Summer and fall have finally left and winter is here to stay for the next couple of months. This puts a strain on many parents, especially ones with neurodivergent children who may thrive on being outdoors or even being outside of the home in general.
Luckily, there are many different activities that you can try inside your home (plus a couple that require just a couple steps outside your front door) to stimulate your child while working on a routine and their fine motor skills.
Watch ‘Live Cams’ of Animals at Zoo’s
‘Zoo Cams’ have become very popular over the years as baby zoo animals have been born, or other interesting animals have been put on camera so other’s all over the country and the world can watch them in their day-to-day life.
Some personal favorites are: The San Diego Zoo Cams, The Houston Zoo, and finally the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium. This is the perfect way for your child to have interaction with the world outside their home and feel less boxed in.
Art Projects Galore
Art projects seem like the go-to for inside activities during the winter, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t switch up what your child creates with!
For example, instead of having your child paint with traditional paints in a pan, try having them paint with big, chubby paint sticks. It’s less messy for you and almost like drawing with a crayon for the child! Kinetic sand, modeling clay, and tearing and gluing pieces of paper on a coloring sheet are other unique ideas.
Bonus: Now you have some holiday presents as well!
Cooking with your Child
Depending on your child’s age, giving them something hands-on to do is always a great distraction from wanting to leave the house or go outside.
You can modify how much your child helps you, but with the holiday season around the corner, stirring up pie contents or rolling out cookies seems like the perfect place to start. Not only does it give your child something to show off their fine motor skills, but it also gives them a tasty reward for listening and following directions!
Reading New and Old Books
Reading books seems like a pronounced activity, but it does have one benefit: it can give parents a break during a period of overstimulation: your child can read by themselves!
Some of the best times are when you can take a break, sit, and watch your child work through their favorite pop-up, sing-a-long, or first-chapter books. Reading is a never-ending activity that requires no setup, clean up, or bundling up to go outside. You can even give them reading challenges throughout the day, like one book every 1 hour, or take turns reading!
Picking Up the Mail
Now, I know the article title says things that don’t require going outside but taking your child to grab the mail from your mailbox is a speedy activity that gets them some fresh air and (hopefully) sunshine on their face. If your child is fixated on going outside, this could be a good redirecting activity.
This way, your child can make the short journey to your mailbox, retrieve the mail (and have a purpose for going outside), and return right inside. Maybe your child will receive a card or even a letter from Santa!
Video Chatting with Family Members or Friends
Does your child need a change of surroundings? How about a change digitally! Living in an age with technology does have its benefits when it comes to video chatting with other family and friends.
Another way to redirect your child is to have them video chat with one of their friends or family members. Grandparents always love a call from their grandchild, and your child would love to say ‘Hello!’ to a friend from daycare or school!
This allows your child to interact (digitally) with others besides yourself and others in your home and lets them see new surroundings. Bonus points if your child can greet any pets on the screen! As always, please use your own rules and discretion for screen time.
Work on Building Something Together
Let your child use their imaginative play skills to build something that lasts for days! Maybe that is a fort pretending to look up at the night sky or winding railroad tracks through the mountains. According to Healis Autism Center, neurodivergent children struggle with pretend play, but consistency and parent modeling can help tremendously in growing this skill.
Help your child be creative by using tracks, blocks, clay, blankets, couch cushions, etc. By modeling pretend play and building something that can be played with for days, your child has one other built-in activity inside and away from the cold!
An Evening Christmas Light Tour
An evening drive looking at neighborhood Christmas lights is our family’s best-kept secret for keeping our child inside all day but with the promise of sitting in a warm car and driving around town once it gets dark. Bundle up just enough to go from your front door to the car seat, and then set off to see some fun neighborhoods with your child!
Many places have light shows where you can drive through in your car or park and watch the show! Check your city’s local community center or attractions to see if they have any holiday light shows. And if you time your drive just right, you’ll arrive home just in time for a bath and bed!
Teach and Play Games
Depending on your child’s age, teaching them new games to play is an easy way to pass the time! Whether it’s a memory matching game like the one shown in the picture or BINGO, there are a variety of options when it comes to teaching and playing new games.
Autism Speaks provides a list of virtual interactive activities and games for neurodivergent children, ranging from exploring museums to playing cards. They also have an extensive list of virtual interactive activities to add to your rotation during these winter months. We love to play BINGO in our house by printing out simple bingo cards and using different markers such as dot paints, small dinosaurs, or cereal to mark off our numbers.
Sensory Play
Sensory play can include many items, most of which you already have at home. Healthline reinforces that sensory play is essential for development within the first 3 years of life, but it never stops becoming important for a child to do.
Some types of sensory play for all ages could be water play, either by playing in the bathtub or shower or event having your child pour water from one vessel into another. A second example would be sifting flour into a bowl or other food activities, encouraging movement such as jumping up and down or playing with kinetic sand or modeling clay.
Exposing your child to different items that vary in touch, taste, and texture provides almost endless possibilities during the winter months!
