Beat the Summer heat with these great indoor, air conditioned, ideas of fun things to do with kids

With the Summer time sun rising higher in the sky each day, the temperatures outside are rising so much that you may often feel penned inside along with your youngsters. If you’re looking for some fun and interesting ideas of fun things to do with kids to keep your clan entertained without getting too hot this Summer season, listed below are five great activities to try!

1. Create a Family Recipe Book

A very enjoyable family venture that’s guaranteed to eat up a whole lot of time is to get the children involved in making and writing a household recipe book. Not only will this idea of fun things to do with kids be an entertaining solution to spend your afternoons through the summer season, but it may even teach your kids an vital skill they’ll undoubtedly use once they move off to college or the workforce. Not only that, by the end of the summer your kids could have a healthy listing of recipes they will use to make dinners for the entire family! No more slaving away over a scorching stove for mom and pop.

2. Indoor Camping

When it’s too hot to go camping outdoors (or the state park or outdoor campgrounds are just too far away) think about setting up indoors for a picnic and/or camp out. Give children a variety of materials, bed sheets, rope, cardboard containers, pieces of foam, or even an actual tent, and watch their imaginative instincts go wild as they build amazing forts of their very own. They will get a thrill out of reading spooky campfire tales with a flashlight while sitting inside their tents. Bonus points for setting up a picnic blanket with crackers, cheese, and apple slices!

3. Have an Indoor Treasure Hunt

Another great strategy to keep kids entertained in our list of ideas of fun things to do with kids without even leaving the house is to have a treasure hunt. Make a set of clues for every participant (download the printable template shown here), or have each player make a set of clues of their very own and then swap with the other treasure seekers. Consider utilizing rhyming clues for young children to make it more fun. Each clue should result in another clue, and so forth, until the treasure seeker arrives at the treasure. You can use envelopes to hold your clues, and provide a small value such as a toy or a piece candy to the person who solves the riddles and wins the treasure first!

4. Head to the Library

The Library is a good place to take the kids when it gets too hot outside for enjoying the outdoors in our air conditioned list of ideas of fun things to do with kids. Many libraries provide reading programs for children throughout the summer season that may be extremely helpful in instilling a lifelong love of reading in your kids. They will get to earn points and sometimes win prizes the more books they read. Additionally, many libraries offer story time for younger children as well. Beyond entertaining children for a couple of hours letting them roam and browse in the library, they often come home with hours of entertainment!

5. Visit the Discovery Children’s Museum in Reno

For yet one more educational alternative that may keep you cool is to take the family to the Discovery Museum in Reno, NV. Your children will learn a ton while getting to touch and feel in an interactive way that only a children’s museum can deliver. From climbing the spider net to learning about how water ways work from the lake to the ocean or in our case to Pyramid Lake, children will learn about how water makes it way through our community. That’s not all. There are many more exhibits that are changing all the time. Each visit will provide a new experience. You and your kids will love it while beating the heat.

What ideas do you have?

What ideas of fun things to do with kids do you do with your kids while beating the summer heat indoors where there is abundant air conditioning?

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A reader of Windy Pinwheel submitted a great event happening the Reno/Sparks, Nevada area Saturday, May 11, 2013, from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM at Victorian Square in Sparks. It sounds like a great event and we hope you can attend the Western Heritage Festival.

The event is sponsored by Sparks Museum & Cultural Center and it’s free to the public. The intent of the event is to draw local and regional residents together to gain an understanding and appreciation of traditional Nevada arts and culture through experiential learning. The main festival events will occur in the Lillard Railroad Park and on the sidewalks of Victorian Avenue between 14th Street and Pyramid Way in historic downtown Sparks, Nevada.

Drawing from a rich heritage of ranching, railroading and mining, the Western Heritage Festival allows visitors to experience the one-of-a-kind diversity of Northern Nevada and the Reno-Tahoe region. During the event, many authentic Cowboys poets will perform such as Walt “Bimbo” Cheney, one of the original Cowboy Poets, hailing from Elko, Nevada. Also, there will be a Fiddler’s Showcase. The line-up of Western musicians, singers and fiddlers brings together some of the region’s most talented, yet often, little-known performers. Native American Pow Wow drummers, the Eagle Wing Dancers and a Folkloric Dance Troupe round out the entertainment for the afternoon.

On-going activities and demonstrations throughout the day, include:

• Saddle Making
• Native American Basket Making
• Quilting
• Spinning
• Tule Duck Making
• Blacksmithing
• Lariat Basket Making
• Leather Stamping
• Children’s Dummy Roping
• Wild Burros
• Artists
• Crafters

Special Exhibits inside the Sparks Museum during the Festival are:

• Timeless Treasures: A Celebration of Native American Culture; and
• Wally’s World: The Loneliest Art Collection in Nevada.

