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My family isn't counting the days, weeks or even the months anymore, but we are counting the memories. What began as a couple of weeks holed up at home could have morphed into a lost year. Instead, we chose to begin each day with the question, What memories are we creating today? Capturing those memories—both joyous and challenging—has become central to our daily lives. Here are some easy ways you can help your kids record feelings and milestones surrounding a most unusual year. [Related: How to celebrate kids' birthdays while social distancing] Memory book Inspired by a school assignment, our children began filling out and coloring in printables related to the new normal. We decided to supplement these with our own pages—including handprints and comic strips—with the ultimate goal of printing a hardcover book. Artwork Allowing youngsters to express their view of a pandemic world through art is helpful in gauging their understanding and how they’re feeling. My youngest daughter, an aspiring doctor, made a detailed image of a Covid-19 patient and a truly creative series of virus watercolors. Memory box To preserve three-dimensional pieces, creating a memory box makes for another interactive project. Adding rocks painted with messages of hope or magazines exploring issues of the day, such as Time for Kids or National Geographic, will be interesting for years to come. Time capsule Or how about creating a time capsule for the next generation to find? Including a newspaper seems like a no-brainer, but ask your kids what else might convey our lives today. A face mask? A popular toy? A recent book? Let their imaginations get to work. Newspaper reporters Children can also be encouraged to create their own newspapers. Explaining that we’re living through history really brings home the momentousness of the current situation. Task them with becoming reporters or bloggers and charge them with noting what is happening right now. [Related: These thoughtful gifts prove showing you care doesn't cost a thing] Video diary Budding movie producers can capture these memories in video format. Immediate family members can be interviewed in person, while Zoom or FaceTime can be used to connect with folks in other parts of the country or world for a broader perspective. How do their experiences differ? How are we all the same? Movie poster If this year were a movie, what would it be called? Who would be the main characters and who would be the stars? Summarizing 2020 in poster format is another creative way to encourage reflection and put the year into a visual format. Poetry and song Of course, memories can also be captured lyrically. There are many different types of poetry youngsters can try their hand at, with free verse or narrative well suited to individual expression. Alternately, given a few musical instruments, kids will quickly develop their own songs. While there is so much of this year we may choose to forget, for our children these are the days they’re witnessing significant history, and as such are worth remembering. Capturing some of these memories in a way that works for your family acts as a counterbalance to the aimless drifting of 2020. It can even bring some hope during an uncertain year.

“Halloween is an opportunity to be really creative” – Judy Gold Never has that been more true than now. So how do you embrace creativity and find a way to celebrate during these strange times? Lights tour When our children were babies we would stroll through the neighborhood on a night prior to Halloween, just enjoying the lights away from the crowds. This activity has now become a part of our annual tradition. We’re truly thankful that we can continue this part of our typical celebration during this distinctly abnormal year. Pumpkin-decorating contest To make a neighborhood tour more personal, you could challenge other families to a pumpkin-decorating contest. Give everyone a few days to check out the competition, then either vote using an online poll (for the truly competitive) or make everyone a winner. Spooky treasure hunt For another distanced activity, create your own neighborhood treasure hunt—with a twist. Take a family walk to spot all the spooky chalk drawings your friends have sketched. Check them all off for a cauldron of goodies at the final stop–your home! Party at home Hats off to anyone who creates their own Zoom party. We can’t quite muster up the will to get online after a week of virtual schooling. Instead, we’re going to party en famille with indoor trick-or-treating. We’re adding some inexpensive orange and black balloons (no helium required) for a homestyle ball pit. And if it’s nice outside, a pinata filled to the brim with candy would seem ideally suited to the occasion. Embrace being inside For once you won’t have to worry about sensible weather-appropriate clothing, so just let your little ones dress up however they please. Task the younger members of your household with writing a script for their random characters, then let them entertain you with a play. Let’s face it, these dress-up clothes are destined to get plenty of wear over the long, likely-stay-at-home months ahead. Costumes with masks And if you are venturing outside, finding costumes that include masks is not that hard. (Aren’t they always reminding us not to bring masks into school at this time of year?) We’ve been thinking about ways to bring virus-protection into costumes. The stores have some cute animal face masks which would be perfect paired with feline onesies. Similarly, dressing up as doctors or surgeons is easy-peasy. Non-traditional parade At this time of year you’re likely mourning your typical Halloween parade, but try remembering that it doesn’t have to follow the usual format. You can have