Five Things To Do With Your Grandchildren This Winter

Five Things To Do With Your Grandchildren This Winter

With darker days and cooler weather heading our way, there are plenty of interesting and exciting things you can do with your grandchildren this winter. 

1. Create Your Own Stained Glass Decorations

What you’ll need:

• Laminate paper or contact paper (2 sheets per decoration)
• Black paper
• Tissue paper cut into small squares (around 5cm) in your choice of colours
• Sellotape
• Scissors
• 1 marker pen

How to make them:

• Draw your planned stained glass decoration shape onto the first piece of laminate. Cut it out (we recommend that an adult does this bit).
• Trace your first decoration cut-out onto your second piece of laminate paper, ensuring that you trace it the opposite way (the second piece will be used to cover and seal the first).
• Create a black outline for your shape by tracing your decoration template and creating a 2cm border. Cut out this black outline.
• Now you have your shape, before unpeeling the laminate, let your grandchild experiment with what tissue paper pieces they would like to use to fill their decoration. Use the black outline too.
• Once you and your helpers are happy with the decoration, unpeel the laminate. Once you have done this, the laminate will be sticky so be careful.
• Carefully place the black outline on your decoration (An adult may need to do this).
• With the outline on, your grandchildren can happily add their tissue paper to their decoration. Try not to overlap pieces as it will show when on a window. Cut pieces of tissue paper to size when necessary.
• Once your decoration is ready, carefully add the second piece of laminate to your decoration, to seal the tissue paper and outline.
• Use sellotape to stick your decorations on the window.
  
  

2. Host A Film Night Like No Other

A rainy day activity will often focus on a favourite movie or a trip to the cinemas. However, instead of spending money on cinema tickets or watching a film in the living room, you can create an ultimate film day with a few simple tricks and not much money! Create a themed film evening (or day) that is focused on your grandkid’s favourite movie. Not only will they be happy to re-watch a favourite film, but they’ll want to get involved in the activities before and after, giving you plenty more things to do and time well spent from one film. It may even give them a new perception of their favourite film!

• Create the ultimate movie space, by transforming your living room into a cosy den. Simply bring duvets and pillows in and move sofas back so you can all snuggle up on the floor. If you want to go all out, use colours that tie into the film. And, if you’re feeling adventurous, use bed linen to create a canopy.
• Create themed snacks that tie into their favourite film.
• Dress up for the occasion! Let your grandchildren (and you) wear fancy dress or create their own outfits based around the film. Perhaps you’ll be called in for hair and makeup services…
• Create special signs and posters to call your grandkid’s to the film in style! If you’d like to keep it a surprise, a sign outside their bedroom will be a wonderful way to invite them to the special day!

3. Make Your Own Film

If you’re feeling inspired after a film day, this activity is perfect for you and your grandchildren! It’s a wonderful way to create and document memories together and will give you the opportunity to watch your grandchildren’s personalities shine. Perhaps you’ll find a previously unknown shared interest or something entirely new! 

To make your own film, simply use your phone or a video camera. You can let the little ones take the lead on the film - perhaps you have a budding director or screenwriter in your midst! Let them create costumes, movie sets, scripts or simply roll and film. You can then create your own film premiere at a later date and invite friends and family, to show off your masterpiece. 

4. Find Warmth 

Sometimes, the winter can feel a little overwhelming. The long dark nights and cold days can become tiresome for kids and grown-ups alike. When you’re feeling a touch of the winter blues, or your grandchildren are becoming restless, take them somewhere that will remind you all of hot days and summer. It’s a great way to refresh their minds, and a blast of warmth or brightness will rejuvenate the senses.

• Head to a tropical world, zoo, garden centre or botanical gardens that have a greenhouse, tropical plant or tropical animal sections. These are often kept in high-temperature rooms that are kept bright by artificial lighting and often, UV lighting to replicate sunlight.
• Go to a swimming pool together. Swimming pools often remind kids of summer and they are usually kept warm temperatures. It’s also a great exercise to do together that is also easy on the joints.
• Go to a sea-life centre together. Like swimming, the sea reminds many people of summer. Here, you can smell, touch and see things that you may associate with warmer climes.

5. Craft A Science Experiment: Bicarbonate of Soda & Vinegar Volcano

Science is appealing to kids for a number of reasons. It can be gory and gross, bright and bold or centred around animals and all things cute. There are plenty of home experiments that can be done together, from easy activities that require less supervision, to more complex ones that an adult will need to take the lead on. Find out what your grandchild responds to the most and find the right science experiment for them. Google is home to plenty of free-to-access tips and ideas for science. Find one of our favourites, below.

We recommend that you go outside to do this experiment.

What you’ll need:

• Plastic cup 
• Water
• 4-6 Tbs of baking soda 
• 1 tsp of dish soap
• 1/2 oz to 2 oz of washable paint
• 1 cup (8 oz) of vinegar to start with per eruption. 

How to make it: 

• Put the water inside of the plastic cup. Fill it about 2/3 full.  
• Add the baking soda, dish soap, and washable paint. 
• While you mix the base ingredients, the kids can create a mound from soil or gravel if you are outside. You can then place the cup in the middle so it looks like a volcano.
• Finally, add the vinegar and watch it erupt!