After the excitement of Christmas and New Year’s Eve, January can sometimes be a bit of a “meh” month. But it needn’t be. There’s lots of things you can do as a family inside and out to get your creative juices flowing and inspire those budding imaginations. Here are some suggestions and inspiration for Family Activities to do in January.
Pin Family Activities to do in January
In The Garden
It’s too cold to plant anything yet outside (unless you are lucky enough to own a heated greenhouse), but there are some great garden related activities you can do with the kids this winter.
Homemade Bird Feeders
Don’t forget our feathered friends when the weather is colder, they need all the help they can get! I have a post full of ideas of Homemade Bird Feeders that you can make with the kids, which also includes my very simple recipe of how to make Fat Balls for birds.
Bug Hunting
There are still plenty of bugs around this time of year, my little boy is fascinated by them! Why not go on a bug hunt, or Make Your Own Bug Trap in the garden and see what you catch.
Growing Cress Heads
It might be too cold to grow anything outside, but that doesn’t mean you can’t grow things inside! Growing Cress Egg Heads is a fun little activity and it’s great for introducing children to the concept of growing food from seeds.
Getting OUt and About
Just because the weather is a bit colder and sometimes wet and windy it doesn’t mean you can’t get outside and find some fun activities for all the family.
“Bad Weather Always Looks Worse Through a Window”
Tom Lehrer
Winter Outdoor Activities
One of my most popular posts is 33 Super Fun Winter Outdoor Activities for Kids. It is full of ideas of things to do outside when the weather is less than perfect and great fun for all the family. From geo-caching, scavenger hunts, den building, bark rubbing and puddle jumping. Lots of ideas whatever the weather!
Go On A Footprint Hunt
It also happens to be a great time of year to go hunting for footprints. The kids love doing this and making plaster casts of the footprints we find. If you’d like to try it yourself I have a post on How to Make Plaster Casts of Animal Footprints.
Kitchen Creations
With all that energy spent out in the cold, you are going to want to come home to something warm and comforting. You can’t beat coming home from an adventure to a warming soup that has been cooking all morning in the slow cooker.
Slow Cooker Soups
I have several slow cooker soup recipes on the blog if you want to check them out. Spicy Pumpkin, Roasted Butternut Squash, or my favourite at the moment Creamy Mushroom and Tarragon soup made with homemade chicken stock.
Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
Or if you are looking for a recipe to do with the kids, then this Simple No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls recipe is perfect. Great to introduce baking skills to children of all ages.
Arts and Crafts
Obviously if you’d rather stay indoors, then it’s a great excuse to get out the arts and crafts bits and bobs and get creative. Here are some of our favourite craft activities to do with the kids in the Winter.
Make Winter Slime
Who doesn’t love a bit of slime making? This super simple recipe for Winter Slime makes it the perfect rainy day activity.
Make Your Own Snow Globe
Or what about making your own Snow Globe? Using recycled glass jars. I’ve promised my son that I will do him a dinosaur one this year.
Chinese New Year Crafts
Don’t forget Chinese New Year is next month, and crafts are a great oppourtunity to teach your kids about the Chinese festival. These simple Jam Jar Chinese Paper Lanterns or our Rattle Drum craft using an old pringle tube are fun ideas for all ages.
Make Pipe Cleaner Dragons
These Pipe Cleaner Dragons are super simple to make, and only require a handful of crafty materials. This could also be incorporated into Chinese New Year crafts, or at any other time of the year.
Hopefully this has given you some inspiration for family activities to do in January, but if you need some more ideas then check out our Pinterest board on Winter Crafts and Activities.
Whatever you decide to do, make it a good start to the New Year!
Kerry x
4 Comments
I have also written a post on gardening with children#kifsandkrestivity@_katendennis
Love some of these ideas, especially the plaster cast animal tracks!! Today we’ve done indoor crafts (making dragon flies from clothes pegs) as it’s been a windy wet day. Reading this the quote really stood out, it’s true the weather does look worse through a window…and the kids would love splashing about in puddles!! #KidsandKreativity
What a great resource to fight the january blues!!!! Thanks for all the ideas, I need as much as possible to keep the kids going between each frosty down pour!!! #kidsandkreativity
So many fab ideas to choose from. The pipe cleaner dragons look amazing! I will have to try making fat balls for the birds too. Thanks for all the ideas.