*There are many indoor playgrounds and family recreation centers.
*I had an old standby when my daughter was younger - make an indoor obstacle course. It doesn't have to be elaborate, but you can set up chairs to climb under, cushions to tumble on, block towers to step over (without knocking any down), and things to jump over.
*There are also many children's exercise and dance videos and DVD's. Put one on and have a family exercise session or dance jam. A bonus? The
degree to which you are active with your child is the degree to which you
will benefit, too!
2) Play board games. Make sure that they are age appropriate for you children. If you need some recommendations you can ask your child's
teachers, or toy store employees.
3) Have special movie times. Pop the corn, make the hot chocolate, and let the movie roll.
4) Look at family photos and tell stories about when your child was a baby, or when you were younger.
5) Make up skits or puppet shows. Children love to pretend and with a little help, and you as their audience, they can entertain themselves creating little productions.
6) Have craft projects ready to pull out in a snap. Use an inexpensive vinyl tablecloth, or drop cloth on the table or the floor, put down big sheets of paper and get out the crayons and washable markers, glue, tissue paper, magazines, uncooked pasta, and anything else your (or your child's) imagination can conjure up for them to do collages and other masterpieces.
7) Reading time. Snuggle under a big blanket and have special reading time, or take trips to the library for public story times, or do your own.
8) Cook together. There are many children's recipe books in book stores and libraries, or surf the web to find step-by-step directions for cooking with your child. If you Google "cooking with children" you will get around 62,000,000 hits. You ought to find SOMETHING that you and your child/ren would enjoy cooking together.
9) Rotate toys. Most children have so many toys that they can't possibly play with them all. If you put some "in storage" and rotate them every few weeks (or months), the interest and fascination can last longer.
Notice that almost everything listed above has one common variable - YOU! While independent play is important in your child's development, it is frequently necessary for adults to provide some guidance, structure and companionship. This might mean letting go of your own agenda, at least for a while, but the efforts will pay off in the end!
Do you have any tips you would like to share? Questions or concerns? Email Patty Dow at
Patty Dow, MA
Life Coach and Parent Educator
Patty Dow, MA
The weather so far this winter sure has been cold, grim and grey. What impact has this dreariness had on your moods? How about your children's moods? In this month's PARENTING TIP, find many ideas to put the kibosh on the winter blues and chase away post-holiday let down.
1) Physical Activity. It's said so many times that you're probably sick of hearing it, but exercise is so important. In addition to the many physical health benefits, it also helps the brain to produce endorphins and serotonin, two chemicals which aid in our sense of emotional well being. Exercise also provides a positive outlet for pent up energy that will find another way out, such as aggression towards siblings and friends or grumpiness, lack of cooperation and defiance towards you.
*Go on a family walk, or take a winter trip to the playground.
*If it snows, go sledding or build a snow family.
*Get a child sized shovel at your local hardware store and have a family shoveling session. A plus to outdoor activity is vitamin D from the sun.
*Take a trip to the mall the purpose of which is simply to walk around, or create a scavenger hunt to do at the mall.
*There are many indoor playgrounds and family recreation centers.
*I had an old standby when my daughter was younger - make an indoor obstacle course. It doesn't have to be elaborate, but you can set up chairs to climb under, cushions to tumble on, block towers to step over (without knocking any down), and things to jump over.
*There are also many children's exercise and dance videos and DVD's. Put one on and have a family exercise session or dance jam. A bonus? The
degree to which you are active with your child is the degree to which you
will benefit, too!
2) Play board games. Make sure that they are age appropriate for you children. If you need some recommendations you can ask your child's
teachers, or toy store employees.
3) Have special movie times. Pop the corn, make the hot chocolate, and let the movie roll.
4) Look at family photos and tell stories about when your child was a baby, or when you were younger.
5) Make up skits or puppet shows. Children love to pretend and with a little help, and you as their audience, they can entertain themselves creating little productions.
6) Have craft projects ready to pull out in a snap. Use an inexpensive vinyl tablecloth, or drop cloth on the table or the floor, put down big sheets of paper and get out the crayons and washable markers, glue, tissue paper, magazines, uncooked pasta, and anything else your (or your child's) imagination can conjure up for them to do collages and other masterpieces.
7) Reading time. Snuggle under a big blanket and have special reading time, or take trips to the library for public story times, or do your own.
8) Cook together. There are many children's recipe books in book stores and libraries, or surf the web to find step-by-step directions for cooking with your child. If you Google "cooking with children" you will get around 62,000,000 hits. You ought to find SOMETHING that you and your child/ren would enjoy cooking together.
9) Rotate toys. Most children have so many toys that they can't possibly play with them all. If you put some "in storage" and rotate them every few weeks (or months), the interest and fascination can last longer.
Notice that almost everything listed above has one common variable - YOU! While independent play is important in your child's development, it is frequently necessary for adults to provide some guidance, structure and companionship. This might mean letting go of your own agenda, at least for a while, but the efforts will pay off in the end!
Do you have any tips you would like to share? Questions or concerns? Email Patty Dow at
Patty Dow, MA
Life Coach and Parent Educator
Patty Dow, MA