your children walk past the local shops where they will definitely get the desired attention. We might just stand in line at the local donut haunt and have folks filter past us. What’s more fall-appropriate than eating apple cider sugary treats? Character visit There are services where you can hire a character to visit. However, if you have a bunch of parents that are good sports, how about having one of them dress up as a superhero or other fan favorite. (A dad who showed up to daycare as a unicorn is always remembered as a star.) By waving to the kids at a safe distance they will be like the Santa of Halloween. Look to other cultures Sometimes it’s better to embrace change rather than try to do what you always did and fall short. Other cultures can provide inspiration. El Dia de los Muertos is an obvious alternative to Halloween. Or offer up gifts of food to pacify hungry ghosts like they do during the Hong Kong festival of Yue Lan. We might celebrate British Guy Fawkes Day on November 5 with a fire pit in lieu of a bonfire. Now, more than ever, it’s important to teach our children to overcome hurdles, build resilience and employ creativity. What is more emblematic of that than a re-imagined Halloween? Fiona Royer lives in Lincoln Park with her husband, Randall, and their three young children. Originally from the U.K. with a business and creative background, she now works in the Chicago philanthropic community. She believes that giving is the key to a fulfilling life.

When Chicago's stay-at-home order began, like many parents I wondered how we would fill so much time at home with my 22-month-old. Even as a stay-at-home mom, this was a daunting task! I decided to get busy using my elementary-education teaching background to create basic plans for exploration and make the most of our time together. As we draw near the fall and probably another step toward increased distancing, I hope to empower parents with ideas for simple play at home. Creating memories at home together is the first step in your child’s education, and can be done with minimal materials. I believe in learning through play, exploring child-led curiosities and interests, and exposure to as much language and color as possible! Through the eyes of a child, everything within your home is a learning tool! Getting creative with some basic items will encourage hours of play and create lasting memories. Below are some of my favorite materials for our projects, arts and crafts, all of which are pictured and detailed on the Instagram account, @raisingminimoss. [Related: How to keep your kids active inside] Pom poms: These fuzzy balls are so visually exciting! Use these for color sorts, toss and catch, or spooning into muffin tins. Tape paper towel rolls to the wall and create a pom pom drop! Squish some into a kitchen whisk and have your little one use their pincer fingers to get them out. Contact paper: This one-sided sticky paper has filled hours of fun and crafting with my 22-month-old! Stick cotton balls to it and make a sheep or bunny. Use tissue paper scraps to make a suncatcher. Feathers can turn the contact paper into a beautiful bird! My little one loves going on a nature hunt and displaying her found leaves, sticks, and flowers on the paper. Dot stickers: These are the basic ones you can find at the office section of your favorite store, and they can be used in so many different ways! Fine motor skills are practiced when removing the stickers from their paper, hand-eye coordination is practiced when sticking them on a line. They can be great for color sorts and matching activities by putting uppercase/lowercase letters or numbers on them. Bubble wrap: Write letters or numbers on the big bubbles and have your child pop it as you call them out. Wrap a rolling pin with it and roll it through paint—the print is amazing! Paint it and use it as a stamp to make prints of honeycombs or sheep’s wool. My little one’s favorite is to simply put it on the ground and jump. Talk about gross motor skills! [Related: How to celebrate kids' birthdays while social distancing] Paint: My favorite is Crayola Washable Paint. I love it because it washes out of everything, but I still keep baby wipes on hand for quick messes. We love “random object stamping”: pine cones, dried flowers, or even sticks from outside. The bottom of a celery stalk stamps like a rose and apples and citrus fruits make beautiful prints. Forks make amazing prints too, like lion’s fur! Recycling: Take a look at what you are recycling, and upcycle it! Your toilet paper rolls can become binoculars, stamps, or slides for toy cars. Empty tissue boxes can become a bed for dolls, a sorting bin, or with a few rubber bands it can become a guitar. Sensory play: Sensory play encourages motor skills, scientific thinking and problem-solving, and is so much fun for exploration! Shaving cream, popcorn kernels, and even shredded paper can provide a great sensory experience to explore. Toss in a few small toys and have your child fish them out. There are lots of taste-safe options, too: yogurt, Jell-O, Cool Whip, food-coloring-dyed spaghetti noodles, ice cubes and even dried lentils. Beyond these projects, reading, singing and sharing nursery rhymes encourage language skills. Your young child’s brain is a sponge! Use books as a springboard for projects and talking about various topics. Include your child in at-home chores such as laundry sorting, stirring and mixing in the kitchen, and pulling out pots and pans to make instruments. Take advantage of this time together and make some special memories. By seeing the world through your child’s eyes, you, too, will develop a sense of wonder and creativity! Allow yourself to be empowered by your own ideas—you and your children will be glad you did! And when in doubt, just dance!