This sounds like such a great event and if you’re like me and into Nevada and Western history, this is the event for you and your family. We hope you can attend.

For more information, visit www.westernheritagefestival.org.

What: Western Heritage Festival.

Who: Sponsored by Sparks Museum & Cultural Center.

When: Saturday, May 11, 2013, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Where: On the sidewalks of Victorian Avenue between 14th Street and Pyramid Way in historic downtown Sparks, Nevada.

Need to know: It’s free to the public. You can’t lose.

Extra Extra: This is a perfect event to let the little cowboy or cowgirl in your life to dress up and play like it’s a real life western.

Website/Contact Information: www.westernheritagefestival.org

Indoor activities for kids during the cold winter months can include art projects, reading, baking and cleaning. There are also a number of great places that are perfect to visit in during the cold weather months and winter days.

I wanted to share some of my tactics for keeping myself sane during stay-at-home days. Please note that I am not, by any means, an expert on indoor activities for kids, but I try to be creative and enjoy my time with my children.

This fall, we had to keep both our children home “sick” for the day. They weren’t sick, as in, “laying in bed and sleeping all day”, but sick enough not to go to school and not sick enough to make me think, “What in the world am I am going to do with two kids during the winter when we can’t go outside? I need to find some indoor activities for kids and find them fast!” Like any modern mom these days, I escaped to my favorite idea generator, Pinterest to learn about more indoor activities for kids that I can store in my arsenal for those cold, chilly winter months ahead! I started pinning some ideas and keeping track of what I wanted to do to prepare myself for the holidays and wintry days ahead.

Tip: Check out my “Crafty Kids” board on Pinterest for even more ideas.

Top 12 indoor activities for kids

1. Art Projects: Painting or drawing is one of our kids’ favorite activities. We typically get a big plastic outdoor tablecloth, you know, the ones with the material on the back to keep them from slipping. You can find these on sale towards the end of the Summer. We have an easel that we use, but sometimes, I find great deals on blank canvas frames at the local craft store and I let them go crazy (these great for gifts to family members). Typically, we let them paint in the nude with just an apron and a diaper/underwear (because they are young and don’t really know how to keep themselves clean during art project time). This decreases my mommy stress with less ruined clothes afterwards. For a little extra fun try making your own finger paint.



2. Cooking and Baking: Absolutely my go-to kids activity to do. Break out all the ingredients for really anything you want to cook and let the little ones help with the parts that are safe for them. As a teacher, I know this is also an amazing way to show my kids how the skills and content they are learning about in school connects to real life. This is also a great way to get them to try new and exciting foods. We all know kids can be persnickety, but if they have a stake in making the meal, they might just be fired up to try it.
3. Movie Night: As an easy activity to keep kids busy for a while, most movies that are geared towards the preschool and elementary school crowd are no more than 90 minutes, but why not make it more of an evening with hot cocoa and a slumber party? Try making these fun movie pillows or, if you have time to plan in advance of a winter storm, try a Disney-themed movie night.
4. Dance Party: As another indoor activity for kids, this may or may not be my own way of reliving my own childhood, but I love having dance parties with my family. My daughter actually received a karaoke machine for Christmas. Turning up the music and letting all your cares go out the window is like therapy for a winter’s day. Use some oldies, but goodies, and relive some of your favorite childhood memories with your own children. You can get really crazy and rowdy and let the kids dress up and put on a performances as well. For the ultimate dance party, try a family talent show!



5. Cleaning: If you are stuck in your house for any length of time, you will probably begin to notice your floors need cleaning. There is dog hair all over the couch and the laundry is about 5 loads deep. Not to mention, the laundry that did not get put away from the previous 5 loads is still left in a laundry basket, left to be put away. Well, at my house anyway, this often happens. So, I have started having the kids help with with cleaning and organizing. Giving kids responsibilities around the house makes them an active member of your family and helps them to learn that cleaning up and keeping a house in perfect condition does not magically happen. I really like this list of chores for kids because its broken down into age groups. Please be sure to try these as one of your own indoor activities for kids in your arsenal of things to do with your children.



