1. Indoor Play Areas<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nMost cities boast at least a few of these. Picture a giant room full of slides and pretend play areas and tumbling equipment specifically designed to wear your kids out. My Gym<\/a> has sites nationwide or if you are local, Monkey\u2019s Treehouse<\/a> is a good one. Trampoline parks are always a big hit with older kids However, you will not catch me participating. Double bouncing is evil and I will not be a part of it.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_0882-e1482253231660-247x300.jpg?resize=247%2C300\")
Monkey’s Treehouse, where trees grow inside and spout slides.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2. Home Depot Kids\u2019 Workshops<\/a><\/strong>–<\/h3>\nThey have an excellent kid crafts zone where kids get their own aprons and can make a project on the spot. Call your local store to find out the schedule.<\/p>\n
3. The Mall-<\/strong><\/h3>\nSeriously. They have a play area, food at the ready and rentable strollers that look like cars.<\/p>\n
4. Day trip-<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe are planning to go to an aquarium about two hours from our house. It\u2019s indoors in a new city. Trips that are under three hours usually leave your sanity intact and you can get there and back in one day, meaning no money spent on hotels and no overnight packing, which is a game-changer in our world.<\/p>\n
5. Costco\/Sam\u2019s<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nThis may not sound like a fun kid adventure but it is when it includes unlimited food samples, giant stuffed animals, and aisles for (supervised) running. And you can get your giant thirty-two pack of paper towels while you\u2019re at it.<\/p>\n
6. Science\/Art\/Music Center-<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe have a science center in town that boasts the kind of planetarium you could cozy up in and stare vacantly at all day long. If your kids can\u2019t sit for more than five minutes, however, it also has age appropriate activities and science demonstrations. Most of this stuff is hands-on, which we love and is wheelchair friendly. Look up what kind of \u201ccenters\u201d might be near you: space, science, arts, music.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ScienceCenter.jpg?resize=300%2C199\")
Kid centers rock.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
7. Pool-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s obvious but extra fun when it\u2019s twenty degrees out and the neighborhood pool doesn\u2019t open for six more months. Most local recreation centers have indoor pools. Call ahead to see if there are free swim times.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2367.jpg?resize=300%2C225\")
Swim love.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
8. Children\u2019s Museum-<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\nI so wish we had one of these nearby. It\u2019s like walking in to a tiny version of the real world, but more colorful. EVERYTHING is hands on from music rooms and art rooms to castle exhibits and grocery stores and banks where you actually shop and check out. There are water tables and firetrucks and pirate ships and an infant and toddler play areas. Basically a world where kids run the show.<\/p>\n
9. Skate Center (both ice and roller)<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI loved the roller rink as a kid. Not the actual skating part (I was terrible at it and held on to the wall), but everything else: the arcade games where you could win tickets and buy prizes, pretzels as big as your face and gummy ropes. Indoor ice skating still gives you the winter vibes (cold + steaming hot chocolate) minus the outdoor element.<\/p>\n
10. Pottery Painting-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s fun if you can comfortably watch your kids destroy their clothes and bodies with paint. Come on, it\u2019ll be good for you. And whatever they make will last forever (or until they break it) which gives you a nice memento.<\/p>\n
11. Cooking class<\/a><\/strong>–<\/h3>\nWhole Foods offers cooking classes for kids based on age level as do many restaurants and bakeries. Google kids\u2019 cooking classes in your area to find out what\u2019s available. I would have loved this as a kid and even my toddlers always want to \u201chelp\u201d me cook dinner. This gets you out of the house and keeps your kitchen clean, a win-win.<\/p>\n
12. Library Story Time-<\/strong><\/h3>\nAlmost every library offers story times for toddlers and preschool ages. A little tip: the downtown branch usually gives the biggest show: puppets, guest readers, dances and live music. I rarely remember the book that was read, but we are always entertained.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_1747.jpg?resize=300%2C225\")
Song and dance, complete with scarves, at library story time.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
13. Train\/trolley Ride<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nIt doesn\u2019t have to be Thomas the Train to entertain. If you live in a city with a decent subway system, this may not be quite as enticing for you, but for those of use with fairly non-existent metro transportation, this one is a win with the kids. Find a commuter train near you or if you have a trolley system, as we do, park the car and ride a while. Any new environment is worth a ticket and hour of your time.<\/p>\n