Inactivity during winter months can have a negative effect on a family’s physical and mental health. Research has shown when kids don’t get enough activity, it could result in difficulty sleeping, behavior problems, and inattention for academic tasks. That’s why it’s important to keep your kids active all year round, especially during those long winter months. And no one understands this more than Chicagoans! To stay active while not having to leave your house, we’ve put together some fun ideas to help your family stay sane and survive inside. Living room warrior course You can create gross motor obstacle courses in your home using everyday items. Use step stools to step up and down — or, even better, jump to stay off of the “hot lava” (which is the carpet, of course); walk along a tightrope (aka a taped line on the floor); practice balancing while stepping across floating islands in the ocean (better known as couch cushions). Other great ideas to add to your obstacle course: animal walks (such as bear walking or frog jumping from one point to another), skipping or hopping on one foot, or crawling through stacked up pillows or under blankets. Encourage your child to follow this path in order to retrieve pieces for a puzzle from one end of the room to another, or see how long it takes them to finish the obstacle course. Have them “beat their personal best” without stepping off of any obstacles along the way! Dance party! Turn up the music and move your bodies to your favorite tunes. Ask your child for their request and DJ their own personal dance party. Instead of sitting to watch a movie, play your children’s favorite soundtrack from the film and have a dance off or act out the movie. Another fun dance game is to try a “copy dance.” Each participant teaches their favorite move for the other family members to master. Some older children may even want to make up their own routine and put on a performance for the family. Announce them to the stage and encourage costume changes! You can also practice listening skills with a game of freeze dance. The rules are simple: dance when the music plays and freeze when it stops. First one to move is out! Lights, camera, action Kids can use their imagination to put on a play for family members. They can recreate their own version of their favorite book or movie, or write an original script. Encourage your child to design their own costume using their clothes or by making a costume with paper, fabric and the universal sewing machine — a stapler! To add even more fun, they can use items to create a “stage” such as hanging a sheet for a curtain or finding props for their performance. Find your chi Teach your little yogis some kid-friendly poses using premade yoga cards. YouTube has great yoga practices, as well, that are frequently “themed” and set to music. (Can you say Star Wars yoga poses, my young padawan?) Yoga practice can keep your kids moving while improving their balance and flexibility. It’s a great way for all ages to play together and help stretch away the winter blues. Hopscotch it down the hallway In order to play hopscotch inside, use construction paper, stickers or tape on tile or hardwood to make the hopscotch game pattern almost anywhere. Encourage kids to skip areas by throwing a stuffed animal at a square to skip over. Family game night Instead of sitting to play a board game, try choosing a family game like Twister or Charades to encourage more gross motor movement! This is a surefire way to stay active and add a lot of laughs to an evening. Bounce your sillies out A mini trampoline is great way to keep moving that does not take up a lot of space. Many fold up and can fit neatly under the bed until the next jumping emergency. Find your happy sensory place Make sensory bins for your child to experiment with. Fill up plastic contains with water beads, dried food goods (corn kernels, rice, beans, pasta etc.), kinetic sand, or cornstarch and water. Allow kids to put their hands (and maybe even feet?) in them. You can hide toys in the bins and go on a treasure hunt! Hopefully, we’ve got you started with some good ideas to get your creative juices flowing, your kids movin’ and groovin’, and everyone’s lives a little saner to survive the winter blues. Happy motoring!

