Winter Activity To Keep Kids Moving – Go Swimming At Your Local Hotel

The onset of cabin fever always seems to take its toll on the entire family during the winter months.  Keeping the kids active and allow them to burn off extra energy by visiting your local hotel’s pool for a swim.

Winter time in Wisconsin is a difficult time to be a stay at home mother of toddlers.  In the summertime it seems as though we are outside and moving from the time we wake up until the time we go to bed.  The moment that winter hits I begin to panic because I know what is coming.   Two toddlers with more pent up energy than they know what to do with!  The kids are cooped up inside and seem to aimlessly be wandering around the house  trying to find ways to make each other upset.  We do a lot of projects and activities but nothing seems to cure the fact that they just need to move and be active.  Why not get the kids out of the house and take them swimming?  Your local hotel is a great place to let the kids swim and have some fun without spending a lot of money.  For the last couple of winters we have found some hotels in our area that offer opening swimming to the public.  It is the perfect way to get out and get moving when it is so cold outside.

This winter my mom and I decided that we would pick a day a week in the harshest part of the winter and take the kids swimming.  We checked our local high school a couple years back but it was cold, so cold that my infant son did not have fun at all.  We are at least 45 minutes from any sort of YMCA or community fitness type center too.  We really wanted to go swimming and be active in the winter time, but had limited options.  My mom decided that she would check into the hotels in our area and see if they would allow open swimming to the public.  To our surprise, every hotel with a pool in our town already had a set pricing and rules that allowed the public to pay and come swim using their facilities.  The prices were all very different depending on the hotel’s situation.  If they had a shower or changing room it seems that they charged anywhere from $2 to $10 a person for swimming.  Other hotels that didn’t have a changing room had to charge us for a room, so we had a place to change.  They had a limit on the time we could use the room and the pool.  That ended up costing us about $25 or more.  In our search we found that some places where nicer than others, and some of the costs were just too much money to spend for a weekly activity to do with the kids all winter.  We have been doing this each winter for the last 3 years and have finally found the perfect spot to swim.  We checked with a nice hotel that is just outside of the city my mom lives in and were shocked at their awesome policy.  For only $2 per person we can go swimming at their pool for an unlimited amount of time.  They have a great locker and changing room which makes getting the kids ready really easy.  The best part is that not only is the pool nice and warm but the pool area is toasty and wonderful as well.  The pool area includes two whirlpool hot tubs that my mom loves to relax in.  Their only stipulation is that you cannot come and swim on Friday and Saturday nights, which I’m sure is their busy time.  No problem for us because those are usually busy times for our family as well.  So, for $6.00 I can take the kids swimming for as long as we want to burn off that energy.  There isn’t much a family can do for only $6.00 anymore!  We have been going once a week every all winter long.  The hotel also has a great little area that we can eat at near the pool.  There are tables and chairs set up and heated lamp lights.  We usually pick up subs to eat and take it along.  I bring drinks and treats from home to save on cost.  When we eat there it really makes a fun “night out” with a simple trip to the pool.  We swim for a while, and then eat our “picnic”, as the kids call it, and swim some more until the kids are tired out.  It is an awesome way to get them moving as well as spending a fun night with Grandma each week.  They really look forward to swimming night, and I am so glad that we found a great place to go.

Check with the hotels in your area and find out what their policies are.  There will most likely be some kind of waiver you will have to sign, and a fee depending on the hotel.  It pays to try different places to find one that works for your family, and makes it really fun.  I wish we would have checked out all of the other facilities in our area first when we began swimming night.  If I had known then what I know now I would have called and visited all of the hotels near us to check out their amenities and find out prices.  We love swimming night with Grandma and I know it is something that they will look forward to each winter.