6. Build a Fort: Easy, cheap, and provides loads of fun as one of our indoor activities for kids to engage in. Grab your dining room chairs, a large sheet or blanket and let your imagination take you on various adventures.
7. Put on a Play: Similar to the Dance Party and the Fort, this is one of those fun indoor activities for kids to let your imagination go wild. Grab some clothes from your closets or the kids dress-up box, you can even let your kids make up the characters. Playing make believe is wonderful for children’s development.
8. Reading: As a teacher, I cannot stress enough how important reading is for children and what a great excuse it is to sit down in a comfy chair and start reading to your child as one of our favorite indoor activities for kids. You can start with a short story or even a chapter book. Really, any book will do. Talk to them about the book and get their feedback. Ask questions about the colors, shapes and names of what they are looking at. Engage them as you’re reading. My husband’s favorites are Go Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman and Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. In fact, he reads Green Eggs and Ham at varying speeds just to be playful with our kids. It really cracks them up and makes them laugh as he is reading it to them. This is one of my favorite indoor activities for kids.
9. Create your own story and illustrate it: As one of my go-to indoor activities for kids, I know that kids love books and they love to color. Put those two together and write your own story. You can have them draw the illustrations and, if you really want to get crazy, you can eventually scan all the photos and have it made into a book. I have made some for families through Hullabaloo Stories in the past. For your day at home, however, you can simply put all the pages together with a bit of ribbon or string and a hole punch. Help your children write out the words and draw what they are seeing in their minds. This is among our top picks for indoor activities for kids to encourage creativity and imaginative play.
10. Interview your children and have them interview you: This is a great indoor activity for kids to encourage the growth of your child’s imagination. You can do this to get information for creating a birthday present or just to learn about each other on a deeper level. It’s always a fun game. I always enjoy this one when selecting indoor activities for kids to do with my own children.
11. Go on a scavenger hunt: One of the teachers at our preschool does a fun twist on a traditional scavenger hunt for one of her indoor activities for kids. She adds on one thing at the end, asking the kids to think through which item is in the wrong place. This goes along so well with teaching them about clean up responsibilities because they begin to learn that all things have a place. For younger kids, print out pictures of the items you want them to find and for older kids, have them practice their reading skills by just simply writing a list of items to find.
12. Card and Board Games: Candyland, Hasbro’s Connect Four, Go Fish, using something like this Melissa & Doug Classic Card Game Set, Checkers, puzzles, and many more are appropriate for the preschool crowd. Try your hand at playing some fun board games with your kids, this can lead to many hours of fun, but a word of caution, once they start playing games, they will not only beat you but want to keep playing again and again. For a fun twist, try this life size Candyland game.

Top places to take your kids in Northern Nevada, Reno, Truckee Meadows and beyond for indoor activities for kids during a cold winter day

1. Discovery Museum: Hands down, one of the best places in Reno, Nevada to spend the day with your entire family.
 



2. Coconut Bowl: A fun way to spend the afternoon, ask the staff to help you with bumpers and other aides to help kids bowl. Also check out their “glow bowling” for the older kids. Coconut Bowl also offers much more than bowling check out our post and their website for more information.
3. Kids n Art: A new local art studio designed just for kids. They even offer camps! Do some art without making a mess in your house. Sounds like a great snow day to me! They even offer adult classes.
 



4. The Playroom: who doesn’t love an indoor playroom place to play, all the toys and equipment to wear your kids out while you have the opportunity to sit back and watch them revel in new discoveries.
5. The Clay Canvas: an activity better reserved for older children and toddlers who are able to be around breakable objects.
6. The Children’s Museum of Northern NV: Located in Downtown Carson City, Nevada. This museum is Northern Nevada’s oldest children’s museum and an entirely play-based great afternoon outing in our state’s capital, Carson City, Nevada.
7. Movie Theater: Typically there is always a movie suitable for younger audiences at the movie theater. Most theaters have booster seats for the little ones and who doesn’t love a bowl of movie popcorn? Check your local theater for listings.
8. National Automobile Museum: Kids love cars and going to see them is among our many indoor activities for kids. They just love them. Mine always try to sneak in the driver’s seat. The minute I unbuckle their car seat harnesses, my two year-old always tells me, “I dive”. Meaning, “I drive”. He wants to be a race car driver, I just know it. I took both my kids and my car-enthusiast father-in-law to the National Automobile museum last February. I can’t honestly say who had more fun, my father-in-law or my son. This museum is a pretty cool place. I would only caution that most of the cars are for looking at and children can’t touch them. So, be aware of that, ahead of time, to make sure your kids understand why they cannot “drive” all the cool cars and hot rods.



9. The Library: As I mentioned before, I love reading with my kids. Sometimes however, you feel like you have read the same book one too many times and just have get out of the house as one of your indoor activities for kids. So, often times, we will go to the library or our local bookstore to pick out some new books to add to our rotation. Check out your local bookstore or library for story time. Most places have a set story time and activities related to the story that is read that day.
10. Build a Snowman or Go Sledding: Admittedly, this is not one of our indoor activities for kids, but who can resist going outside and playing in the freshly fallen snow. Bundle up and dive in. You can even sled down your own driveway or just pull the sled down the street. It’s a great workout for you and the kids will wear themselves out; then you can start a warm fire and put on some hot cocoa, and a movie or better yet… nap time!