You’ve been there: the “best party ever.” There are games, music, characters, and an entertainer taking pictures and playing with your children. But now, it’s your turn to plan the birthday party for your child and you want the same or better experience. Before you jump to hire the first company you find in your Facebook’s mommy group, it’s important to consider who — and what — you’re dealing with. As the president of a kids’ entertainment company, I can shed some light on the subject. Are you calling a legit/legal company? There are tons of people advertising themselves as “entertainment companies for children,” and most of them are not legit companies. You’ll recognize them because they want you to pay in cash, they don’t have a website, or their social media pages are poorly done or non-existent. Check the small print: Real companies should have an LLC or Inc. after their name. Who works for this company? You wouldn’t invite a stranger into your home, right? Make sure you ask: Are background checks and drug tests regularly required of employees? Many companies (especially the ones that aren’t legal) send whoever is available to work, and many times they don’t even know the performer. I once heard a mom saying that the person she hired came intoxicated and the kids could smell the alcohol. Is the company insured? Did you know that even face painters should carry insurance? Always ask. Why is insurance so important? Let’s say the kids are having a lot of fun and while dancing, someone bumps into a speaker and it falls and injures a child. I’m sure you don’t want to deal with a lawsuit. Insurance means the company is liable, so you’re not. Is the show age-appropriate for your child and guests? We’ve all seen those characters twerking on Facebook. Ask what kind of music the entertainer plans to use during the show. You can even ask about the type of games they will be playing. Have you checked the reviews? It’s common sense: Before hiring a company, shop around. If you see a company with a high number of likes on Facebook and tons of great reviews, go for it! Read the reviews, privately contact the company, and ask questions. Usually, companies with a low number of likes and no reviews are a red flag. Yes, parties are hard to plan. But the smile of your child that says, “This was the best party ever!” is worth the effort of asking a few questions and doing your research.

Your preschooler can count to 50, maybe even 100. But does your child know what five means? It turns out that understanding the “fiveness” of five is far more important for a solid foundation in math than the ability to recite a string of numbers in the right order. And you can keep building this foundation all summer long. Since 2007, the Erikson Institute’s Early Math Collaborative has been helping teachers discover ways to improve math instruction for young children. Substitute “parents” for “teachers,” and our first “big idea” involves having your young children sort the laundry or the silverware. The big lesson to be learned from chores like these is that any collection can be sorted in more than one way. So while we sort by light versus dark before the wash, we might sort by clothing type — socks, shirts, pants — afterward. All with the same exact items. It’s not conventional math. It doesn’t require memorization. But it helps young children understand the concept of a category and gives them experience in creating sets. Because you can’t count apples, for instance, until you’ve figured out which are apples and which are bananas. When it comes to counting, it’s one thing to understand that three comes after two and before four. That’s the skill in a “count to 50” task. But what’s more meaningful is to understand that three is one more than two, and one less than four. It’s known as the cardinal meaning of a number. And it’s easier for children to learn when we couple a counting process with a total quantity. For example, let’s say there are five stairs leading to your porch. It’s not enough to count “one, two, three, four, five.” To help toddlers quickly pick up the meaning of the numbers, conclude with, “See? There are five stairs.” This ties the sequence to the quantity, giving your child a chance to construct a meaningful understanding of five. Taking this up another level of difficulty would be this scenario: Say the 10 townhomes on your block all look the same and all have five stairs leading to the porch. Now ask your child, if an 11th townhome were to be built, how many stairs do you think it would have? This is pattern recognition. What’s so powerful about it is that it enables children to anticipate what comes next. It allows for predictability in kids’ lives. And they love it. It’s why toddlers want the same song sung over and over again and love books that repeat a rhyme but add one new twist on each page. Patterns help kids feel confident and safe because they know what’s going to happen next. And in math, pattern recognition is the first step to algebraic thinking. Even when your child is on summer break, the day is full of simple ways that families can inject math into a meaningful activity. Just remember that it’s not just the counting that matters — it’s the patterns and the sets that the numbers create.

