Weathering Therapy in the Winter: March 2020

Parents, Professionals, and Community Members, thank you for participating in this "Collaborative Blog Post!"  It can be difficult to keep the cabin fever away during the cold months in Chicago.  Here are some of the ideas you submitted for ways to keep things fresh and fun even during these cold winter months.  We encourage you to participate in future collaborative blog posts to help create an easy and practical forum for sharing ideas with our community!  Stay warm everyone!

FREEZE DANCE

"Here are a few of our favorite freeze dances! We love doing these around the house on cold days to warm up our bodies. Freeze Dances are a great way to practice impulse control, following directions, and even balance – if you hold a cool pose!"

Alyssa Wilkins, Music Therapist  www.dynamiclynks.com

YOGA/MOVEMENT STORIES

"Use your movements to tell a story—you don't have to use the traditional yoga poses. Make up your own! Take turns with each member of your family making up the next part of the story that everyone has to follow."

Sarah Rosten, Speech-Language Pathologist www.pediatricinteractions.com

SNOW-COVERED BREAKFAST

"One of the best treats is to wake up to a snow-covered landscape, especially after the first snowfall.  It's an even better treat to add a little extra sweetness to your typical breakfast with powdered sugar "snow" on top of pancakes, waffles, toast, fruit, or even cereal.  My kids use a tea strainer to gently tap the snow onto their breakfast on these special mornings.  Just be sure to have powdered sugar on hand during the winter months!"

Beth Deiter, Speech-Language Pathologist www.bethdeiterslp.com

BECOME A SNOWMAN

"Such a simple game, but a great one to play on a cold, snowy day. All you need for this one is toilet paper! The goal is to see how quickly you can wrap someone in an entire roll of toilet paper to make them look like a snowman. You can do time trials with one another and see who can become a snowman the fastest!"

Alyssa Wilkins, Music Therapist  www.dynamiclynks.com

INDOOR SNOWBALL FIGHT

"My kiddos love this one—and who doesn't like playfully throwing (soft) things at other people! This one gets us riled up and laughing right away. Hide behind your couch fort and FIRE! You can find stuffed snowballs in all sorts of department stores and go crazy! You can also use them to play Bozo Buckets or to knock down a pyramid of cups."  

Sarah Rosten, Speech-Language Pathologist www.pediatricinteractions.com

WINTER GEAR SONGS

"Putting on winter gear can be such a chore! Make it fun and structured with these two songs by two of my favorite children’s musicians. Get creative with the lyrics for your other items of clothing (change “in my boots” to “in snow pants”)!"

The Mitten Song: Macaroni Soup!

Boots: The Laurie Berkner Band

Loren Goodman, Music Therapist ProspectMusicTherapy.net

MAKE SNOW ICE CREAM

"This is such a fun winter activity. All you need is snow, milk, sugar, salt and a flavor (vanilla or chocolate)! Do a search together for which one you want to do (And then put the screen away, of course!)."

Sarah Rosten, Speech-Language Pathologist www.pediatricinteractions.com

The information and opinions presented in each blog post belong to each individual author. The purpose of C.I.T.Y. of Support's collaborative blog is to help connect families and professionals to different community resources, and we do not specifically endorse any particular recommendations provided herein.