I think January can be such a “blah” month. The hype of Christmas is over. School has started again. The money is gone. And it’s COLD. My birthday is even in January and I can’t seem to fall in love with the month at all.
This year my kidlets were super bummed to have Christmas over and put away. So I told them that sometime in the middle of boring January we would have a WINTER PARTY. A party for no reason. A party to take the “blah” out of winter.
BUT IT HAD TO BE SIMPLE. I did not want to repeat the craziness of the holidays just yet.
We had a perfect snowy afternoon to do our party. The kidlets had an early-out day at school. It had just snowed big time, and staying home sounded perfect. Here’s what we did. Hopefully, this will inspire you to find ways to make the long dreary winter become fun again:
First thing to do–DECORATE!
Children hate putting the Christmas tree away. So decorate for the party or for January in general. Make it feel fun, even if it’s a little cheesy. Little kids love cheesy.
Second–Party Food!
We had a simple lunch. I really wanted to keep it easy, so that I was having fun too (if ya know what I mean–a stressed mommy, is a cranky mommy).
Cocoa, Cutie oranges, and homemade bread that we already had. Rhodes bread or soup would have been easy and comforting too.
Penguin crackers from Walmart. They taste a lot like Cheddar Bunnies. Kidlets like ’em.
Tortilla cut-outs. The kidlets cut out tortillas and rolled turkey inside or we baked them with cinnamon and sugar. Like this tutorial on Sweet Tortilla Snowflakes at Tis the Season.
Another idea is a BOWLFUL of SNOW! I found Vanilla and Peppermint Cotton Candy at the after-Christmas sales and put it in a bowl for a fun treat. Fun Sweets King Size Cotton Candy, 4 Ounce
This kidlets loved this and dipped it in their hot cocoa.
Pin the Nose on the Snowman. Found this on Christmas clearance, but you can easily make one like this.
SNOW PAINTING was really easy. Just make sure they squirt away from their clothes.
Play in the SNOW. No winter party would be complete without a real snowman.
Warm up inside with Wall Painting. Tape leftover Christmas wrapping paper to the wall or the kitchen table and let them color with markers or crayons. We are using washable dot art markers.
Then my son was dying to make his own snow globe that he saw in the The Friend Magazine for kids
Finish the day with something yummy. We decorated sugar cookies.
Hope this helps bring some joy in January! Leave your comments and ideas!