Is your whole family about to lose their minds to cabin fever? Don’t let it get you down! There is so much free or cheap indoor and outdoor fun to be had. Here are some activities you and your special-needs kiddo can enjoy. Around town activities Free museum days Adler Planetarium, Chicago Children’s Museum, dancing with the kiddos at the Chicago Cultural Center, sensory Saturday at the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium and the Chicago History Museum. Conservatory exploration Explore beautiful plant life at the Lincoln Park Conservatory and the Garfield Park Conservatory. It’s always free and it feels like you are visiting the tropics! Live theater See a play that will accommodate those who have sensory issues at Lifeline Theatre and Chicago Children’s Theatre. Music Get out and do some serious dancing with your kiddos! Beat Kitchen has a whole kids' concert series! Indoor water parks Splash Landings Aquatic Center in Glenview, The Water Works in Schaumburg and Pelican Harbor Aquatic Park in Bolingbrook Trampoline park Sky High Sports offers discounted open play every Tuesday just for your special-needs kiddos! Obstacle and agility courses For those kiddos who crave climbing and hanging, check out Ultimate Ninjas for open-play weekends. Outreach play Misericordia offers a great play program that gives you a chance to meet and mingle with other parents while volunteers play with your child. Free play KEEN Chicago: Kids Enjoy Exercise Now! Chicago Park District's special rec programs CPD has a lot of available programs for our kiddos. You do have to sign up early as spaces fill very quickly. Sledding and skating Try sledding at one of the Chicago Park District parks. Our favorite hills are Oz Park, Horner Park, Gompers Park and Warren Park. Get skating in at Maggie Daley ice skating ribbon, Warren Park and Wrigley Field. Indoor home activities Sensory bins Create one or a few sensory bins using Insta-Snow, water beads, dried beans, shaving cream or cotton balls to hide and search for treasures. Dress up! Put those old costumes to good use and get dressed up for some pretend play. Have a very posh tea party, get rescued by your favorite little superhero or have your kiddo cure all of his or her stuffed animals boo-boos! Dance party Turn on that music and work out some serious energy! We have different genres programmed on Pandora, like Disney, Kidz Bop, Laurie Berkner, Fresh Beat Band and School House Rock, to name a few! Build a blanket fort and camp inside Make some s’mores Rice Krispies treats with the kiddos and heat up some hot chocolate! Family game day Play Twister, Charades, Old Maid, Hungry Hungry Hippos or whatever you have on hand to enjoy together! Art day Hold a painting party and drink apple cider from fancy glasses. Try re-creating a famous artist’s piece using paint, construction paper, beans, yarn or pasta! Winter can be lots of fun if you get a little creative! Enjoy!

It’s that time of year: shortened days of sunlight, exhaustion from all the holidays and we’re stuck inside with little ones, ready to pull our hair out. How could anyone survive this, let alone enjoy it? Yes, these are tough days, but with a few helpful hints, we are going to have fun! It may just be changing up the same old routine with a few new and different things. Enjoy the time together and know spring will eventually return. Turn on the tunes I always put on music, as it changes the atmosphere and lifts the energy of the house. You don’t have to choose children’s music, either. Select something you like, perhaps the Beatles or Coldplay, and alternate. Declare a “dance party” and turn the volume up. Shed some light Next, I turn on all the lights and lamps. Light has been proven to lift our spirits, especially when we are missing hours of natural daylight that we had during the summer. When eating lunch, I light pillar candles and the children are fascinated by the dancing flame—same at dinner time. Plan a picnic Speaking of meals, I toss a blanket on the floor and we have a picnic inside. Then, when that meal is done, I use the same blanket (if there aren’t too many food spills) for a makeshift fort over the dining room table. Of course, you can put chairs together or other pieces of furniture, but I like draping a blanket over one end of the table to create a three-sided enclosed space. Toss in some pillows, flashlights, books, or whatever else you like. Get creative If your children are not napping, consider doing some table work, like “snow play.” Buy a box of instant potato flakes. Pour the box into a 9x13 cake pan or any container, and let them pretend it’s snow. Give them some measuring spoons, use sand toys from the summer, and if you add some water, the flakes get starchy and you can form little snowballs. Same with water, for “water play”: Pour warm water in a dish and give the kids spoons and small cups. Just remember to put a towel under the dish to catch splashing water. Raid the pantry Make some graham cracker “houses.” Yes, get out those stale graham crackers that no one wanted for a snack, dig up some store-bought frosting and sprinkles, and let the kids decorate the fronts of the crackers. Use frosting “cement” to stick crackers together, repeating until you’ve formed a cube. …and more! Other activities include browsing through photo albums or pictures and reliving the memories. Balloons make a great chasing game if you blow them up, and let them go. They dart, fly, and go in all different directions. Instead of designated screen time for one or two shows, consider combining it for a movie that day, especially if you have family videos you can watch. Laurie Empen created and leads Ms. Laurie’s Play Group in Lincoln Square. She earned a master’s degree in Child Development from Erikson Institute and continues to care for children and consult with families on issues of discipline, potty training, sensory concerns and more.

