What free activities to do inside with kids during a freezing winter?

Fun things to do with your kids when your snowed in, list provided mostly by Minnesota ECFE:

1. Have an indoor picnic. Pack up your lunch eat on a blanket have kids plan the menu
2. Make a paper chain using 3 colors help your child understand patterns. use as decor in kids room
3. Indoor Ice Skating: Take 2 paper plates and stand on them on a carpeted floor, put on some good skating music!
4. Sing some favorite songs together.
5. Using a newpaper article have your child circle letters that begin with the first letter of your childs name.
6. Celebrate winter by bringing the snow inside. Fill a dishpan with snow, gathers scoops spoons and play.
7. Read a favorite winter book to your kid.
8. Have your child retell a story or event in order, first middle and last.
9. Exercise with your child, Count the number or arm circles or hops. (check out cosmic kids yoga on Youtube)
10. Talk about how you and your child are feeling. Talk about happy faces sad faces and silly faces!
11. Together make some magic goop!
12. Make a crayon resist Picture. draw a picture with crayons and paint over it with blue watercolor.
13. Find a big empty box and make a house, car, barn, space ship, what ev!
14. Read Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak and eat chicken soup with rice for lunch.
15. Paint with cars: Put some paint on a plate and drive matchbox cars through the paint.
16. Homemade soap bubbles. and if its cold enough blow them out side and freeze them!
17. Go to Library Family Story time! Kids will love it!
18. Paper bag puppets.
19. Froot Loops on Yarn to make necklace.
20. Make your own matching memory game.
21. Fill a cookie sheet with sand sugar or flour, practice writing or drawing in it.
22. Birthday Party for a favorite stuffed animal.
23. Make a snow picture. Fill spray bottle with water and food coloring and I think you can figure out the rest.
24. Make a puzzle. Draw a picture then cut it up and see if your kid can put it back together.
25. Put on a parade with things from around the house. Wear crazy clothes and use marching music.
26. Together make soap crayons.
27. Make a collage from magazine pictures.
28. Make play dough, or just buy some play dough! and have fun.
29. Help your kid write letters in shaving cream on a tray.
30. Try an unfamiliar fruit or vegetable together.
31. Check out Stages Theatre. There next show is Alexander and the No Good Very Bad Day.
32. Simon Says.
33. Cut the tops off carrots and put them in water and watch them grow.
34. Grow a house plant. Perhaps an indoor lemon tree??
35. Go to Wild Rumpus.
36. Wee Wednesdays at midtown global market. (free lunch for kids age 5 and under, fun and games for all.)
37. Family night at midtown global market.
38. Ice skating at local rink.
39. Swimming at the Y or lifetime or somewhere similar.
40. Barnes and Noble childrens events. A good story time venue.
41. Home Depot, first saturday of every month a cool workshop where they get a bunch of free stuff and build a toy.
42. Make some waffles.
43. Pick a different culture, research it, and make a meal to be eaten as they would in that foreign land all together with your kids.
44. Dance party.
45. Face Paint.
46. Listen to the Beach Boys and Bob Marley and day dream about summer.
47. Como Zoo little explorers activities on thursdays. Super Fun.
48. Or of course Watch Cartoons!!

Lil explorers exploring the FREE como zoo!

Ice Fishing!

Gone Ice Fishing in Plymouth!

I can't say that I'm an expert Ice fisherman, but its always fun to give it a try! So go to a lake, bore a hole with and auger and throw your pole in. (if you don't want to buy one odds are your neighbor owns one!)

If you want some real advice I recommend going to this cool bait shop located at: 11540 Bass Lake Rd, Plymouth, MN. He'll hook you up with the secret spots and the right bait for what you want! Dress warm, and bring something to sit on!

Joanie with the catch of the day in Plymouth: Curly leaf milfoil!

Skiing in Minnesota

Skiing in Minnesota

Ok so Plymouth itself doesn’t have a ski resort. You do get a lift ticket when you cross country ski in french park but I still wouldn’t call it a ski resort. But if you’re like me when it comes to winter recreation nothing beats Alpine Skiing and Snowboarding. So in this post I will be handing out awards to our near and dear Minnesota Ski Resorts. In case there’s anyone who doesn’t already know, our state was flattened by glaciers back when Wooly Mammoths roamed, we don’t have “Legit Mountains” but we’ve got a lot of snow and a long skiing season so why not hit a ski hill or two!

