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Winter Break Fun

So everyone is home with some time off.  How can you make the best of your winter break?  What can be done to stave off both an excess of electronics but also the “I’m bored’s,” which inevitably (and kind of perplexingly) accompany the long-awaited winter break?  Here are a few ideas—indoor, outdoor, educational, and otherwise—with a price breakdown:

$$$

  • Skiing/snowboarding—Red Lodge, Big Sky, Bridger Bowl
  • Movie theater—Shiloh 14, Billings 10 (near Rimrock Mall), The Vue and Brew (Laurel)
  • Visit the hot springs—Chico, Fairmont, Bozeman

$$

  • Art of Play
  • Wise Wonders Children’s Museum
  • Escape Room—Billings Escape Room, Grand Escape Room
  • Art studio/create some projects (which might double as gifts)— Candi’s Art and Party, The Front Porch (Laurel)
  • Skating—Skate World (roller), Centennial Ice Arena (ice)
  • Bowling—Sunset Bowl, Fireside Lanes, Fat Cat Lanes (Laurel)
  • Swimming—The Reef, YMCA, RMC
  • Basketball games (high schools and college)

$

  • Sledding

  • Ice fishing
  • Movie at home (watched, perhaps, in the pillow/blanket fort mentioned below)
  • Board Games (Candy Land, Life, Monopoly, Rumikub, Parcheesi)
  • Card Games (Go-Fish, Cribbage, War, UNO, etc.)
  • Other Games (Pop the Pig, Jenga, Twister, Guesstures, Pictionary, etc.)
  • Host a hot chocolate party
  • Science experiments (make an indoor volcano, grow crystals, etc.)

FREE

  • Build a snow fort (snow-permitting)
  • Go to the park (especially if we keep up this warm weather)
  • Kids Books to Movies at Billings Public Library
  • Build an indoor fort with blankets and pillows, leftover Christmas boxes, etc.
  • Bubble bath (maybe even make a carwash in the bubble bath—get those Hot Wheels clean while having fun!)
  • Make some homemade gifts for neighbors, friends, and loved ones
  • Drive around to look at Christmas lights (most will continue through the 1st of the year)
  • LEGO building contest (or whatever kind of building blocks you might have)
  • Volunteer at a church, food bank, etc. (holidays are over but people still need help!)

about the author…Ashlynn is wife, mom of three littles, and Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Rocky Mountain College.  She is an introvert who is uncharacteristically social and loves family, learning, travel, animals, and all things Montana.