Your child might know what half a cookie is, but how about 4/8 of a pie, or 2/4 of a pizza? If your child knows that all of these fractions mean the same thing, she's well on her way to understanding equivalent fractions. But if fractions strike fear into your child during homework hour, here’s a hands-on way to help her understand how common fractions can be equivalent. What you need: 8 ½ x11 plain white paper Colored pencils Lined notebook paper What you do: Begin by asking your child what equivalent means. If she's having trouble, help her find a familiar word within the word (“equal”). To gauge how clear or unclear she is on the concept, ask her to explain it to you. You can even mention that you can't remember the concept from when you were in school, and that you would love a refresher course from her. This may relieve whatever pressure your child may feel if she is uncertain about the concept. Tell her that you will work together to figure it out. Give your child the piece of 8 ½ x 11 paper. Have her hold it horizontally (if your child confuses horizontal with vertical, tell him/her that horizontal is like the horizon). Have her fold the paper in half, then open it up again, and ask her to shade in half the paper using a colored pencil. Tell your child to now fold the paper into fourths (i.e., half, then half again). Ask your child to open up the paper. Ask her how many fourths are equivalent to one half. When your child figures out that 2/4 = 1/2, encourage your child write this equation on the lined piece of notebook paper for future reference and review. Repeat Step 3, but go on to fold it into eighths and then sixteenths, each time having your child write down the fractions that are equivalent to 1/2. As an extension activity, you can have your child write down all the other equivalent fractions he/she sees, like 2/8 = 1/4 and 2/16 =1/8, etc. You can continue this activity with thirds, sixths, twelfths and twenty-fourths. You child will be surprised at how fractions that look big and "scary" as actually the very same fractions that they are familiar with! Post provided by education.com.

I was a theater major (turned banker), so naturally I enjoy music and performance, and my husband is a big opera fan. We're also parents to two toddlers, so music is an essential part of our family life. Before kids, my husband and I used to go to a dozen shows each opera season, and now we still go to half dozen shows as a date night, sans kids. (I know some who have parents tried, but personally I don’t think it is wise to take kids under five to the opera.) While my kids are too young to step inside the Civic Opera House, we often play opera for them. There are numerous studies about the "Mozart effect" on brain development in children, so I won’t go there. For me, there are simply three benefits to exposing my children to opera: They learn to focus Most of the opera shows have dramatic voices and movements and fancy costumes, which catch kids’ attention. In the digital world of overstimulation, I always wonder how our kids are going to learn if they can hardly focus. Some operas have unbearably long pieces, so start with one you like and truncate them into a 3-minutes spans to play for your kids. Here is my playlist of four well-known pieces I play for my kids often. My almost three-year-old practices her vocals after I play them every time. They learn another language If you are type A or multicultural parents (or both, like me), you're likely keen to start the second language as early as newborn. Studies show early childhood foreign language learning provides higher academia achievement and positive cultural enrichment. And almost all the opera masterpieces are in Italian, Spanish, French or German, so besides learning to count in Spanish from 1 to 10, kids can also learn words from master composers. They learn about romance Opera is all about LOVE! Our country need it so much, especially in this political climate. All operas somehow involve romance. A tenor could sing for 15 minutes about how much he adores the eyes of his lover (who does that now?). Unfortunately, somebody has to die at the end of the story, for the big love sacrifice.

