Are you a parent looking to entertain the children this winter?  Does your local weather mean you are restricted to indoor activities? Have you tried using your journal to plan activities so you can refer to it every winter?

Hello, it’s Alex (@TheJournalCorner) from the Archer and Olive ambassador team. Today we are going to use a journal to plan some indoor winter activities to entertain the children.

This blog post will take you through some ideas and inspiration which can be adapted to suit your own family, but is a way to use your stationery to plan winter activities.

Remember you can also find a video of my steps at the end of this page if you prefer to watch.  I have also created a printable to help save you time creating a similar spread in your journal.

Supplies needed

With a few changes, any size journal will work for this spread, even a notepad page.  I am going to use an A5 size today which gives me space to still add decoration.  You can see what Archer & Olive journals are currently available here.

In addition to a journal, some of the ideas I am sharing today will also need pens such as the calliographs and a writing pen. It’s always nice to add some simple decoration too and Archer and Olive have some lovely themed washi and stickers or take a look at their monthly Kit Club subscription for seasonal themed decoration.  I actually have some washi and stickers left from a previous Kit Club so am going to use them today.

If you are looking to purchase anything from Archer & Olive, please use ‘Alex10’ to save 10%. This is an affiliate code, so it allows you to support creators like me too.

Choose your Categories

I have used the calliograph brush ben to create a title in the centre of my page.  These brush pens are so lovely to letter either and the smaller end is ideal for details and sub headings too.

For this journal spread, we are going to divide our page into categories.  These groups may vary depending on your own family and the age groups of any children.  Although we are focussing on indoor activities, I have still included physical ones which may be essential if extreme winters mean you are exercising indoors more.  As a former teacher and mum of 3, educational games are also relevant to ensure we don’t fall behind with any learning habits.

It can also be helpful to involve the children in brainstorming their own ideas and think of new traditions you can establish to repeat year after year.

Write your Lists

I have chosen 5 categories for my page:

1. Arts and Crafts
2. Games and Puzzles
3. Baking and Cooking
4. Physical Activities
5. Educational Ideas

Using the smaller end of a calliograph brush pen I have written these titles and then noted down some ideas using a black pen.  I include my own lists as examples but you will of course have your own ideas too!.

Arts and Crafts

These ideas include making winter themed paper decorations, homemade Christmas cards, clay models and stained glass with tissue paper.

Games and Puzzles

You will have some family favourite board games I am sure, and who doesn’t enjoy relaxing with a puzzle?  

Cooking and Baking

There is often a lot of food related tasks in the winter, why not get the children involved?  We make homemade fudge as gifts, winter themed biscuits to decorate or keep it healthy with some warming soup.

Physical Activities

These ideas will vary depending on how much space you have in your home. There are a lot of online resources that can help keep the children active e.g. kids yoga, HIIT workouts.  We enjoy using a disco light, glow sticks and some dance music for a kitchen rave on a dark evening.  

Educational Ideas

To maintain good habits, we try to read daily and ensure there are some maths games played at some point.  If your children are older they may have homework to complete as well.  To try and keep these ideas more appealing, why not try a family book club or lego building competition?

Finally I added washi tape and stickers from Archer and Olive filled any blank space and added a decorative touch too.

Printable and Video

I hope you have found this article useful in helping you with ideas to entertain indoors this winter.

Please take a look at the printable below to save you time in your journal.  Don’t forget to watch the video to see more on this process too.

Summary

For more journal inspiration come and say hello @thejournalcorner. We always love to see your creations, so please tag @archerandolive or use #aoshare on Instagram.

The Archer & Olive blog has a lot of articles to help inspire your journaling. Why not create a winter bucket list or a winter self-care journal.  You can also take a look at more activity ideas here.