Hurray! Snow has arrived! I love that my kids were so excited to get out and play yesterday!

After a bad start to the afternoon (my apologies to the mall custodian who gets to fish our chocolate bar out of the coin fountain), I needed them to burn off some energy and get some fresh air. We got all bundled up and went outside to enjoy the beautiful day. The girls played happily in the yard while I cheerfully chipped away at the icy sidewalk with a shovel. It was great – my little ladies were all smiles!

Until they remembered that snow is cold. And sometimes slippery.

After a couple of good wipeouts on the ice and a snowball in Harbour’s face (I have terrible aim), we decided to end our outdoor adventure and head back inside.

I wanted them to keep playing for a bit, so I grabbed some painter’s tape and made a hopscotch outline on our hallway floor. I’ve been meaning to do it for weeks and today seemed like a good day. It took me about five minutes and soon they were hopping up and down the hallway for almost an hour.

We decided to use bean bags instead of stones inside because a) they’re gentler on my floors and b) less painful when they hit someone in the face (I have terrible aim, remember?). Harbour has no idea what hopscotch is, but she was more than happy to jump along behind River.

I predict this will be a novelty for the next few days, but then I’ll need to come up with something new. Any ideas for me? How do you distract your kids from the TV and get them moving when they’re finished with playing outside?