Winter Blues? Try an Indoor Camp-Out!

Has winter gotten the best of you?  By this time of year, I'm feeling eager to be done with the cold, wintry conditions.  I'm ready to emerge from our house cocoons and begin preparing for the springtime with cleaning up the yard and once again letting my son play outdoors without the worries of the cold. 

I'm also feeling out of ideas with which to entertain my energetic tot inside the confines of our home.

With this time of year being my usual time for planning our first family camp outs for the year (it gives me something to look forward to come the warmer temperatures), I have camping on my mind.

So for those of you feeling the same wintry effects on the soul, I have a solution.  How about an indoor camp-out?  With Dad super busy with work these days, we needed something extra fun and special to do on yet another day stuck indoors.

If you don't have a tent, make one!  As a child, we made "tents" with a blanket and chairs or something secure to hold the blanket over the top of us.  Then throw some blankets, sleeping bags, pillow and whatever you have on hand that you might use to camp.

All of our camping gear is packed away where my big pregnant belly cannot reach so I used what we had inside our home.  I included Park's little companion, Elmo, a head lamp (that apparently Elmo could only wear) and a teddy bear outside his tent to make it fun.

Park thinks it's pretty fun to pretend to go "night-night time" with his buddy Elmo.

He also enjoyed when the (teddy) bear growled at Elmo and him from outside the tent.

If you are feeling extra ambitious, when the sun goes down tell some stories or read some books around dim lights/head lamps.  You could even make some smores for an extra treat!

Hope this little idea helps,

~Mommy Bridget