Crystal Valley Blog

Indoors or out? When it snows, you can always venture outside your Crystal Valley home and build a snowman, make snow angels or sled around your Castle Rock community. But if the weather outside is too frightful, then stay inside and turn up the fun!

Scavenger Hunt

What an ideal way to pass a winter afternoon indoors, with five different hunts and hundreds of item ideas and clues online. No one has to leave the house to go on a hunt, whether it’s just you and your partner, a bunch of teenagers, or children from 5 to 12, there’s a hunt for each with lists of items to scavenge and creative clues.

Build a Fort

Even if there’s enough snow to build an igloo outdoors, the kiddos can always build a fort indoors! All you need are blankets, something to hang them on, and a few pillows. For more of an engineering challenge, check out Pinterest and Today’s Parent fort-building. Both take it to the next level with cardboard castles cut-outs and twinkling lights.

Design a Snowflake

Instructables and Martha Stewart have tutorials for designing and cutting out cool six-pointed paper snowflakes from plain old copy paper. Pinterest has step-by-step 3-D snowflake illustrations and patterns that take a little more time but produce oh-so-delightful results. See how easy it is to incorporate snowflakes into birthday present décor and make spinning mobiles from multiples.

Read and Relax

Turn off the television, shut off your phone and read a book. Picking up a favorite book or one of these New York Times bestsellers in paperback fiction. We like an eBook as much as the next guy – they’re compact, convenient, plus you can switch back and forth between two favorites. Digital books also tend to be cheaper than the paper kind (or free at the library!), but an informal Washington Post survey revealed that it may be easier to concentrate when reading a hard copy! Of those polled, most said it was easier to focus and resist distractions.

S’mores Indoors

What better way to conjure up those feel-good memories of camping than making S’mores indoors! You can make a whole pan-full of Nestlé^® S’mores ahead of time for a taste treat whenever the mood hits, or make them fresh thanks to the Food Network version. All you need are graham crackers, milk chocolate and marshmallows (and heat!).

Puzzle a Jigsaw

For adults, studies show jigsaw puzzles can be relaxing and help relieve stress. Plus, working on one is a great way to share quality time with your kids and help them develop eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills, build visual-perceptual skills, as well as thinking and problem-solving skills.

Handwrite a Note

Make someone’s day — handwrite a card or letter to a loved one or an old friend. Few people take the time or effort to put pen to paper to express their feelings or offer an update about the latest comings and goings. But don’t YOU like getting mail that’s not a bill or a bank statement? Especially it’s a handwritten, heartfelt note? It’s not just the best mailbox surprise because it’s so rare – it’s a keepsake that lasts a lifetime.

Learn to Knit

Spending a day indoors is the perfect time to learn how to knit or crochet. Looking at Pinterest projects will get you inspired and Vogue Knitting and Instructables offer some basic tips to get you started. There are umpteen tutorials on YouTube; we like Sheep & Stitch for knitting and Melanie Ham for crocheting. And WoolyVentures.com has some easy patterns for your first project.

Paint the Snow

If you get a little stir-crazy, bundle up and go outside for a few minutes to indulge your inner artist with a painting in the snow! Get a few spray bottles full of water and different food coloring and find a large spot of undisturbed snow. These Sno-Art Kits from WalMart make it easy to paint and play in the snow.

Crystal Valley Winter Fun

The master-planned community of Crystal Valley offers plenty of possibilities for staying in or going out with its proximity to Castle Rock. The new homes by Richmond American Homes feature both ranch and two-story models, priced from the $300s.