Inclement weather, need some ideas to keep from going mad while indoors!

[SnowSparrow]

My kids are home/unschooled, a bit of both really. We have traditional curriculum available but don't force it. Anyway, they spend 3/4 of the year being outside almost all day (barefoot, if I may add!) but we're having high winds here and/or snow lately, and it looks like it'll continue for at least a few days. It's not the kind of snow that's fun to be out in - it's just miserable. We thankfully have an indoor arena for horseriding that they can use to play ball in, ride, or just goof off, but there's only so many hours in a day that they can even do that.

Needless to say, they're all stir crazy, other than 15DS who occupies himself a lot easier than the rest.

I'm desperate for some new indoor ideas. Crafts, fun books to read aloud, activities, games (computer, video or board, or any other kind!), anything! We need to liven things up!

My kids are almost 16 (he's more into his own stuff though), 11, 8, 6, 4, 2 and a newborn, but she doesn't hold us back from anything :)

Thanks in advance for any ideas :)

[Daffodil]

Things to do on the computer:

Line Rider

Scratch

Some of our favorite books to read aloud:

Tove Jansson's Moomin books.  Comet in Moominland is the first one.

Ronia the Robber's Daughter (and everything else by Astrid Lindgren)

Coraline (could be too scary for many kids)

Games we like:

Set

Labyrinth

Gobblet

Other ideas:

Find a book or website with instructions for making different kinds of paper airplanes

Make paper snowflakes (find instructions online for different kinds)

A few months ago, I read Beans on the Roof (about a family whose members all take turns going up onto the roof and making up roof poems) to my kids, and DD immediately wanted us to make up our own roof poems, and then waterfall poems.  You could try it with your kids.

[Googy]

I just got this for my just-turned 3 y.o. for her birthday, and both she and my almost 7 y.o. LOVE it.  Its like indoor homeschool recess--its a swing and a trapeeze bar that hard-mounts into a doorframe.  It is a HUGE hit here:

http://www.mytoysmart.com/radaydipl3pi.html 

[elizawill]

we had fun one year with the crafts from http://www.thetoymaker.com/ (just click on free toys).  with your younger kids, making crayons is fun too.  just line a muffin pan & put in broken crayons & bake - cool...voila.  a bottle of shaving cream in the bathtub will keep the littles happy for a long time too.  you can also squirt on the table/counter and let them draw in it.  homemade play-do is fun, slime is even more fun (you know, the glue & borax stuff??).  finger knitting is a good indoor activity. movie night. charades. hide & seek.  board games. paper mache.  mosaics with a bag of mixed beans. my kids like to treasure hunts too. i'll put notes all over the house, each with a clue leading to the next note, etc.eventually they find the "treasure".  anyway. i'm sure there's tons more but this is what comes to mind.  hth.