14. Fire Station<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI\u2019m not joking here. I can\u2019t speak for ALL fire stations, but when we politely drive up to our local fire station they often let us come in and tour the trucks. They usually turn on the lights for us and sometimes the siren if the kids are looking especially huggable.<\/p>\n
15. Fast food play areas-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, we do this and I know you do to. I don\u2019t love McDonald\u2019s but I do love their end game. They always have the biggest PlayPlace and it\u2019s like the mall: kids get fed and energy gets released. I\u2019ll okay some fast food chicken nuggets for the greater cause.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2196.jpg?resize=300%2C300\")
It may not be handicap accessible, but we’ll make it work.<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2256-e1482253558694-225x300.jpg?resize=225%2C300\")
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BONUS IDEA: Be a tourist in your own town-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYou get used to a place. You forget your kids are still learning the ropes. Pretend you\u2019re a tourist for a day. Find the best donut shop, the local battlefield, the iconic restaurant or sports arena and pop in or do a drive-by. I can guarantee the kids will be impressed even if it\u2019s old hat to you and you get to watch someone else experience it for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are your go-to activities in winter when the kids are out of school?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Monkey’s Treehouse, where trees grow inside and spout slides.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2. Home Depot Kids\u2019 Workshops<\/a><\/strong>–<\/h3>\nThey have an excellent kid crafts zone where kids get their own aprons and can make a project on the spot. Call your local store to find out the schedule.<\/p>\n
3. The Mall-<\/strong><\/h3>\nSeriously. They have a play area, food at the ready and rentable strollers that look like cars.<\/p>\n
4. Day trip-<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe are planning to go to an aquarium about two hours from our house. It\u2019s indoors in a new city. Trips that are under three hours usually leave your sanity intact and you can get there and back in one day, meaning no money spent on hotels and no overnight packing, which is a game-changer in our world.<\/p>\n
5. Costco\/Sam\u2019s<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nThis may not sound like a fun kid adventure but it is when it includes unlimited food samples, giant stuffed animals, and aisles for (supervised) running. And you can get your giant thirty-two pack of paper towels while you\u2019re at it.<\/p>\n
6. Science\/Art\/Music Center-<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe have a science center in town that boasts the kind of planetarium you could cozy up in and stare vacantly at all day long. If your kids can\u2019t sit for more than five minutes, however, it also has age appropriate activities and science demonstrations. Most of this stuff is hands-on, which we love and is wheelchair friendly. Look up what kind of \u201ccenters\u201d might be near you: space, science, arts, music.<\/p>\n
Kid centers rock.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
7. Pool-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s obvious but extra fun when it\u2019s twenty degrees out and the neighborhood pool doesn\u2019t open for six more months. Most local recreation centers have indoor pools. Call ahead to see if there are free swim times.<\/p>\n
Swim love.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
8. Children\u2019s Museum-<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\nI so wish we had one of these nearby. It\u2019s like walking in to a tiny version of the real world, but more colorful. EVERYTHING is hands on from music rooms and art rooms to castle exhibits and grocery stores and banks where you actually shop and check out. There are water tables and firetrucks and pirate ships and an infant and toddler play areas. Basically a world where kids run the show.<\/p>\n
9. Skate Center (both ice and roller)<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI loved the roller rink as a kid. Not the actual skating part (I was terrible at it and held on to the wall), but everything else: the arcade games where you could win tickets and buy prizes, pretzels as big as your face and gummy ropes. Indoor ice skating still gives you the winter vibes (cold + steaming hot chocolate) minus the outdoor element.<\/p>\n
10. Pottery Painting-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s fun if you can comfortably watch your kids destroy their clothes and bodies with paint. Come on, it\u2019ll be good for you. And whatever they make will last forever (or until they break it) which gives you a nice memento.<\/p>\n
11. Cooking class<\/a><\/strong>–<\/h3>\nWhole Foods offers cooking classes for kids based on age level as do many restaurants and bakeries. Google kids\u2019 cooking classes in your area to find out what\u2019s available. I would have loved this as a kid and even my toddlers always want to \u201chelp\u201d me cook dinner. This gets you out of the house and keeps your kitchen clean, a win-win.<\/p>\n
