If you are like me, when the weather is nice, the kids go outside to play! But on cold or rainy days, having little kids that aren’t able to run outside and play can be a challenge. Winter can seem like a never ending season unless you find activities to engage your kiddos. Here are some of my favorites that have truly given my kids hours of fun!

Antsy Pants build and play sticks. This is literally my sons’ favorite toy in our house, hands down! The sticks are easily connected to one another and don’t fall apart like some other fort sets we have purchased in the past. You can purchase a play lemonade stand or ice cream truck but in the end my kids love building blanket forts the most!

Clue Jr was a Christmas gift to my 7 year old and it has provided hours of fun! It is easy to play and easy to understand for the kids on the younger side. My boys love the challenge of seeing who can discover ‘who at the cake” first!

Scrabble Jr has been the perfect addition to our board game inventory! What I love about this game is that on one side my 6 year old and I can play by just matching the letter tiles provided to the pre- printed game board. He loves moving his character up spaces as he finishes words and loves that he can beat me! On the other side of the game board, it is a regular scrabble game. This is better suited for my 10 year old who can build and spell words without any assistance. We have played time and time again! I love that it is one game that accommodates varying levels of spellers.

Slapzi has been a go-to card game in our house for a few years now. The nice part is non-readers can easily play this game and feel very successful! There are colorful picture cards. One person can be the reader for those that can not yet read. If the card says “something with 4 legs” then you see if you have a card matching that description in your deck and be the first to slap it down. It can be as fast paced (or slow) as the individuals you are playing with would like.

Magnatiles have been without fail the toy that my kids always come back to! They are sturdy and stay together unlike some building sets that you have to tip-toe through the house so that they don’t fall down! We have built so many different creations. My kids even like to build it as strong as they can and see if it stays standing when a remote control car drives into it!! The possibilities are endless and this is a toy staple that will stand the test of time!

If you have someone that loves art and loves playdoh why not combine the two with Hey Clay?! This has been super fun for all of my kids. You are able to use the clay provided in order to create all different kids of animals or characters. You download the app enclosed in the Hey Clay box and it gives your little artist a step by step tutorial.

Keva Plank Contraptions is for the builder of any age! I even love building with these blocks! They may look like just plain wooden blocks to the untrained eye, but once they are unboxed you will find they are so much more! It comes with a contraptions booklet that gives you all kinds of challenges and two special balls to help your builds come to life!

Chutes and ladders is an oldie but a goodie! The kids love playing together to see who reaches the top first!