In many parts of the country, we’ve hit the worst part of the year. The holidays are over, the novelty of cold weather has worn off, but we still have weeks (if not months) left until it’s warm again. Most of us like to hibernate a little when it’s cold outside, but after a few months, everyone in the family gets cabin fever. If you want to get some of the family spirit back, but have no idea about what to do when it’s still too cold for a day at the beach, and you’ve already gone to the museum and library enough times, here are some suggestions that may help.

Write a story together.
It doesn’t matter if you’re not a good writer or even a good storyteller. The point of writing a story together with your kids is that it’s great fun to see what their minds come up with, given a little prompting. Sometimes what kids enjoy is far from enjoyable for parents: that fourth game in a row of Hungry Hungry Hippos or watching “The Wiggles” together is much more fun for the little ones than for Mom or Dad. But creating a story together is surprisingly great fun for everyone, even the youngest kids. If you have a child who is still too young to read or write, have them draw a picture and tell you what is happening in the picture. Then, you write down what they say, and repeat the process with more pages. With little ones, the end result is often something like Mad Libs, funny because of its’ incoherence. We did this with my oldest son for the first time when he was about four years old, and we saved it. Five years later, he thinks it’s the funniest story ever because it’s so silly and goofy – and he loves that it gives him a glimpse into who he was as a toddler. With an older child who already knows how to read and write, the stories get more sophisticated, and it might be harder to draw them in to such a project. A good way to prompt a reluctant older child is to reference something they’re already familiar with and ask them to change it. For example, if he or she is a Harry Potter fanatic, ask them what kind of challenges they would have chosen for the Triwizard Tournament.

Get out the photo albums.
Most kids, especially before they reach the preteen years, love to look at pictures of themselves from earlier in their childhood. Spend an afternoon going through the old albums together, pointing out the picture of the favorite stuffed animal they’ve long since forgotten and friends who may have moved away. Tell them the stories about each one. Even better, if you have access to pictures of yourself from when you were growing up, show those to the kids too! Kids love to get a good laugh over the dated fashions of our youth, and to see how different our faces looked when we were younger. It might seem like this is an exercise just to kill time, but it’s an important one. Kids want to know that you think they’re important, and going through past pictures of them lets them see that they’re important enough to be chronicled.

Holly Case is a Michigan-based writer, full-time student, and a teacher of creative writing to adults. She is also the mother of three little boys who simultaneously inspire and prevent her writing. She writes frequently about environmentalism, social justice and parenting, particularly the intersection of all three issues. She is also the online/newsletter editor for Natural Food Network, where she writes about natural health.
Also by Holly on HTMAF -
Raising Eco-Conscious Children
Happy Meaningful Holidays
Teaching Social Justice to Kids

Get into cooking together.
As early as age three or four, kids can start to learn some basic food preparation techniques, and they actually think it’s fun. Food Network host Rachael Ray has a cookbook for kids now called Cooking Rocks that's divided into sections based on the age of the child according to what most kids are able to do at those ages. My son has this book, and enjoys looking through it and choosing a recipe that he wants to make. We also check out a lot of cookbooks from the library, and it’s a family pastime to look not just for good recipes, but bad ones, too. We have contests with each other of who can find the worst-sounding recipe, which always ends up in a lot of laughs. The advantage of teaching your kids how to cook is that eventually you can have them take on some responsibility for preparing family meals, and they think it’s fun. They get to have the fun now – you get to have the fun later. It’s an activity that pays off in a big way.

Learn something new.
Whether individually or as a family, take advantage of the time you would otherwise spend looking for something to do and use it as an opportunity to learn something new. What is the one thing you’ve always wished that you knew how to do? What skill or ability do you envy or admire in others? Whether it’s learning how to knit or play the guitar, or to make handmade candles together with the kids, taking lessons in something that interests you can feel like a new beginning.

Get a break from each other
Even the most connected couples and families need a break from each other once in a while. After a long winter and the stress of the holidays, it might be the right moment to get a little time away from each other. Of course, a vacation to the Caribbean might be nice, but if the budget’s too tight for that, you can still have a mini-vacation now. Send the kids to spend the weekend at Grandma’s and have a romantic time at home, or go visit a friend in another city or state without your spouse. A little time apart can rejuvenate your spirit and allow you to return to your family refreshed and patient again.

Spring will be here before we know it. A little creative thinking and conscious effort can help you get through the last weeks of winter. And you won’t even have to break out the board games, unless you really want to do so.