12. Library Story Time-<\/strong><\/h3>\nAlmost every library offers story times for toddlers and preschool ages. A little tip: the downtown branch usually gives the biggest show: puppets, guest readers, dances and live music. I rarely remember the book that was read, but we are always entertained.<\/p>\n
Song and dance, complete with scarves, at library story time.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
13. Train\/trolley Ride<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nIt doesn\u2019t have to be Thomas the Train to entertain. If you live in a city with a decent subway system, this may not be quite as enticing for you, but for those of use with fairly non-existent metro transportation, this one is a win with the kids. Find a commuter train near you or if you have a trolley system, as we do, park the car and ride a while. Any new environment is worth a ticket and hour of your time.<\/p>\n
14. Fire Station<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI\u2019m not joking here. I can\u2019t speak for ALL fire stations, but when we politely drive up to our local fire station they often let us come in and tour the trucks. They usually turn on the lights for us and sometimes the siren if the kids are looking especially huggable.<\/p>\n
15. Fast food play areas-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, we do this and I know you do to. I don\u2019t love McDonald\u2019s but I do love their end game. They always have the biggest PlayPlace and it\u2019s like the mall: kids get fed and energy gets released. I\u2019ll okay some fast food chicken nuggets for the greater cause.<\/p>\n
It may not be handicap accessible, but we’ll make it work.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BONUS IDEA: Be a tourist in your own town-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYou get used to a place. You forget your kids are still learning the ropes. Pretend you\u2019re a tourist for a day. Find the best donut shop, the local battlefield, the iconic restaurant or sports arena and pop in or do a drive-by. I can guarantee the kids will be impressed even if it\u2019s old hat to you and you get to watch someone else experience it for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are your go-to activities in winter when the kids are out of school?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Seriously. They have a play area, food at the ready and rentable strollers that look like cars.<\/p>\n
4. Day trip-<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe are planning to go to an aquarium about two hours from our house. It\u2019s indoors in a new city. Trips that are under three hours usually leave your sanity intact and you can get there and back in one day, meaning no money spent on hotels and no overnight packing, which is a game-changer in our world.<\/p>\n
5. Costco\/Sam\u2019s<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nThis may not sound like a fun kid adventure but it is when it includes unlimited food samples, giant stuffed animals, and aisles for (supervised) running. And you can get your giant thirty-two pack of paper towels while you\u2019re at it.<\/p>\n
6. Science\/Art\/Music Center-<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe have a science center in town that boasts the kind of planetarium you could cozy up in and stare vacantly at all day long. If your kids can\u2019t sit for more than five minutes, however, it also has age appropriate activities and science demonstrations. Most of this stuff is hands-on, which we love and is wheelchair friendly. Look up what kind of \u201ccenters\u201d might be near you: space, science, arts, music.<\/p>\n
Kid centers rock.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
7. Pool-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s obvious but extra fun when it\u2019s twenty degrees out and the neighborhood pool doesn\u2019t open for six more months. Most local recreation centers have indoor pools. Call ahead to see if there are free swim times.<\/p>\n
Swim love.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
8. Children\u2019s Museum-<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\nI so wish we had one of these nearby. It\u2019s like walking in to a tiny version of the real world, but more colorful. EVERYTHING is hands on from music rooms and art rooms to castle exhibits and grocery stores and banks where you actually shop and check out. There are water tables and firetrucks and pirate ships and an infant and toddler play areas. Basically a world where kids run the show.<\/p>\n
9. Skate Center (both ice and roller)<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI loved the roller rink as a kid. Not the actual skating part (I was terrible at it and held on to the wall), but everything else: the arcade games where you could win tickets and buy prizes, pretzels as big as your face and gummy ropes. Indoor ice skating still gives you the winter vibes (cold + steaming hot chocolate) minus the outdoor element.<\/p>\n
10. Pottery Painting-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s fun if you can comfortably watch your kids destroy their clothes and bodies with paint. Come on, it\u2019ll be good for you. And whatever they make will last forever (or until they break it) which gives you a nice memento.<\/p>\n
