Home › Education › Education: Ask Jean
My kids are free, but I'm not. Help! What can I do?
Whether you have time off or not, here are some things you can do with your kids while they're home for winter break.
I'd like some ideas for things to do with my kids over winter break. Can you help?
We're fortunate to live in an area with lots of activities for kids, and winter break is a great time to explore a few of them.
While some kids might balk at visiting an art museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles does a good job of appealing to children. The museum has a room dedicated specifically to kids, where they can create their own illuminated manuscript, make masks or settle into a replica 18th-century bed with a good book.
The museum also offers a scavenger hunt of sorts, where children pick up "art detective cards," then solve a mystery. The cards are in English and Spanish.
The Getty even works for little kids, who can explore paintings by playing "I Spy With My Little Eye ..." And when they’ve had enough of being indoors, there's a lovely garden to explore.
Kids more oriented toward the outdoors will love a trip to the beach, even in the winter. Just bundle up and bring the usual pails and shovels.
You might combine a trip to the beach with an outing to the Santa Barbara Zoo, which is manageable and sure to appeal to kids who love animals.
At home, with the luxury of full days together, you'll have time to play board games. Or you could do a puzzle together.
And remember to relax a bit, too.
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.