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When freezing temperatures force families indoors, parents across the Kansas City area are getting creative to keep their children engaged and entertained.
At the Wilke household, a simple cardboard box becomes a canvas for imagination.
Amanda Wilke, who owns The Learning House Play School, believes in the power of open-ended play to spark creativity in children.
"I'm just hoping to build memories of them being creative — taking their ideas and imaginations to heart," Wilke said.
As a daycare owner, Wilke has access to many educational tools, but she emphasizes that parents can easily improvise with household items.
"Boxes — they can color on them, they can sit inside, they can build with them, they can tape things together," Wilke said.
Her 10-year-old son Nicholas appreciates the hands-on approach to indoor entertainment.
"The reason it's fun is that it's hands-on. You're not just sitting in one place — you're moving around," Nicholas Wilke said.
Across town in Liberty, Julana Ortiz runs Liberty Family Childcare and shares similar philosophies about keeping children engaged. She demonstrates how simple household items, such as baking soda, a lemon, and food coloring, can create memorable science experiments.
"Those memories are priceless," Ortiz said.
Ortiz recalls her own experiences raising children and the simple activities that created lasting bonds.
"We would turn off the lights in our house and play hide-and-seek," Ortiz said.
Both childcare providers emphasize the importance of low-tech activities that encourage children to move away from screens and electronics. They stress that the key is parental involvement and presence.
"They want you to be a part of what they're doing," Ortiz said.
The childcare experts acknowledge that keeping young children entertained can be challenging.
However, they believe the effort is worthwhile.
"I don't think you'll ever regret spending too much time with your kids, but you will regret not spending enough time with them," Ortiz said.
Wilke adds that children's attention spans increase significantly when activities stem from their own ideas rather than adult-directed play.
"They will not remember some detailed activity that you planned for them. They're going to remember when you gave them a can of shaving cream, and you let them squirt it all over the table and smear it around," Wilke said.
Both experts recommend involving children in cleanup activities to reduce stress on parents while teaching responsibility.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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