11. Cooking class<\/a><\/strong>–<\/h3>\nWhole Foods offers cooking classes for kids based on age level as do many restaurants and bakeries. Google kids\u2019 cooking classes in your area to find out what\u2019s available. I would have loved this as a kid and even my toddlers always want to \u201chelp\u201d me cook dinner. This gets you out of the house and keeps your kitchen clean, a win-win.<\/p>\n
12. Library Story Time-<\/strong><\/h3>\nAlmost every library offers story times for toddlers and preschool ages. A little tip: the downtown branch usually gives the biggest show: puppets, guest readers, dances and live music. I rarely remember the book that was read, but we are always entertained.<\/p>\n
Song and dance, complete with scarves, at library story time.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
13. Train\/trolley Ride<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nIt doesn\u2019t have to be Thomas the Train to entertain. If you live in a city with a decent subway system, this may not be quite as enticing for you, but for those of use with fairly non-existent metro transportation, this one is a win with the kids. Find a commuter train near you or if you have a trolley system, as we do, park the car and ride a while. Any new environment is worth a ticket and hour of your time.<\/p>\n
14. Fire Station<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI\u2019m not joking here. I can\u2019t speak for ALL fire stations, but when we politely drive up to our local fire station they often let us come in and tour the trucks. They usually turn on the lights for us and sometimes the siren if the kids are looking especially huggable.<\/p>\n
15. Fast food play areas-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, we do this and I know you do to. I don\u2019t love McDonald\u2019s but I do love their end game. They always have the biggest PlayPlace and it\u2019s like the mall: kids get fed and energy gets released. I\u2019ll okay some fast food chicken nuggets for the greater cause.<\/p>\n
It may not be handicap accessible, but we’ll make it work.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BONUS IDEA: Be a tourist in your own town-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYou get used to a place. You forget your kids are still learning the ropes. Pretend you\u2019re a tourist for a day. Find the best donut shop, the local battlefield, the iconic restaurant or sports arena and pop in or do a drive-by. I can guarantee the kids will be impressed even if it\u2019s old hat to you and you get to watch someone else experience it for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are your go-to activities in winter when the kids are out of school?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
This may not sound like a fun kid adventure but it is when it includes unlimited food samples, giant stuffed animals, and aisles for (supervised) running. And you can get your giant thirty-two pack of paper towels while you\u2019re at it.<\/p>\n
6. Science\/Art\/Music Center-<\/strong><\/h3>\nWe have a science center in town that boasts the kind of planetarium you could cozy up in and stare vacantly at all day long. If your kids can\u2019t sit for more than five minutes, however, it also has age appropriate activities and science demonstrations. Most of this stuff is hands-on, which we love and is wheelchair friendly. Look up what kind of \u201ccenters\u201d might be near you: space, science, arts, music.<\/p>\n
Kid centers rock.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
7. Pool-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s obvious but extra fun when it\u2019s twenty degrees out and the neighborhood pool doesn\u2019t open for six more months. Most local recreation centers have indoor pools. Call ahead to see if there are free swim times.<\/p>\n
Swim love.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
8. Children\u2019s Museum-<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\nI so wish we had one of these nearby. It\u2019s like walking in to a tiny version of the real world, but more colorful. EVERYTHING is hands on from music rooms and art rooms to castle exhibits and grocery stores and banks where you actually shop and check out. There are water tables and firetrucks and pirate ships and an infant and toddler play areas. Basically a world where kids run the show.<\/p>\n
9. Skate Center (both ice and roller)<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI loved the roller rink as a kid. Not the actual skating part (I was terrible at it and held on to the wall), but everything else: the arcade games where you could win tickets and buy prizes, pretzels as big as your face and gummy ropes. Indoor ice skating still gives you the winter vibes (cold + steaming hot chocolate) minus the outdoor element.<\/p>\n
10. Pottery Painting-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s fun if you can comfortably watch your kids destroy their clothes and bodies with paint. Come on, it\u2019ll be good for you. And whatever they make will last forever (or until they break it) which gives you a nice memento.<\/p>\n
11. Cooking class<\/a><\/strong>–<\/h3>\nWhole Foods offers cooking classes for kids based on age level as do many restaurants and bakeries. Google kids\u2019 cooking classes in your area to find out what\u2019s available. I would have loved this as a kid and even my toddlers always want to \u201chelp\u201d me cook dinner. This gets you out of the house and keeps your kitchen clean, a win-win.<\/p>\n
