Happy New Year! For my first post of 2013, here are 5 crazy ideas for twists on sledding. You should be able to do any of these with items you already have. Please leave me a comment if you try any of them!
1. Use a laundry basket: you can fill it with stuffed animals for younger kids so they can go sledding with them. Or, even better, make a little sledding “fort” by putting the open ends of 2 laundry baskets together. You can connect them on one side so that they can go into the “fort”on the other side, and then hold that side together while they’re inside.
2. Use a sleeping bag: you can go inside of it and use it like a luge. Or you can unzip it so that it’s a large square, and have a few people go down at once.
3. Use trash bags: you can step inside of a trash bag (I would double up on the bags), and slide down. You can also get multiple people to use their own trash bags, hold hands, and form a sledding train.
4: Build a seat into a sled: using a long, wooden, rectangular sled, you can create and attach a seat to make a chair-like sled. This is one that my father-in-law made with a milk crate. He cut one of the sides off, and nailed it into the sled. You can also then get creative with attaching a seat belt if you’d like. I would use a thick elastic band, wrap it around the person sitting in the sled, and attach it in the back either by tying it or using snaps or velcro. Be sure to check out Speedtech International does custom velcro solutions by manufacturing velcro straps to your specifications.
5. Find items in your house that you can use as a sled. Some of my favorites are cookie sheets, garbage can lids, swimming tubes, or storage tub lids. We like to try different items and see which is the fastest.
Have a fun sledding day!
Fun Games to Play Sledding
In the colder regions of the country, kids love to go sledding during the winter, and it have a hunch that this year, the young ones will be spending more time on the hill. With so much time spent in front of screens, outdoor activities are a safer option than inside playdates. It will be thrilling to wrap up our kids, no matter how long it takes to put on the snow pants and take them outdoors for some fresh air and sunshine!
Sledding is enjoyable in and of itself, but if your kids look to you as the Chief Entertainment Officer and you need suggestions to spice up their sledding expeditions, try one of the activities listed below.
1. Sledding Relay Race
To test which team can get all of its members down the hill and back up first, kids divide up into two relay teams. According to the rules, the first teammate must sled all the way to the bottom of the hill before running it back up for the handoff. Continue until the final team member climbs the slope back up.
This one will definitely help kids burn off some extra energy and get ready for bed!
2. Sled Bowling
Set up some bowling pins, if you happen to have some lying around, near the bottom of the hill so that kids (and adults) can see how many pins they can knock over while sliding down. Lacking bowling pins? Use empty juice bottles or milk jugs instead. works equally well!
3. Sled Snowball Fight
Snowball battles and sledding are both enjoyable activities, so combine the two and you have a winner. As many snowballs as they can get into their sleds, the kids try to toss them at one another as they race down the hill. We do not want this to result in a trip to the emergency room, so just be careful that the snowballs are not too frozen and enforce the “not at the head” rule.
4. Sled Pull
If you do not have a hill nearby, you can still put the sleds to good use and have sled pull races across the grass. One youngster can pull the other in a race against the other team if there are four or more kids participating. If there are just one or two children, you can race the clock rather than each other by pulling empty sleds or stuffed animals.
5. The Frosty Challenge
On top of their sleds, each kid constructs their very own Olaf from Frozen or Frosty the Snowman. The tough aspect is that you have to maintain the snowman upright as they drag the sled around the grass in a race. Similar to an egg on a spoon, but with a snowman on a sled instead. Afterward, get warmed up by singing along to “In Summer” or “Frosty the Snowman.”
6. The X Games
Is it a little risky to combine sledding with snow ramps and jumps? Probably. Then then, kids are fairly tough, and they could always wear a helmet underneath their winter hats! (But seriously, watch the weather; ramps are great fun, but if it is too ice, tell the kids to come inside for a cocoa break.)
7. Sledding Obstacle Course
It can be really difficult to steer a sled down a slope, but it is worth a try! Your kids can try to weave their way in and out of the cones you have set up down the slope. If your child succeeds in this task, enroll him or her in bobsled classes. You are dealing with a potential Olympian right now!