Cabin fever activity ideas besides at home inside

So we live in Michigan and the weather has been terrible this year; a foot of snow one day and 50 degrees with everything outside muddy the next. The twins are getting a serious case of cabin fever and the usual grocery shopping trips just are not cutting it.

Yesterday we took them to Chuck E Cheese's for the first time just for an activity that wasn't muddy, which they loved. However, Max can't eat there since he is allergic to just about everything on their menu. They played in the toddler area and a few games that they really didn't understand for about 1-1/2 hours, but of course had a melt down when it was time to leave. Then after naptime and this morning they kept begging to go back.

We are racking our minds for some activities other than grocery shopping, the muddy park, or Chuck E Cheese's to get them out of the house for the next few weeks until the spring weather hits and they can play outside more to burn off some of this extra energy. We don't have many other kids in our family or friends with kids in their age range, so play dates are kind of out too. Plus we are on an extreme budget too which limits how much we can spend. I am hoping to get them signed up for toddler swim classes at our local school district's community education program that starts in about 3 weeks, but that will be a long 3 weeks. Any ideas?

 

jump houses
library
play at the mall


I think you should embrace the mud and let them play in it.

 

I am all for the mud as well, but if you are looking for cleaner options:

Build a fort/play house
Old boxes entertain mine for hours
Make big batches of playdoh
Cook
Library
Indoor garden

We have a free city magazine that lists loads of kid-friendly activities (all free). Most of the libraries do stories and/or crafts, museums have a range of activities, events at the mall, craft stores do activities on the weekeds, etc.

 

We play in the mud too!! (yes, even as soon as they could crawl....I am sure they ate some, but they seem no worse for wear)

Other ideas:

mall play spaces
McDonalds play spaces (some are toddler geared and some are cleaner than others...)
library story time (ours in MI started at age 6 months)
Bookstores - they all have story times too (Borders/Barnes & Noble)
Mall walking (take before mall open and let them wander close by)
bundle up on warm (ish) days and go to the park- school playgrounds are often blacktopped and less muddy
local activities online: I know our MI mall had free toddler (2-4) gymnastics on Tues in the open area
Our paper often had free community stuff: free days at art museum, free days at kids museum, free days at science museum. etc we went to ALL of it!
Toy store (small local) often have a play time or open play. Not ToysRUs, but little independent stores
Go to Petco and look at animals (we did this once a week AT LEAST)
Joann Crafts and Micheals both have free Sat events
Lowe's & Home Depot have free family events for ages 2+ (sometimes 5 or 8+)


At home:


boxes
playdough
cooking
large magnets
bath paints
bubbles (yes indoors)
large noodles or beans in a tin with toys
laundry baskets (mine still love them)
pots and pan music
Dance to CDs
dress up in grown up stuff (mine loved ties and shoes at that age)
stickers or stamping pads

 

I'm in Seattle so we are always doing indoor activities this time of the year. Here are some St. Patty Day activities to do. We also watch a movie after naptime on most days, go to the children's museum, mall, McDs playland, YMCA, playdates, park (if it's dry), go on a bear hunt (pretend in the house with flashlights), funny videos (kid appropriate) on youtube, read books, play with puzzles, oh gosh -- you name it and we do it!!!!

http://www.first-school.ws/t/ap/holiday-stpatrickshat-c.htm

http://www.first-school.ws/t/numbers/worksheets/stpatricks-patterns1-c.htm

http://www.first-school.ws/t/ap/holiday-stpatricksmaze1-c.htm

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/cp_h_stpatricks.htm

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/shamrock-print-663568/

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/stpatrick/Rainbow.shtml

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/stpatrick/handprintrainbow/

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/stpatrick/Hat.shtml

fun worksheets and books to make at all different levels, check toward the bottom in the black and white print:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/stpatrick/

 

Thanks for the ideas. If it were up to me I say go play in the mud, rain, snow and have fun, but I have two VERY picky toddlers. They both FREAK OUT if they think they have mud or dirt of them. DD and DS will come to me with their hand out screaming it has dirt on it and needs to be washed, but for the life of me I never see the "dirt" they are talking about. I don't know how they became such clean freaks when we really are not and we are not slobs either. I guess we fall somewhere in between, but it is funny watching what they get obsessed about.

 

Libraries! Check out your local libraries to see what kind of children's rooms they have. Our's has a whole lego section and the one near my mom's house has a train table

Speaking of train tables, our local Barnes and Nobel also has one. I grab a cup of coffee at the cafe, pull up a chair, and let the girls play.

 

Do you have a YMCA near you? Often they have financial assistance, to make it very inexpensive to free if you qualify. Ours has some great play areas, including a McDs-style play area that's at least twice as big as any I've ever seen.