12. Library Story Time-<\/strong><\/h3>\nAlmost every library offers story times for toddlers and preschool ages. A little tip: the downtown branch usually gives the biggest show: puppets, guest readers, dances and live music. I rarely remember the book that was read, but we are always entertained.<\/p>\n
Song and dance, complete with scarves, at library story time.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
13. Train\/trolley Ride<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nIt doesn\u2019t have to be Thomas the Train to entertain. If you live in a city with a decent subway system, this may not be quite as enticing for you, but for those of use with fairly non-existent metro transportation, this one is a win with the kids. Find a commuter train near you or if you have a trolley system, as we do, park the car and ride a while. Any new environment is worth a ticket and hour of your time.<\/p>\n
14. Fire Station<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI\u2019m not joking here. I can\u2019t speak for ALL fire stations, but when we politely drive up to our local fire station they often let us come in and tour the trucks. They usually turn on the lights for us and sometimes the siren if the kids are looking especially huggable.<\/p>\n
15. Fast food play areas-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, we do this and I know you do to. I don\u2019t love McDonald\u2019s but I do love their end game. They always have the biggest PlayPlace and it\u2019s like the mall: kids get fed and energy gets released. I\u2019ll okay some fast food chicken nuggets for the greater cause.<\/p>\n
It may not be handicap accessible, but we’ll make it work.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BONUS IDEA: Be a tourist in your own town-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYou get used to a place. You forget your kids are still learning the ropes. Pretend you\u2019re a tourist for a day. Find the best donut shop, the local battlefield, the iconic restaurant or sports arena and pop in or do a drive-by. I can guarantee the kids will be impressed even if it\u2019s old hat to you and you get to watch someone else experience it for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are your go-to activities in winter when the kids are out of school?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Kid centers rock.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
7. Pool-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s obvious but extra fun when it\u2019s twenty degrees out and the neighborhood pool doesn\u2019t open for six more months. Most local recreation centers have indoor pools. Call ahead to see if there are free swim times.<\/p>\n
Swim love.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
8. Children\u2019s Museum-<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\nI so wish we had one of these nearby. It\u2019s like walking in to a tiny version of the real world, but more colorful. EVERYTHING is hands on from music rooms and art rooms to castle exhibits and grocery stores and banks where you actually shop and check out. There are water tables and firetrucks and pirate ships and an infant and toddler play areas. Basically a world where kids run the show.<\/p>\n
9. Skate Center (both ice and roller)<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI loved the roller rink as a kid. Not the actual skating part (I was terrible at it and held on to the wall), but everything else: the arcade games where you could win tickets and buy prizes, pretzels as big as your face and gummy ropes. Indoor ice skating still gives you the winter vibes (cold + steaming hot chocolate) minus the outdoor element.<\/p>\n
10. Pottery Painting-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s fun if you can comfortably watch your kids destroy their clothes and bodies with paint. Come on, it\u2019ll be good for you. And whatever they make will last forever (or until they break it) which gives you a nice memento.<\/p>\n
11. Cooking class<\/a><\/strong>–<\/h3>\nWhole Foods offers cooking classes for kids based on age level as do many restaurants and bakeries. Google kids\u2019 cooking classes in your area to find out what\u2019s available. I would have loved this as a kid and even my toddlers always want to \u201chelp\u201d me cook dinner. This gets you out of the house and keeps your kitchen clean, a win-win.<\/p>\n
12. Library Story Time-<\/strong><\/h3>\nAlmost every library offers story times for toddlers and preschool ages. A little tip: the downtown branch usually gives the biggest show: puppets, guest readers, dances and live music. I rarely remember the book that was read, but we are always entertained.<\/p>\n
Song and dance, complete with scarves, at library story time.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
13. Train\/trolley Ride<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nIt doesn\u2019t have to be Thomas the Train to entertain. If you live in a city with a decent subway system, this may not be quite as enticing for you, but for those of use with fairly non-existent metro transportation, this one is a win with the kids. Find a commuter train near you or if you have a trolley system, as we do, park the car and ride a while. Any new environment is worth a ticket and hour of your time.<\/p>\n
