UK Schools weather closures from Snow

Once you have searched for a list of schools shut by snow today and discovered you have the children at home, what do you do next? Of course a couple of hours outside in a park with snowmen or sledges if you are lucky enough to have a hill nearby but that leaves hours looking for things to do. And of course your work or chores may not be as easy to close as schools are.

One good idea is to use the weather to talk to children more about Geography and people around the world. The Schools Wikipedia weather page might be a good place to set an older child reading. Or perhaps the cold is a good time to tell them about children who have been really cold as refugees from Tibet trekking over the mountains to the sanctuary we run in Northern India. Or perhaps time to pretend with the children that they are street children in Northern Russia (the photo is some children who now live happily at our village in Kandalaksha). Pretending it is minus thirty and an SOS Village is your only hope of a happy childhood might make children realise what they have.

Some people say children learn facts at school but values at home so perhaps now is the time to get around to sponsoring a child; don't rush but involve your children in looking at a map and choosing the right charity. There are all sorts of children in need in a hundred countries to choose to help.

But most of all don't forget to have fun. Memories of happy childhood will set your children up for life: indeed trying to give children a happy childhood to remember is really what SOS Children is all about.