Nothing beats spending quality time with your grandchildren, but as the temperatures outside drop during the winter, it can significantly limit your options when choosing activities kids will enjoy.

Thankfully, there’s a plethora of indoor activities grandkids, as well as grandparents, can enjoy doing together. Of course, there are the usual ideas — books, board games, coloring and drawing — but you didn’t come here for those. You came here for ideas you wouldn’t typically come up with on your own.

So here are some unique and fun indoor activities you can do with your grandchildren that will leave everyone smiling and make the kids beg to come back to your house:

1. Play chef

Don’t be afraid to cook with the grandkids, and we’re talking about going beyond baking cookies. Teach them how to make a simple meal that they will love. Let them do the work, and you may not only find something kids will love to do, but also something that will help your picky eaters find more foods they’re willing to eat.

The internet is filled with loads of simple, kid-friendly recipes that they’ll love to eat — and cook.

Food Network offers lots of delicious ideas, including:

• Cheesy Eggs-in-the-Hole with Bacon
• Oatmeal-Chocolate Snack Cakes, and
• Healthy Cheesy Crackers.

Even Martha Stewart’s website has weighed in on this idea with some recipes.

Have grandchildren who are too young to cook? They may still be able to “play along” by stirring and/or pulling pans out of the drawer.

2. Build a fort

Few things get kids’ juices flowing like the idea of turning a living room, bedroom or spare room into a fortress.

You already have all of the building materials you need:

• Couch cushions
• Blankets/bed sheets
• Pillows
• Chairs, and
• String/Shoelaces.

The fort can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be — the kids will love it either way, and you will become a hero for giving them a new place to hang out. Throw a large bed sheet over three or four sturdy chairs, and you’ve got a roof. Prop up a few pillows and/or couch cushions, and you’ve got walls.

Want some ideas? Here are four simple building methods.

There’s even a Pinterest page dedicated to the idea.

3. Do a scavenger hunt

Another way to keep kids entertained is to host a scavenger hunt or a treasure hunt.

The way you design your scavenger hunt will likely depend on how old your grandchildren are. The older, the more difficult the hunt can be.

For example, with preschool-age children, you may just want to list a bunch (or print pictures) of items they can look for — like a phone, TV remote, a spoon, a sock, etc.

For older children, you may want to design a more elaborate hunt, with clues leading them to different areas of the house before delivering them to the final “treasure,” which could be a snack or small gift.

Home improvement website, The Spruce, has some scavenger hunt clues you could use.

If you really want to blow the grandkids away, dress them up as pirates, which will make them better suited for finding the “treasure.”

4. Add a twist to story time

If you want to add an exciting twist to story time, here’s what you’ll need:

• A small flashlight for every grandchild (any big-box retailer has inexpensive personal flashlights, and they may just cost you $1 or $2)
• A room that can get dark and that the children can sit or play in safely, even with the lights out, and
• A story that takes place at night. It doesn’t have to be a scary story, and you may have to memorize it, since you’ll be telling it with the lights off.

Once you have all those in order, it’s story time … in the dark (again, it doesn’t have to be scary). Kids love to sit in the dark and play with flashlights. It’s possible they won’t pay much attention to the story, and that’s OK. Let them explore the room with their flashlights.

If you’re worried it’ll be too dark, install an inexpensive night light.

5. Have a dance party

Grab a few glow bracelets and glow sticks from your local dollar store, dim the lights, turn on any kind of music you like, and start dancing.

There are multiple benefits to this:

• Kids love to dance
• It’s great exercise, and
• It’s an opportunity to introduce your grandchildren to the music you grew up with.