14. Fire Station<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI\u2019m not joking here. I can\u2019t speak for ALL fire stations, but when we politely drive up to our local fire station they often let us come in and tour the trucks. They usually turn on the lights for us and sometimes the siren if the kids are looking especially huggable.<\/p>\n
15. Fast food play areas-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, we do this and I know you do to. I don\u2019t love McDonald\u2019s but I do love their end game. They always have the biggest PlayPlace and it\u2019s like the mall: kids get fed and energy gets released. I\u2019ll okay some fast food chicken nuggets for the greater cause.<\/p>\n
It may not be handicap accessible, but we’ll make it work.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BONUS IDEA: Be a tourist in your own town-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYou get used to a place. You forget your kids are still learning the ropes. Pretend you\u2019re a tourist for a day. Find the best donut shop, the local battlefield, the iconic restaurant or sports arena and pop in or do a drive-by. I can guarantee the kids will be impressed even if it\u2019s old hat to you and you get to watch someone else experience it for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are your go-to activities in winter when the kids are out of school?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Swim love.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
8. Children\u2019s Museum-<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\nI so wish we had one of these nearby. It\u2019s like walking in to a tiny version of the real world, but more colorful. EVERYTHING is hands on from music rooms and art rooms to castle exhibits and grocery stores and banks where you actually shop and check out. There are water tables and firetrucks and pirate ships and an infant and toddler play areas. Basically a world where kids run the show.<\/p>\n
9. Skate Center (both ice and roller)<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI loved the roller rink as a kid. Not the actual skating part (I was terrible at it and held on to the wall), but everything else: the arcade games where you could win tickets and buy prizes, pretzels as big as your face and gummy ropes. Indoor ice skating still gives you the winter vibes (cold + steaming hot chocolate) minus the outdoor element.<\/p>\n
10. Pottery Painting-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s fun if you can comfortably watch your kids destroy their clothes and bodies with paint. Come on, it\u2019ll be good for you. And whatever they make will last forever (or until they break it) which gives you a nice memento.<\/p>\n
11. Cooking class<\/a><\/strong>–<\/h3>\nWhole Foods offers cooking classes for kids based on age level as do many restaurants and bakeries. Google kids\u2019 cooking classes in your area to find out what\u2019s available. I would have loved this as a kid and even my toddlers always want to \u201chelp\u201d me cook dinner. This gets you out of the house and keeps your kitchen clean, a win-win.<\/p>\n
12. Library Story Time-<\/strong><\/h3>\nAlmost every library offers story times for toddlers and preschool ages. A little tip: the downtown branch usually gives the biggest show: puppets, guest readers, dances and live music. I rarely remember the book that was read, but we are always entertained.<\/p>\n
Song and dance, complete with scarves, at library story time.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
13. Train\/trolley Ride<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nIt doesn\u2019t have to be Thomas the Train to entertain. If you live in a city with a decent subway system, this may not be quite as enticing for you, but for those of use with fairly non-existent metro transportation, this one is a win with the kids. Find a commuter train near you or if you have a trolley system, as we do, park the car and ride a while. Any new environment is worth a ticket and hour of your time.<\/p>\n
14. Fire Station<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI\u2019m not joking here. I can\u2019t speak for ALL fire stations, but when we politely drive up to our local fire station they often let us come in and tour the trucks. They usually turn on the lights for us and sometimes the siren if the kids are looking especially huggable.<\/p>\n
15. Fast food play areas-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, we do this and I know you do to. I don\u2019t love McDonald\u2019s but I do love their end game. They always have the biggest PlayPlace and it\u2019s like the mall: kids get fed and energy gets released. I\u2019ll okay some fast food chicken nuggets for the greater cause.<\/p>\n
It may not be handicap accessible, but we’ll make it work.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BONUS IDEA: Be a tourist in your own town-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYou get used to a place. You forget your kids are still learning the ropes. Pretend you\u2019re a tourist for a day. Find the best donut shop, the local battlefield, the iconic restaurant or sports arena and pop in or do a drive-by. I can guarantee the kids will be impressed even if it\u2019s old hat to you and you get to watch someone else experience it for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are your go-to activities in winter when the kids are out of school?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I loved the roller rink as a kid. Not the actual skating part (I was terrible at it and held on to the wall), but everything else: the arcade games where you could win tickets and buy prizes, pretzels as big as your face and gummy ropes. Indoor ice skating still gives you the winter vibes (cold + steaming hot chocolate) minus the outdoor element.<\/p>\n