So there you have it. My survival guide for the cold winter months for indoor activities for kids when I am trapped inside a lot with my children and do not want to lose my mind and go daffy. Share with us, what do you do to keep your marbles, I mean active indoors with your kids in the winter?

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Music, carnival games, pumpkins, pumpkin pie eating contest, pumpkin seed spitting contest, steam engine locomotive tours and book readings for kids. A great time had by all standards at the PumpkinPalooza.

Recently we posted about the PumpkinPalooza at Victorian Square in Sparks, Nevada. Yesterday, both Windy Pinwheel families attended the PumpkinPalooza event. This was the first annual PumpkinPalooza hosted by the Nevada Center for Independent Living. It was a good showing for a first annual event just before the Halloween holiday.

We arrived around 3:00 PM and the affair ran from noon to 7:00 PM, so the festivities were already in full swing. Pumpkin-designed balloons as well as black and orange plain balloons were in many places and we could even see the balloons as we were driving in on the freeway near John Ascuaga’s Nugget when arriving to attend the PumpkinPalooza event.

The weather, I’ll admit was a factor in attendance yesterday. The first cold snap of the season decended upon the Truckee Meadows yesterday and it really impacted the event. The wind was a force to be reckoned with as it pushed the tents covering the carnival games that were held down by sand bags and by the time we were leaving the event around 4:30 PM, the volunteers, mostly from the University of Nevada, Reno, ROTC, Delta Delta Delta sorority and Phi Delta Theta Fraternity were taking them down.

It brought a sense of pride to see a local soroity and fraternity volunteering at this event, as the Windy Pinwheel authors were all Greeks during our undergraduate college experience. We are each SigEp (University of Nevada, Reno), Delta Gamma (University of Nevada, Reno) and Alpha Chi Omega (San Diego State University) alumni.

We started off by touring the area. There was a lot to see and do that we wanted to scope it out first. We headed over by the Sparks Heritage Museum that hosts “a vintage steam locomotive, cupola caboose and Pullman executive car… displayed along with a depot replica, the restored one room Glendale Schoolhouse and a monument to the Chinese rail workers.” (Source: Sparks Heritage Museum website). The train was open and free to walk through. However, there were no guided tours, they were self-paced. My son absolutely loves trains so it was an experience we couldn’t pass up.

Next, we headed over to the Glendale Schoolhouse (built in 1864). It was a very rare occasion because in all my 30+ years on this Earth living in the Reno/Sparks area, minus a couple when my wife and I were in Las Vegas for a year and Washington, DC for five more, I have never seen this one-room school house open to the public. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. We all went inside. While in the schoolhouse, a local educator was present and reading books to children. This was too cool. It was an experience I will never forget, seeing my kids sitting in those old antique desks listening during story time. When the teacher was done reading her book, she gave away some books to those listening. We chose Ox-Cart Man. This experience truly made my day and a memory for me with my family.

When storytime was over, we headed back over to the carnival games and played a couple. “Tip the Troll” and the softball toss into the milk can were my kids’ favorities. Each of the kids got a reward of a Dum Dum sucker or a plastic spider ring for playing. They also had the game where you take a hammer and hit a button with it and it is supposed to fling the chicken into the pot and they had a ring toss over some Coca-Cola bottles. These games were also fun to watch my kids play.

We stopped and listened to The Note-Ables play on the stage next to the Great Basin Brewery and I have to admit, they were really, really good. The Note-Ables are a band of varying abilities as some are people with disabilities. In fact, the Note-Ables are not just a band, it is also a “nonprofit organization with a primary purpose of providing inclusive music programs and music therapy services for children and adults of all ages and abilities.” All-in-all, I found it to be a great time and I hope to see the band again at another local event.

About Independent Living for People of Disabilities

As a former employee of a large national organization that serves people with disabilities, this event meant a lot to me, personally. The disability movement is one of the last movements fighting for civil rights in much the same ways that people of color did back in the 50s and 60s and women did in the 20s. There is push today for people with disabilities to live in an inclusive environment, within their communities and not in an institutional setting. Many people with disabilities can learn life skills that can enable them to live in our communities and give back in ways that are meaningful and benefit the communities we live in. The Northern Nevada Center for Independent Living is “dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with all disabilities by promoting independence through self empowerment, choice and community involvement” and “each person, regardless of the severity of his or her disability, has the potential to grow, develop, and share fully the joys and responsibilities of our society.” That is something that I can stand behind and gladly give to by attending this event.

I can only hope that this event gets bigger and better every year. Also, I hope that the weather will cooperate next year as well.

Thank you to the Northern Nevada Center for Independent Living for putting on such a great event and I’ll be looking forward to next year.

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For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

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