The Gnarlyest Award: Hyland Hills

I refuse to refer to it as its updated name: Hyland Ski and Snowbard Area because Hyland Hills just rolls off the tongue so nice. You could basically call Hyland a skatepark on snow. The place is a urban snowboarders dream. You go into the park, hit some rails and jumps and without ever unstrapping your board you slide over and grab the rope tow, head right back up to the top and do it all over again! The sheer amount of time you spend on your board riding is unlike any other place I’ve ever ridden. The ability to just take hit after hit after hit on HUGE jumps and crazy rails allows snowboarders to perfect their craft and really perform some seriously impressive moves. The only things I don’t like about Hyland is other than the Board Park it’s a fairly boring ski hill. The average ride from top to bottom lasts about 15 seconds, so if you just want to go and get some carving in, go elsewhere. But if you just wanna shred rails all day and never unstrap your feet from your board, it doesn’t get much better than just taking a short drive to the south metro to take on Hyland Hills. PS they’ve got that Olympic style ski jump on the corner of the street there… I’ve never seen anything else like that!

Hyland Hills: Small Hill, Good Board Park.

The Most Famous Alumni Award: Buck Hill

If what I hear is true, Lindsey Vonn, the great Olympian was raised up and taught how to ski right here on local Buck Hill! While I can’t really give much noteworthy opinion on the best place to train if slalom skiing is your thing, I would say you might as well give buck hill a try, it was good enough for Lindsey Vonn!

The Best in the Mid West Award: Lutsen Mountains

This is as close as you’re going to get to skiing in Colorado or Utah. It’s by far the best. They have four individual peaks, a gondola, beautiful scenery, and they are right on Lake Superior. Lutsen is probably the only Minnesota ski hill I could ride 2 or 3 days in a row. At Lutsen you don’t just get the best skiing in state but you get that whole ski resort experience because the whole town has the back woods outdoorsman feel. All the lodges are rustic and the land is wild and untamed. Lutsen has features that aren’t seen in the other resorts in state such as skiing on bridges over rivers, large stone cliffs, 1,688 ft elevation, and runs that can be as long as 2 miles. Lutsen offers a lot of fun, it’s a long drive but if you want a ski trip that will let you feel like you’re really skiing go to Lutsen. One time I was lucky enough to stay in a cabin that was actually on the mountain (were talking: put on your skis on the back porch and away we go!), and all I am going to say about that is if you have the chance, I highly recommend it.

Lutsen Mountains: Definately Minnesota's Best Skiing

The Closest award: Elm Creek Park

Elm Creek: a great park

I previously did a whole report on Elm, but it’s worth mentioning again that technically speaking there is a ski hill right in Elm Creek Park. All it has is a rope-tow board park, and a beginners hill, but its close, cheap and fun!

The Night Owl Award:  Trollhaugen

As far as I can tell this place gets the award for being open the latest into the night! 3am! Wow for those of you not afraid to ski till you drop come “roll the troll” all night long!

Most underrated: Spirit Mountain

While it is no Lutsen, It has the second largest Vertical Drop in State. It’s a little closer drive being only in Duluth and its great skiing! I don’t hear a lot of talk about spirit but I really have enjoyed every time I’ve been there. The scenery and ambiance are not quite a match for Lutsen but the skiing quality is there, 175 skiable acres to enjoy.  A side note: Its really cold there.

Shredding Minnesota's "Mountains" in blizzard Conditions.

Family Fun Award: Wild Mountain

Wild is the perfect family fun hill. A short drive out to Taylors Falls, Not super expensive ticket, a perfect balance of runs, 1/3 being beginner 1/3 being intermediate 1/3 black Diamonds. A Decent amount of vertical Drop (300ft). And as if to drive my point home I just noticed that the ski information site: onthesnow.com has them ranked as the most beloved ski spot in Minnesota for families.

Muddiest Parking Lot Welch Village

I got totally stuck in the Welch Village parking lot last year in my minivan, it was not pretty. So if you come here in March, be careful where you park.

Welch Village's Youngest Snowboarder at 1 Year Old.

Kick Field Goals

I’ll give you a great idea that’s totally free and totally fun: Kicking field Goals.

 

The following is a list of parks that have field goal posts, all within Plymouth or just outside city limits.

