Stuck Inside - Youth Edition, Winter Extra

The youth team is back with a new edition of Stuck Inside, a blog featuring ideas and activities for kids of all ages to stay engaged while staying home. This week, we’re sharing activities and crafts that keep us busy in the winter!
Tailor Dolgin Tailor Dolgin
Associate Youth Programs Manager
November 23, 2020
Stuck Inside - Youth Edition, Winter Extra

 Welcome back! During the spring, The Mountaineers youth team shared ideas and activities for kids of all ages to stay engaged while also staying home and safe. As we prepare for winter and once again find ourselves spending lots of time stuck inside, we wanted to share more activities that can keep your brain and body active!

Winter Themed activities and Crafts to do Inside

  • Decorate your room with paper snowflakes. While we haven’t yet seen snow in town this year, it’s the time of year to dream about Seattle blanketed in white! Use these directions to make your room into a snowflake-filled wonderland, or create your own unique designs.
  • Learn about an animal you love. We stumbled upon this recording of Haida storyteller Sondra Segundo reading her children's story Killer Whale Eyes. If you’re curious about orcas, check out this fact page. It includes a really amazing video of how killer whales scratch their backs! We also found an orca coloring page and a maze that helps a gray whale get to safety.
  • Make your own hot chocolate bombs. This chocolate creation is both a delicious treat to keep around the house AND an awesome holiday gift. Gather your ingredients and get creative with marshmallows, sprinkles, peppermint flavoring, or whatever your favorite hot cocoa topping is! 
DSC_0099.jpgA Winter Break Camper builds a snowman at Meany Lodge in January 2020. Photo by Katie Love.  

Winter themed activities to do outside 

  • Go on a mushroom hunt around your neighborhood or local park! Make your own mushroom field journal and then take notes and draw pictures of what you find. It's the best way to observe mushrooms as many of them are toxic if eaten. Wash your hands when you come home after your adventure! What can you learn from the mushies that live near you? 
  • Head up to Hyak Sno-Park (or another sledding hill of your choice) and do some sledding! Get out and enjoy the snow at Snoqualmie Pass. Don’t forget to get your sno-park pass, to bring a thermos of hot chocolate to enjoy post-sledding, and, most importantly, to #RecreateResponsibly!
  • Create a tinfoil boat and find places around your neighborhood to launch it! What rivers and streams will you discover? Challenge other members of your household to a tinfoil boat race or send an animal figurine on a boating adventure. 

Youth Team Highlights: Favorite Winter Activities

Tailor DOlgin: 

My favorite winter activity is  going on long, snowy walks with the dog! Being out in the snow is always a treat, and being out in the snow with an excited pup is even more fun and laughter-filled. 

Hannah Tennent: 

Outside, I love stormy beaches during the winter. I put on my rain jacket and try to get to city parks on the water, like Carkeek, or beaches on the Olympic Peninsula whenever I can  to see the fog blend into the water. Indoors, I like to make soup! 

DSC_0132.jpgTailor and Hannah enjoy sweet treats at Meany Lodge During January Break camp in 2020. Photo by Katie love. 

About Youth Programs

The Mountaineers is committed to bringing outdoor experiences to today’s youth through our youth and family programs. We introduce young people to the benefits of outdoor experiences: a healthy lifestyle, outdoor recreation skills, perseverance, self-confidence, self-reliance, an appreciation for the natural world, and a commitment to protecting the outdoor experience. We offer year-round clubs, break and summer camps, outreach programs through Mountain Workshops, a youth gear lending library and even programs for our smallest members: Mini Mountaineers. Learn more about the programs we offer, including more about Tailor and upcoming break camps on our break camps page.

Main Image: A mini mountaineer learns about leaves this fall. Photo by Hannah Tennent. 


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