6 Ideas for Your Winter Homeschool

Keep things interesting in your homeschool even when the weather outside is frightful. We’ve rounded up some fun activities to get you through the midwinter slump.

The post-holiday, miles-to-go-until-spring stretch of winter tends to breed boredom and discontent — but if you have a solid action plan in place, you can combat the midwinter slump, says Dr. Michael Danzinger, M.D., an assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. The key is to mix a few surprises into your everyday routine so that your days shake that humdrum feeling and keep you interested and engaged. “Your attitude is the best happiness booster you have when the midwinter slump hits,” says Danzinger. So before boredom kicks in, plan how you’re going to send it packing — at least sometimes. (A little boredom can be a creativity booster, so you don’t want to jump into cruise director mode at the first sigh.) Need a little inspiration? These activities are all fun ways to help take the blah out of midwinter homeschooling.

MAKE AN ICE VOLCANO

Combine 2 cups of baking soda with very warm water in a pie pan; stir until baking soda dissolves; then, freeze. Fill a squeeze bottle with vinegar. (Add a few drops of food coloring if you like.) When the ice is frozen in the pie pan, remove it from the freezer, and squirt it with the vinegar to create an acid/base reaction. All those bubbles are CO2 released by the chemical reaction.

MAKE A COOKIE DELIVERY

Keep the food sharing fun going post-holidays by baking a big batch of your favorite treat and delivering care packages to friends and neighbors. (Random Acts of Kindness Day is February 17!)

CLEAN OUT YOUR CLOSETS

C’mon, you’re definitely not going to want to do this when the weather warms up. Now’s the perfect time to clear out your closets, reshelve your bookcases, and sort through the back of your pantry.

THROW AN OSCARS PARTY

Make a point to watch as many nominated films as you can, and compete to see who can predict the most correct winners during the award show. You can go fancy with cocktail fare and sparkling cider, or make it a big pajama party-sleepover.

PUZZLE YOURSELF

January 29 is National Puzzle Day, but a good, challenging jigsaw puzzle — like the 1,000-piece Rainbow Palette puzzle — will keep your entertained for days. (This one has letters on the back in case you get stuck and need a little help moving forward with the puzzle.)

WATCH A MUSICAL

It’s no Hamilton, but the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! celebrates its Broadway birthday on March 31, which makes this the perfect time to get addicted to a new Broadway musical. (We love Hadestown!)

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