10. Pottery Painting-<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis one\u2019s fun if you can comfortably watch your kids destroy their clothes and bodies with paint. Come on, it\u2019ll be good for you. And whatever they make will last forever (or until they break it) which gives you a nice memento.<\/p>\n
11. Cooking class<\/a><\/strong>–<\/h3>\nWhole Foods offers cooking classes for kids based on age level as do many restaurants and bakeries. Google kids\u2019 cooking classes in your area to find out what\u2019s available. I would have loved this as a kid and even my toddlers always want to \u201chelp\u201d me cook dinner. This gets you out of the house and keeps your kitchen clean, a win-win.<\/p>\n
12. Library Story Time-<\/strong><\/h3>\nAlmost every library offers story times for toddlers and preschool ages. A little tip: the downtown branch usually gives the biggest show: puppets, guest readers, dances and live music. I rarely remember the book that was read, but we are always entertained.<\/p>\n
Song and dance, complete with scarves, at library story time.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
13. Train\/trolley Ride<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nIt doesn\u2019t have to be Thomas the Train to entertain. If you live in a city with a decent subway system, this may not be quite as enticing for you, but for those of use with fairly non-existent metro transportation, this one is a win with the kids. Find a commuter train near you or if you have a trolley system, as we do, park the car and ride a while. Any new environment is worth a ticket and hour of your time.<\/p>\n
14. Fire Station<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI\u2019m not joking here. I can\u2019t speak for ALL fire stations, but when we politely drive up to our local fire station they often let us come in and tour the trucks. They usually turn on the lights for us and sometimes the siren if the kids are looking especially huggable.<\/p>\n
15. Fast food play areas-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, we do this and I know you do to. I don\u2019t love McDonald\u2019s but I do love their end game. They always have the biggest PlayPlace and it\u2019s like the mall: kids get fed and energy gets released. I\u2019ll okay some fast food chicken nuggets for the greater cause.<\/p>\n
It may not be handicap accessible, but we’ll make it work.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BONUS IDEA: Be a tourist in your own town-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYou get used to a place. You forget your kids are still learning the ropes. Pretend you\u2019re a tourist for a day. Find the best donut shop, the local battlefield, the iconic restaurant or sports arena and pop in or do a drive-by. I can guarantee the kids will be impressed even if it\u2019s old hat to you and you get to watch someone else experience it for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are your go-to activities in winter when the kids are out of school?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Whole Foods offers cooking classes for kids based on age level as do many restaurants and bakeries. Google kids\u2019 cooking classes in your area to find out what\u2019s available. I would have loved this as a kid and even my toddlers always want to \u201chelp\u201d me cook dinner. This gets you out of the house and keeps your kitchen clean, a win-win.<\/p>\n
12. Library Story Time-<\/strong><\/h3>\nAlmost every library offers story times for toddlers and preschool ages. A little tip: the downtown branch usually gives the biggest show: puppets, guest readers, dances and live music. I rarely remember the book that was read, but we are always entertained.<\/p>\n
Song and dance, complete with scarves, at library story time.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
13. Train\/trolley Ride<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nIt doesn\u2019t have to be Thomas the Train to entertain. If you live in a city with a decent subway system, this may not be quite as enticing for you, but for those of use with fairly non-existent metro transportation, this one is a win with the kids. Find a commuter train near you or if you have a trolley system, as we do, park the car and ride a while. Any new environment is worth a ticket and hour of your time.<\/p>\n
14. Fire Station<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI\u2019m not joking here. I can\u2019t speak for ALL fire stations, but when we politely drive up to our local fire station they often let us come in and tour the trucks. They usually turn on the lights for us and sometimes the siren if the kids are looking especially huggable.<\/p>\n
15. Fast food play areas-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, we do this and I know you do to. I don\u2019t love McDonald\u2019s but I do love their end game. They always have the biggest PlayPlace and it\u2019s like the mall: kids get fed and energy gets released. I\u2019ll okay some fast food chicken nuggets for the greater cause.<\/p>\n