As warm weather approaches, the great outdoors seems to beckon children and parents alike. Slides, swings, and climbing structures welcome summer play with open arms, and parents enjoy watching their children release energy freely. While playground equipment is engaging for a time, it can quickly become dull when used in the same manner everyday. Below are some ways to make outside time more enjoyable and allow parents to be active participants in the excitement of summer while strengthening their child’s development. Gross motor Dance barefoot on plastic mats covered in shampoo- keep your balance! Set up items from around the house to create an outdoor obstacle course. Write many gross motor activities on cards and put them in a bucket. Try to get through all of the cards as quickly as possible. Examples: Gallop to the tree and jump 10 times. Hop up the hill and roll down. Social studies Walk around your neighborhood and write down interesting places you see. When you get home, make a neighborhood map including the places you noted. Make a list of different sounds in your community and try to find them as you walk around. Ex: bus horn, goose honk, bicycle bell. Math/science Count change at home and write down your total amount. Head to the farmer’s market and discover all you can do with that money! Purchase a snack, purchase berries and make squish art on white paper, tip the musician. Mud day! Wear bathing suits and have tubs of mud for children to explore. Add baking and measuring supplies, plastic animals, and toy vehicles and let imaginations fly. Ask thought provoking questions such as, “How do we make mud?” and “Why do you think this mud is thicker than that mud?” Explore with bubbles and then try to make your own solution. What makes up bubble solution? What is important to add? Have many liquid materials for your child to experiment with- let them make silly, smelly, and strange concoctions. Did any of them work? Why or why not? Art Hang a white bed sheet between trees. Fill spray bottles with watercolors and blast away at the sheet! “Paint” trees and sidewalks with paintbrushes and water. To make it more colorful, draw with chalk and then paint over the design. Tape paper down a slide. Dip toy cars in paint and race them down the slide. If the slide is unavailable, this can be done on a flat surface. Literacy Search the city for alphabet letter representations (a gate shaped like a T or tree branches shaped like a Y). Take a photo of the letters you find and try to make an entire alphabet book! Tape alphabet letters to a Twister mat and call out alphabet letters or sounds instead of colors. Story Stones--draw pictures of nature onto stones (or cut and tape from magazines). Arrange them in different sequences to create multiple summer stories.

Chicago’s winter months can be long and exhausting. The lack of sunlight, bitter cold and the feeling of being cooped up indoors can be challenging for any family–especially for ones dealing with spirited children. Coming up with fresh, fun activities to burn excess energy and get away from the television may seem like a chore, so here are some ideas to help: [Related: Make winter in Chicago your favorite season with these outdoor activities] 1. Indoor play spaces Indoor play areas can be great opportunities to allow your child to socialize with other kids and maybe even give you a bit of a break (or some adult conversation). Kids can run around, jump and just have fun, giving them a chance to spend some time keeping healthy and burning energy. 2. Sledding If the snow is right, Chicago-area parks have some great sledding hills. It will provide your family a chance to play in the snow and catch some downhill speed. 3. Museums Chicago is known for its incredible museums. From small niche-based museums to the larger, world-class locales, there is something for children at all of them. If you have fun and think you’ll go often, many museums allow you to purchase a membership after your visit and reimburse that day's admittance (and also grant you FREE parking)! 4. Swimming Check you and your child into an indoor pool. Swimming is often so linked to summer that a dip in the pool is a great way to forget the cold. Chicago Park Districts and many gyms have pools that you can access during the winter months. 5. Shopping malls and movies Your child may hate shopping, but she probably doesn't hate the play areas at malls. Most Chicago malls have fun activities for kids, from carousels to basic play spaces. Many are also located near movie theaters for a family-friendly film as a special treat. Some days the cold and snow just won’t let you leave, so here are suggestions to do at home: 6. Indoor Olympics Set up some friendly competition during a play date with safe, easy challenges. Increase the fun and spirit with special awards or medals for winning. You can even integrate some activities where parents compete with the children. [Related: How to keep your kids active inside] 7. Blanket fort building Children 2–14 love blanket fort building. While you can purchase a building set, you can still setup chairs between walls, sofas or other obstacles to build your fort. Don’t forget the tasty snacks and flashlights! 8. Obstacle course Children love a challenge. Set up an obstacle course around your house and see if your children can complete the task. Allow your child to add new challenges or setup a time trial. This can be especially beneficial for children in OT. 9. Board games Not all board games are equal. Everyone has their favorite and their own set of rules. Add a few fun twists to your normal game for more interesting outcomes or opportunities. You can even add some physical challenges to your board game to make it more interactive. 10. Snowball fight This may sound messy, but make it indoor-friendly with loofas and music—freeze when the music stops and resume when it continues. Count your hits or just have fun. Add some strategy to it with a capture the flag between blanket forts or pillow shields.