The Snow Day Toolbox for the Work at Home Parent

With about 10 inches of snow on the ground this morning, and no end in sight to the downfall of coldness, my kids were ecstatic when they heard the phone ring at 6:00am this morning. My teenager yells “SNOW DAY” from the shower, and immediately my other two little ones were out of bed an hour early and wide awake as can be.

It is so funny how they can suddenly be so self sufficient on a Snow Day. While they usually need me to help get them dressed, eat breakfast, and go through the bathroom routine, they have done ALL of this themselves before 9:00am today because they are so anxious to get out into that snow. I know that snowmen and snowforts are fun and all, but it won’t occupy them all day. Luckily I’ve been doing this for a really long time and I know how to keep them busy while I have to work… and I also know how to manage my work so that I can have a little fun with them today, too.

The post I wrote at the beginning of last summer 94 Ways to Keep Kids Busy for the Work at Home Parent is to this day one of the most visited posts on this blog. I wrote it to get me through the summer, so it can definitely get you through one measly snow day.

Seeing I was onto something with that article, I hired Shannon Hutton to write our Seasonal Kids’ Activities Blog to continually provide simple, fun projects that you can do with your kids. She was also just featured today on 5 Minutes for Mom with a set of Super-Simple Valentines Day Projects.

Char Polanosky writes 2 kid-friendly blogs that have been a hit with both parents and kids. Printables4Kids offers just that, lots of free downloadable worksheets and coloring pages. And Doll Diaries is a blog dedicated to the girly fun of dolls, especially the American Girl dolls.

Derek over at Dad Balance has written a post or two to help you out on a snow day as well. Check out his archives in the Hobbies & Interests and Family Time categories.

And Supermom in NY sent me a link I wanted to add, she’s got recommendations for 5 sites for kids I hadn’t heard of before, and they look awesome.

Most of all - put down the laptop or your mouse and go have some fun today. Even if you aren’t sitting on a foot of snow, it’s Friday, so take advantage of the fact that you work at home and get some extra time with your kids today!