Cabin Fever Boredom Buster Ideas

My family still had over 15 days left of Winter Break, thanks DPS for those extra two days this year—argh! I have a one-month old, so going out to busy museums, malls and restaurants was not an option. I had gotten desperate so I had to get creative. Here are some ultimate cabin fever solutions without blowing the piggy bank, actually, some might add to the piggy bank.

Goodwill Gems

This turned out to be such a success; we are turning it in to a fundraiser for my kiddos school. Taught by the recycling diva herself, my mother-in-law, I headed to my favorite Goodwill on Broadway in Denver. I searched for $1 – $3 wood bowls of all sizes. We brought them home, whipped out our paint and supplies and decorated them for repurposing. We took a large bowl and painted several layers to cover the wood, then I had the kids do handprints all over them. Hello new centerpiece for the dinning room table. We took smaller bowls and made them into popcorn and peanut bowls for my father-in-law. A thrifty and creative activity and a wonderful way to save on presents for the following year.

Donate with Purpose

Everyone wants to start off the year with a clean palate and a pared down home—especially since you might have been bombarded with plastic mayhem from holiday gifts. Often times I just throw everything into garbage bag and bring it to the nearest collection center. This year, I decided to clean with purpose. I researched different non-profits and designated different rooms in my house to collect items. The kids loved getting in on this activity and it burned some much needed of their calories. I made the basement a place to collect baby items for WeeCycle; I used one of my kid’s rooms for unstained and gently used children’s’ clothes and shoes for Savvy Seconds and this way I could score a few extra bucks for these items as well; the kitchen was a staging area for collecting bottles of household products I never used, half my Tupperware collection which still left me with over 100 pieces (I need enough in case of nuclear war!) and all those little bottles of shampoos, lotions and soaps we collected from hotels for the Ronald McDonald House and finally, to really get the kids energy out, I had them bundle up go through the garage and toy shed outside to gather unwanted sports equipment to give to Play It Again Sports. This project took two days and I everyone—minus baby—got in on it and connected more to what they were doing for different organizations rather than the original dumping game.

Open up a Bank Account

Did you know the ONLY bank in the ENTIRE world for kids 21 and under is located here in Colorado! The main branch of Young Americans Center for Financial Educztion is in Cherry Creek, and I tell you, this place is so flipping cute! From attractive money displays to step stools to get kids up to their own tellers, this place is brilliant. Children at any age can open up an account, they get their own checkbook, and it really gives them a sense of power to control what goes in and out of that account. Take an hour, heck, we needed two, and during your cleaning sweep of the house, gather all the coins laying around and go open up a bank account for your kid with their coin finds. In between the couch cushions, next to the washer and dryer, underneath nightstands and pockets in all the jackets were mini gold mines for us. Even if your kiddos already have a bank account, open up one here, it could even help build credit in future years. The teenagers can get in on this one, goodness knows they are always nagging you to buy something for them and this way they can save for what they want. yacenter.org

Old School DVDs and Richard Simmons

I laugh even typing old-school DVDs, gosh remember A-Trak, VHS and cassette tapes, those words are probably not even in dictionaries anymore, let alone children’s’ vocabularies. I took my posse to the basement and busted out old workout and yoga DVDs for them. They thought this was hysterical! From the outfits, to the exercises, they were surprisingly amused. So, it’s my kooky family, and we had to take it to the next level. I pulled up You Tube and searched under Richard Simmons and ‘Sweat and Shout’ popped right up. Have the kids dress up like the peeps in the videos and go for it. Sweatin’ to the Oldies was never more fun. The songs are classics, the clothing hysterical and you actually do burn some calories, probably more from laughter than the workout, but this one is even better with the tweens, they REALLY get in to it, and it’s free! 

Author: Julie Bielenberg

Julie is a mama of three who travels in search of fields, farms, families and more. Sometimes . . . she finds herself in often uncovered, or understated locales, which has since become her niche.