Can you believe we are already winding down 2021 and we’ll be ringing in the 2022 year in a few short weeks?
Although you all know how much we love the outdoors, it’s been so cold, so we’ve also been enjoying our time indoors lately playing board games, drawing and creating, and cozying up to the fireplace!
This past weekend, we made gingerbread cookies and wandered around with our friends to check out the festive holiday lights and decor.
Are you looking for some fun indoor activities inspiration? From watching the Aurora lights from live webcam, working on their Christmas wishlist to learning about Giving Back opportunities this holiday season and recommendations for fun family games, read on below!
Yes, take in the beauty of the aurora lights… from your living room!
We seriously considered going to see the Northern lights this winter but after seeing -17C as a high temp for various days in December in Abisko, Sweden, we decided against spending a week in the bitter cold. It’s still high up on our bucket list and will reconsider at a later date.
But…that doesn’t mean we don’t get to enjoy the beautiful aurora lights!
As I was researching the trip to Abisko and finding activities to get the kids pumped up to go, I ran across this live webcam where you can see the beautiful green aurora lights dance across the sky.
Almost every night for a month, we’ve been checking out the live cam and about 70% of the times we’ve looked, we’ve been lucky. There have been several nights where the lights were dancing for hours on end (there are camera shots that also show you what it looks like every few minutes throughout the day!).
I know many of you are in the states, so if you check out the Abisko webcam, you’ll need to check it out in the day when it’s night here. If you want to check out other live webcams all over the world, check out the Aurora Notify website.
Celebrating Christmas?
- Christmas printables. Check out our free Christmas wishlist printable and coloring book for kids in our Free Resource Library (I finished migrating everything over to the new resource library this past summer. The new resource library will remember you for an open session so you can download all you want in a session, but it may ask you to re-enter your email address if you open a new session. At least you won’t have to remember a password anymore!)
- Thinking of ways to give back this Christmas?
- Make some Christmas cards to bring some joy and cheer with Cards for a Cause. We loved sending Zachary digital holiday cards last Christmas and did again this year.
- Donate to organizations protecting wildlife and symbolically adopt an animal. We donated through WWF as we’ve donated to and volunteered with them before. Your child also gets a commemorative gift and a certificate! Our kids picked a komodo dragon and an octopus.
- Make a gift to help fight climate change and nurture Mother Earth. We donate to several organizations on a monthly basis and recommend 350.org.
- Make a gift to help those in need. There are so many organizations and causes you can choose from. Due to the recent deadly hurricanes in the states, we decided to make a donation to help provide relief through the hurricane relief fund created by the governor of Kentucky.
- If you haven’t tried it yet, download our free monthly giving back tracker and help encourage your children to find causes that they are interested in/ are important to them. 2022 is a perfect time to start! The tracker is undated so feel free to reuse each year. Print it or use it with an app (we like GoodNotes on the iPad).
- Need last – minute Christmas gift ideas? If you’re looking for a new board game you can enjoy as a family, check out our board game blog post for ideas. Recently, we’ve really been into the card game, Virus /Virus 2 and the board/tile game, Rummikub.
What is your family enjoying this winter? Share your recommendations below in the comments. We love hearing from you!
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