Finding Indoor Fun

We are an outside family and most of our days in the summer were spent outside.  Mike and I were worried about keeping E busy as the weather turned colder.  So far we've been finding plenty of indoor activities to keep us busy and not get too stir crazy.  Here’s what we've been up to:

Wild Rumpus Bookstore – For any family living in the Twin Cities who have yet to visit this unique store, you must go now!  This place is so much fun for kids and parents.  Not only are there plenty of books to read, but you may find yourself sharing the floor with a chicken as you read your favorite story.  Yes, there is a chicken roaming around the store along with his friend the cat.  There are also two birdcages with parrots and doves, two chinchillas, and a ferret. 

A Creative Kidstuff is just around the corner from Wild Rumpus.  This store is so much bigger than the one by our house which means lots more toys to try out.  E loved "baking cookies in the kitchen." We spent an entire morning playing at Wild Rumpus and Creative Kidstuff. 

We are also fortunate that our community has Tot Time which runs November – March.  This is hosted at the rec center and basically they convert a banquet room into a giant playroom; bouncy house included.  It’s 3 days a week for 2 hours and costs $2 per session or you can buy a pass to save some money.  We've only gone once so far but will definitely be attending again.  E’s favorite activities at Tot Time are “mowing” with a plastic mower, playing basketball and of course playing with the trucks. 

I’m trying to do more arts and crafts with E.  I found a great homemade recipe for play-doh and he also likes coloring and “painting” with shaving cream.  I tried to introduce a glue stick to E but he likes to put the glue on his finger and then have Mom wipe it off.  He did this over and over one day, I finally put the glue stick up.  We’ll save that for a later day. 

Although I would much rather have the warm summer days of splash pads and playgrounds, I’m feeling better about keeping busy during the cold winter days ahead.  This has been an opportunity to try new things with E and go on different adventures.