What to do when you can't go outside

In Minnesota, some days you just can't go out with the kids. Back to back 20 below zero days with even lower windchills just make it too dangerous to go out. So when you're stuck inside, make the best of it.

The best days for baking are cold days. Baking is a great opportunity to do some science and math with your kids as well as keep your house warm and smelling good. My oldest is getting a grasp of fractions because of cooking with dad. 1 1/2 cups is easier to understand when you can visualize it as 1 cup plus a half cup. The point is there are lots of avenues to take math out of the classroom and make it applicable to everyday activities. And having a heat-and-serve casserole or two on hand is so nice on days you don't have time to cook.

Baking is only going to hold their attention for the mixing of ingredients portion. So what I do while things are cooking in the oven is make couch cushion forts. Anyone can make arts & crafts or play board games, but it takes a big strapping dad to rearrange the living room. So once all the furniture is out of the way, pull the cushions off and stand them on their sides to form walls. Grab a bed sheet or a comforter and throw it over the walls to make a roof. The kids will have fun going in and out, filling it with their pillows and stuffed toys then wrecking it and rebuilding it. Oh, a little heads up, they also tend to jump on the furniture with the missing cushions as if they're trampolines. Anyway, the fort frees you up to tend to baked goods in the oven.

Before you put the room back together, you might want to try what I call Cirque De Dad. It's a great work out for me and I'm sure the kids get a workout just from laughing so hard. This is where you give your kids airplane rides and carefully let them land on the cushions. Lay on your back and have your kids get your feet and do leg presses. Or hold them in your hands and do bench presses. Just make sure if they happen to lean too far that they fall onto a soft cushion. Flip on your stomach and have the kids sit on your shoulders while you do push ups. Get creative but always be cautious. The physical activity is fun but can easily lead to a bruise or worse. Which can be a great opportunity to have the "rub some spit (or dirt) on it," "scars add character," "chicks dig scars" or my personal favorite talk, "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

Make your wife AND kids happy: tackle the honey-do list. Get out the tool box and have your kids re-organize it. Undoubtedly, they'll have questions about what a tool is called or what it's for. And if you're anything like me, you've got something on your honey-do list that's just the perfect place to demonstrate what that tool is for and why it's called what it is. Try and have your kids do as much as safely possible. And make sure the tools get put away when the project is finished.

Ok by now you're probably needing to do some less active things. Like I said earlier, anyone can do arts & crafts or play board games but it takes a dad to teach his kid(s) poker. I taught my oldest how to play poker when he was 5. He learned suits and card values from other games so it wasn't all that hard to teach poker. I still have to make a list of what hands beat what hands but he understands that hands beat hands because of odds. Five card draw is his game of choice. Anyway, we started out betting potato chips and M&Ms. Now he likes to toss in the occasionaly family chore. "I'll see your green M&Ms and raise you doin the dishes for a week." I gotta say, he's learned to bet only what he's willing to lose. And I'm proud of him for honoring his bets. A word of caution here, after teaching my son poker, I am a firm believer in beginner's luck. Straight, flush, royal flush and four of a kind... he's had 'em all and one time, all in one game.

Last thing I can suggest for something only dad can do with his kids. Do something mom wouldn't. I was 4 when the movie Star Wars came out and my parents took me to see it. They warned me it might be scary, and if it was too scary we could leave the theater at any time. When my son was 5, I thought time for the boy to learn about the force, but the wife had a different opinion. "...too much fighting, and Darth will give him nightmares." Well, he didn't get nightmares nor did any of the kids at his school. We seemed to have watched it at just the right time. Seems some animated version of Clone Wars was becoming popular. All the kids were talking about and my son was happy to be able to chime in.

Enjoy being a stay at home dad. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity.