13 Ways To Embrace Long Winter Nights

The bustling activity of autumn's harvests, soccer games, and battening down the hatches for winter is suddenly hushed. Darkness falls before many of us are even home for the day. It's the season for reflection and rest, for cozying up in the warmth of our home surrounded by the light of our family – but when the family begins to go a little stir crazy, it can be hard to feel that peace.

The solution to long winter nights doesn't have to include extra hours of plugging into video, computer, and other technologies. As a matter of fact, the real beauty of the season lies in embracing all that the long nights have to offer. Below is a list of ideas to capture the magic and mystery of wintertime:

1. Start a family jig-saw puzzle, one with too many pieces to do alone, one that requires using a table for several nights with cups of hot tea and cocoa.

2. Break up the quiet with a little noise – bang on the drums, pull out the recorders, shake some bells, and sing yourselves silly. You don't have to be a musician to make music at home.

3. Visit your local library. Spend time just perusing the shelves. Bring home a stack of books that include faraway places, tales of wild adventure, and things to do. Read out loud to little ones and have them tell the story back to you. Don't forget to get some books for yourself !

4. Have a craft night. Break out the stuff you hardly get into like tempura paints, glue projects, or even paint-by-numbers (you might want to put down newspaper first). Craft nights can be as simple as cutting and gluing pictures from old magazines for collages to more elaborate projects like pre-planned gift-making for the holiday season.

5. Speaking of holidays, make holiday cards together. Simple ideas include potato prints of trees or reindeer hooves, glitter, menorah designs, or a child's drawing to photocopy onto gift cards.

6. Tie on your aprons and find an old favorite cookie recipe to whip up, make lemon butter, bake sweet bread, or craft tins of fudge.

7. Gaze at the stars! Bundle up and get outside to look for winter constellations like Orion, The Big Dipper, Taurus the Bull, the Pleiades and many more. Check out 365 Starry Nights by Chet Raymo. You might want to even visit the Strasenburgh Planetarium as part of your family's night sky adventures. Find their schedule at www.rmsc.org or by calling  585-271 4320

8. Forget staying in – go night skiing! Bristol Mountain has lighted trails and rental equipment for both alpine and crosscountry skiing. If your family has their own cross-country or snow shoe equipment, try exploring the back yard or nearby park lit by moonlight and snow. Being out in the snow on the trails at night is a wonderful way to keep the winter blues at bay. For info on Bristol's trails go to www.bristolmountain.com or call the Nordic center at  585-374-1114

9. Write a letter. It might sound old fashioned but it's still one of the loveliest things you can get in the mail and letter writing is really both an art and a skill. Your child can write to a relative, a friend, or even to themselves in a letter they open up on a special birthday years from now! Help your child can find a pen-pal in another country – talk to your child's teacher or church clergy to find appropriate contacts.

10. All the world's a stage! Have a family talent show night – invent skits, sing a song, do a dance, give a puppet show, or read a poem. You could even pull out that karaoke machine from the back of the closet.

11. Game night is the most obvious choice for unplugging the family on a long winter night. Games are great for mental development, social skills, and togetherness. I love games like Clue Junior for creating mystery, Yahtzee for an exuberant event, and Chinese Checkers or Pictionary for a big group. For just two try checkers, backgammon, Jenga, or Uno.

12. Nothing says winter like ice skating. There are several indoor rinks in the area and outdoor (my favorite) at Manhattan Square Park downtown on Court Street. Contact them at 585-428-7541 Check for open skate hours.

13. Scrapbook those photos! If you're like me, you'll have to dedicate at least one night to having the kids help select the photos on the computer first, then printing them out another day, and having the scrapbook night later - but hey, we have all winter, right? Or, maybe I said that last year..

Wishing you all a lovely winter season and hope you make many memories as sparkling as newly fallen snow. 

Angela Cannon-Crothers is a contributing writer to Rochester Area & Genesee Valley Parent Magazine. For any family – large or small – that attempt the Winter Night's list, she would love to hear how you do, what you enjoyed the most, and what your family got out of it. You can leave her a message on her website at www.angelacannoncrothers.webs.com.

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