Armstrong High school

Wayzata High School

Cooper High School

Plymouth Middle School

Wayzata Central Middle School

Wayzata Oakwood Elementary

Maple Grove Jr. High

There you have it

or you can go anywhere where there is a soccer field and try to kick it over the goal, but you know its not quite the same satisfaction as watching it sail through the uprights... or sailing just barely wide left... Painful memories

Lawn Chair Skateboarding

Jamison P. Metzger, one of the original Lawn Chair Skateboarders.

 You know those days where you really want to go skateboarding, but you also really want to just sit in your garage in a lawn chair? Haven't you always wondered why you couldn't do both? Well its your lucky day! thanks to Lawn Chair Skateboarding you can have the best of both worlds!! This great new sport started here in our own Plymouth, Minnesota in the early 2000's when youths started to explore new ways to enjoy the leisurely ride of "Longboard"skateboards.

Speed wobbles!

 Please excuse the words all over the photos, the original footage is featured in the credits section of a snowboarding movie.

 As you can see the sport is simple put your chair on your board, adjust the seatback to achive your desired level of relaxation and let it ride!

Jamison shown here took his love of lawn chair skating to the western states.

 Heres a new twist on an old favorite: 2 longboards underneath an old plasitic and metal school chair! This is definately a riskier and more aggressive tactic, but its quite a rush.

Lawn Chair Skating, and to think that it all started in Plymouth Minnesota.

Fall Fun in Plymouth

Fall is possibly the most pleasant time of year in Minnesota. There is always a lot to do. The following is a brief list of fall activities with in reach of Plymouth.

Camping: There are thousands of options, my nearby favorites are Baker Park, Elm Creek Park Group Camp, and Taylor's falls Interstate State Park. The fall colors in Taylor's Falls will blow your mind.

Taylors Falls in Autumn

Apple picking: There are many great ones nearby. My personal Favorite is Minnetonka Apple Orchard, which is free on weeknights. Its not just apples, there are animals to pet and feed, lots of playgrounds and tractors for kids to play on, funny scarecrows a corn maze, awesome food including apple donuts, sometimes live music, its an overall good vibe. And then if you feel ambitious pick a million apples and make some homemade apple sauce. Its the old fashioned way to get your food!

Canning Applesauce with those Minnesota Apples

Pumpkin Patch: Very similar to the apple orchard vibe is the pumpkin patch vibe, and often times they can both be found at the same place.

Severs Corn Maze: Its a long drive but its the best corn maze.

Farmers Market: Get some fresh good grub. Maple Grove, open thru oct 24. Plymouth's is closed already sadly.

Red Wagon Riding: Just find a big hill and bomb it like you were Calvin and Hobbes. It'll let you know your alive! I recommend the hill on the backside of Petsmart grassy, steep and in plain view of a lot of cars! Classic.


Mostly just spend some time soaking up that crisp fall air because you know whats coming, all too soon...

Play some Sports

Another great thing to do in Plymouth, get some friends together for some sports! With plenty of fields and facilities get out and get start playing!

Michael Vick and Chad Lewis tossing the old pigskin

 Football: Plenty of room around here for football, it seems like every block has a park with reasonably decent upkeep. and if you really can't find any grass, theres plenty of roads that people dont drive on that much, for some street football (arguably my favorite pastime).

long live the Minnesota Moose

 Hockey: I went a little further in depth on hockey options earlier, which you can see here. But I would also note that hockey also plays well in the street, both in sneakers and on skates!

A league of their own

 Baseball/Softball: Baseball can be tough because you usually need big numbers, but don't let that stop you. Plymouth has some great baseball fields, especially Zachary Lane Park, and Bass Lake park. Another plug I would make is there are great batting cages at Zachary Lane Play field and at Armstrong High. Another thing I have heard of but never actually checked out is "The Cave." supposedly it's a sweet training facility for softball that is open year round. Also there are sweet indoor batting cages with pitching machines up in Brooklyn Park so you can practice your swing all year long. Check them out HERE.

hoop dreams

Basketball: Nothing like shooting some good hoops. If you haven't played "2 on 2" or "3 on 3" in your driveway for a while, go do it, odds are you've forgotten how fun it is to play on a 7 foot rim, and dust off your 360 Dunk. But if you want to go next level there are a lot of great options in town. Armstrong and Wayzata both have Gym's that I believe have open gym times. Lifetime fitness will let you hoop, for a price. And I know that the Mormon Chuch (2801 Douglas Dr. - Crystal, MN) Has a very nice gym and during the winter months often runs free leagues and open gym drop in nights.

And dont forget about bocce ball!