Vickyandjen.com -#157 Winter with Disney FamilyFun

Cross the Sea

Balloon Sandwich

Cornstarch Clay Creatures

Indoor Fun House: Swing, Sports Spot, and All-Ages Gym

Pretend Play: Boutique, Starstruck Stage, and School

Creating the Crafty (and Simple) Birthday Gift

Hula Hoop Game
Players stand in a big circle. Slip a hula hoop onto one person’s arm, and
have them all the players join hands. Players have to find a way to move the hula hoop all the way around the circle without letting go of each other’s hands.

In-Home Drive-In
“We like to create a drive-in movie experience. We make a cardboard car out of large cardboard boxes. Then we line them up in front of the television, pop in a movie, and turn the lights out. I set up a concession stand in the kitchen. The kids use coupons that they've earned from doing chores to buy drinks, popcorn, and candy. We usually watch a double feature.”

Restaurant at Home
“One activity I like to play with my kids is "Restaurant." We spend an hour or so making and decorating menus and deciding what simple meals we could make from what's already in the fridge or cupboard. Next we dress up for our parts (a chef's hat would be great, but not necessary). Then we take turns doing the role play. One person is the waiter/waitress, one person is the chef, and one person is the customer. My role is kitchen supervisor to make sure everyone prepares the food safely. We rotate roles until everyone has played each part, especially being the customer. “

At-Home Newscast
To stop boredom one cold winter day, I set up the video camera, a pretend desk, and a map of the United States. The kids didn't know what was going on until I explained that we were going to play Newscast. For a good hour or more we took turns being the cameraman, the news anchor, and the weatherman. The kids loved it, and all of us including Dad enjoyed watching the tape when he got home from work. (So much so that we did it again with him that night, mostly to add the sports anchor, which he couldn't believe we had forgotten.)

Surprise Bags
Before winter starts, assemble a few grab bags to open in emergencies (sick days, snow days, terrible moods). Fill a paper bag with a few ingredients for fast fun and set aside until needed. Here are some suggestions: • A bunch of googly eyes, pom-poms and glue for making creatures • A recipe for play clay and all the ingredients to make it, plus a few sculpting tools • A set of paper dolls, plus scissors and gift wrap for making a wardrobe • A yo-yo and a book of yo-yo tricks • A pair of plain sneakers and some fabric markers • A magnifying glass, a "spy notebook" and a secret code to break

More Fun Ideas from Debra

Get-Active Games

• Human Slide Show

• Beat the Clock

Kitchen Science

• Crystal Tree

• Eruption in a Bottle

Holiday Crafts

• Cookie Cutter Candles

• Christmas Tree Circles

• Critters That Keep Out the Cold

• Holiday Pillowcases

Boredom Busters

• Indoor Wax Paper Skates
“Our family has a great winter or rainy-day activity that is low cost and high energy. We clear out the coffee table and make an open space in the living room. We turn on some classical or soft-rock music. Then comes the real fun! We cut squares of wax paper and fasten them around our feet with rubber bands on our ankles. It's like magic: we have created "ice skates." We skate slow and fast, and we boogie. It's so much fun. We are all pooped out when we're done.”

• Dance to the Music
In the absence of sunlight, fill your home with another sensory pleasure, namely music. Put on some upbeat tunes and play Do What I Do. The leader performs a motion and everyone dances around the rug doing it. Switch leaders with every song.

• Clipboards
Hand your kids clipboards (to set an industrious mood) and give them each an assignment. For example, they might need to draw a treasure map, invent a better flyswatter, create a secret code or write a mock newspaper article about what's happening outside the window.

• Foil Fun
One roll of aluminum foil can provide an instant cure for the doldrums. Your kids can shape it into crowns, animal models or an army of toy knights.

• Stop Motion Animation
(from upcoming Dec 2009/Jan 2010 issue)
Innovative software has transformed the labor-intensive process that brought the world Gumby and Wallace & Gromit into one simple enough for a family to enjoy, as we discovered one drizzly day when I downloaded a stop-motion animation program to our home computer. We plugged a digital video camera into the computer, scrounged a collection of props (mostly lollipops and pretzel sticks), sketched out a storyline, and started shooting. The inexpensive software allowed the kids to see immediate results as we manipulated the objects. In fact, it kept them so engaged that our animated short could have easily turned into a full-length feature. The kids titled our mini-masterpiece Lollipop Tree and begged to watch it over and over again (you can too — see below). Then they got to eat the props. Our tips:

1. Stop-motion animation programs are compatible with most digital video cameras and some digital still cameras (check before you download). I had to adjust my camera’s settings from HD to DV before beginning.

2. For a more professional look, we set our camera on a tripod and shot against a flat, brightly lit sheet of white paper.

3. To inspire my young animators, I showed them some of the many finished works posted online. The kids were particularly jazzed by a short called Western Spaghetti (eatpes.com).

4. Stop-Motion software we like: Stop MotionMaker HDMI (for PC, about $60, free trial version with fewer features) stopmotionmaker.com; iKITMovie Express (for PC, starting at $50, free trial version) ikitmovie.com; Boinx iStopMotion 2 (for Mac, starting at $49; free 5-day trial) boinx.com.