tv free the winter

[PoetRiverMama]

We have been mostly free for almost 6 years. My one problem is the winter. We have a 4 1/2 yr. old DD who has SPD. She refuses to wear a cute so we tend not to go outside often once the snow flies. Last year I brought out the tv and let them watch dvd's a couple times a week, but I'd like to avoid that this year. Any suggestions?

[swede]

Lot's of board games.  WHat about books on tape, or music?  are you interested in also brainstorming ways to get your daughter to bundle up?  or can just your other three play in your yard, and only she stays in?  We live where it gets really cold and snowy, and still my (mostly) TV free kids play outside at least an hour ever y day, even if it's broken up.  And if we go to the sled hill, it's usually a couple of hours.

[PoetRiverMama]

thanks, that's w hat I was thinking. More board games. My trouble is I work from home and sometimes need to focus. During the summer I send them outside, in the winter when I need time to work I put in a dvd. And I hate it. How do you get your kids to give you some time do do what you need to do without putting in a movie?

[swede]

Originally Posted by PoetRiverMama 

thanks, that's w hat I was thinking. More board games. My trouble is I work from home and sometimes need to focus. During the summer I send them outside, in the winter when I need time to work I put in a dvd. And I hate it. How do you get your kids to give you some time do do what you need to do without putting in a movie?
 

For your younger two, I don't have much advice (naps, I guess).  For your older two - do they like crafts, or something they can assemble?  My older kids like doing word searches, or "look and find" books like waldo, for instance.  It's hard to find stuff to keep them occupied alone that doesn't ultimately result in more work for mom :(

[Kelsey6244]

I do not allow me children to watch television either, but I do allow us to active and play games with the family. We enjoy movies and watch netflix through our Playstation 3. We also, enjoy playing games on the PS3 like the Move, which is similar to the Wii..a lot of fun. I would suggest a fun game that the whole family can play.  

[emmaegbert]

I do let my DS (6) listen to books on tape (well, books on ipod). we get them from the library. But we aren't homeschooling so the tv issue really doesn't come up- its more like he doesn't have time to do all the stuff he wants rather than hanging around looking for stuff to do.

He does love soduku, hidden pictures, mazes, dot-to-dot, etc. I also made him nap until he turned 5! (he needed it though, seriously). Trains and lots of track? Puzzles?

Gosh when I used to babysit we'd do things like "umbrella house" (open ALL the umbrellas and fill a part of a room with them, crawl around under there for a play house, have a meal in there, etc) make a fort with the furniture...

Good luck! Its so hard to find work time with the kids underfoot.. and I only have 2.

[goldenwillow]

Thank you for your posts. 

We have been TV free for quite some time but recently DH decided to buy a flat TV for movie watching (which we rarely do, maybe 1 a week).

I have a hard time keeping DS busy these days, he is 17 months and sometimes a concert DVD seems to do the trick.  We collect concert DVD's of our fav bands.