It may not be handicap accessible, but we’ll make it work.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BONUS IDEA: Be a tourist in your own town-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYou get used to a place. You forget your kids are still learning the ropes. Pretend you\u2019re a tourist for a day. Find the best donut shop, the local battlefield, the iconic restaurant or sports arena and pop in or do a drive-by. I can guarantee the kids will be impressed even if it\u2019s old hat to you and you get to watch someone else experience it for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are your go-to activities in winter when the kids are out of school?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Song and dance, complete with scarves, at library story time.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
13. Train\/trolley Ride<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nIt doesn\u2019t have to be Thomas the Train to entertain. If you live in a city with a decent subway system, this may not be quite as enticing for you, but for those of use with fairly non-existent metro transportation, this one is a win with the kids. Find a commuter train near you or if you have a trolley system, as we do, park the car and ride a while. Any new environment is worth a ticket and hour of your time.<\/p>\n
14. Fire Station<\/strong>–<\/h3>\nI\u2019m not joking here. I can\u2019t speak for ALL fire stations, but when we politely drive up to our local fire station they often let us come in and tour the trucks. They usually turn on the lights for us and sometimes the siren if the kids are looking especially huggable.<\/p>\n
15. Fast food play areas-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, we do this and I know you do to. I don\u2019t love McDonald\u2019s but I do love their end game. They always have the biggest PlayPlace and it\u2019s like the mall: kids get fed and energy gets released. I\u2019ll okay some fast food chicken nuggets for the greater cause.<\/p>\n
It may not be handicap accessible, but we’ll make it work.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BONUS IDEA: Be a tourist in your own town-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYou get used to a place. You forget your kids are still learning the ropes. Pretend you\u2019re a tourist for a day. Find the best donut shop, the local battlefield, the iconic restaurant or sports arena and pop in or do a drive-by. I can guarantee the kids will be impressed even if it\u2019s old hat to you and you get to watch someone else experience it for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are your go-to activities in winter when the kids are out of school?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I\u2019m not joking here. I can\u2019t speak for ALL fire stations, but when we politely drive up to our local fire station they often let us come in and tour the trucks. They usually turn on the lights for us and sometimes the siren if the kids are looking especially huggable.<\/p>\n
15. Fast food play areas-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYes, we do this and I know you do to. I don\u2019t love McDonald\u2019s but I do love their end game. They always have the biggest PlayPlace and it\u2019s like the mall: kids get fed and energy gets released. I\u2019ll okay some fast food chicken nuggets for the greater cause.<\/p>\n
It may not be handicap accessible, but we’ll make it work.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BONUS IDEA: Be a tourist in your own town-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYou get used to a place. You forget your kids are still learning the ropes. Pretend you\u2019re a tourist for a day. Find the best donut shop, the local battlefield, the iconic restaurant or sports arena and pop in or do a drive-by. I can guarantee the kids will be impressed even if it\u2019s old hat to you and you get to watch someone else experience it for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are your go-to activities in winter when the kids are out of school?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
It may not be handicap accessible, but we’ll make it work.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BONUS IDEA: Be a tourist in your own town-<\/strong><\/h3>\nYou get used to a place. You forget your kids are still learning the ropes. Pretend you\u2019re a tourist for a day. Find the best donut shop, the local battlefield, the iconic restaurant or sports arena and pop in or do a drive-by. I can guarantee the kids will be impressed even if it\u2019s old hat to you and you get to watch someone else experience it for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are your go-to activities in winter when the kids are out of school?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The four walls close in quickly when school\u2019s out. The first day feels glorious: no alarm, nowhere to be, no reason to get out of the pajamas. Day two, reality sets in. How long can you color or shape playdough or watch videos or stack Legos before no one likes each other anymore? So in honor of this long road to January\u2019s return to school, I give you my top 15 indoor activities for kids …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26],"tags":[53,50,40,51,52,49],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2504-e1482254305242.jpg?fit=4001%2C1965&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-55","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}