Fun Activities To Help Beat The Winter Blues As A Family

The come down after a holiday season can be tough. Winter blues can be hard to overcome, with no more festive activities, the days are still dark and cold and you may be super tired. Don’t worry – we get it.

Whether you have kids or not, everyone struggles with the winter season. But there are plenty of ways you can beat those down days as a family, or not.

There are a whole host of family-friendly, fun winter activities you can take part in to replenish those energy levels.

We know it’s cold. But, getting outside is such a great way to boost your serotonin levels and encourage a sense of calmness.

The winter months also bring about beautiful and natural formations. Whether it’s frost-covered leaves, the crunch of frosty grass and glistening snowflakes as they fall gracefully to the ground. The air is quieter on frosty winter days and there’s plenty of things to do.

Bundle up and wrap up warm. Layer with scarves, jumpers, hats and gloves, bring along a thermos filled with hot chocolate and head out on a walk! Whether it’s local or in a place that you’ve always wanted to visit.

If it’s snowing wherever you’re going, bring your sledge and enjoy a family snow day! You’ll have loads of fun in the fresh snow and you’ll soon forget about the cold weather when the fun takes over!

One way to spend a cold winter day is to play games with the whole family. Whether it’s a keep calm and cool game (no family arguments here!) like Sounds Fishy, a brand-new and quirky game like P for Pizza or you stick to the classics like Monopoly or Uno!

Gather around in teams or play individually as you laugh away those stressful moments and bring a smile to your face knowing spending time together is always a good time.

I played Sounds Fishy on Boxing Day with my family, and all we did was laugh – it’s such a fun and silly game!

Here’s how to play:

• There’s a question asker and the rest answer the questions. The asker will hold up a card that has a question for them to ask, the other side of the card will display the answer written in blue (which they’re not allowed to see!).
• Those who are answering, are all given fishes that they have to keep face down. One fish will be blue, the rest will be red. For those who have a red fish, you have to make up a fake answer to the question asked. Those who have the blue fish, have to say the right answer, but you can say it in a way that sounds fishy.
• The aim of the game? For the question asker to eliminate all the fake answers before the true answer. If they succeed, they’ll earn coins, if they don’t, the red fish do instead.

Sound like a fun game? Check it out!

Invoke family cosiness and stay warm this winter, by gathering all your duvets and blankets and turning them into a fort!

Whether you add pillows, plushies, fairy lights or anything else soft and cosy. It’s super fun, gets the kids involved and allows you all to have a much-needed lazy day.

Whack on some of your favourite films for a movie night and enjoy a few snacks too.

If you’re feeling a little cooped up, why not head out and visit some family or friends that you weren’t able to over the holidays? Whether it’s aunts and uncles, grandparents or anyone else!

Catch up over a cuppa, enjoy fun activities together or settle down for a movie.

For those who thrive off socialising with family and friends, this might be the pick-me-up you need.

Colder months calls for warm and comforting food.  Whether it’s fluffy jacket potatoes with all the beans and cheese, or hearty chilli that will warm your bones.

Roast some veggies, make healthy soups filled with goodness or you can bake! Cook up a cinnamony apple crumble, chewy chocolate chip cookies or sweet banana bread. Enjoy your treats in moderation and include the kids when cooking!

It’ll develop their culinary skills, and encourage them to be independent and cook. Plus, it’s the perfect indoor activity to occupy yourselves for a couple of hours.

For those days when you really don’t want to spend time outside, don’t fret. We have a whole host of indoor activities you and the family can enjoy.

From indoor ice skating, bowling games, reading books, bouncing for joy at trampoline parks, laser tag or heading to an immersive experience. Here’s our top recommended immersive activities:

• Dopamine Land
• Wands and Wizard Exploratorium
• NERF Action Experience
• The Cube Manchester
• OTHERWORLD Birmingham

There’s plenty of indoor activities you can enjoy – simply browse our website to find something near you.

For families with older kids, this may be the perfect time to engage with them. Kids have complicated feelings…well we all do really. A great way of letting that out is to write it down.

Have them take 10 minutes a day to write in a journal about how they’re feeling, or write just about anything. You can decide to talk about it too if they don’t mind.

For younger kids who may not grasp feelings, why not get arts and crafty with them? You can paint, colour, draw or make paper crafts! It’ll help them develop their skills and it’s a fun and imaginative way to banish those winter blues.