So many activities to do this winter! Snowball fights, downhill skiing, sitting by the fireplace wrapped in a soft blanket reading a book… the possibilities are endless.
Whether you have a white winter or not you’ll find here simple ideas for winter activities the whole family can do together indoors and outside.
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Winter Bucket List
Why not make it into a winter bucket list!! Your family will have a blast checking these winter activities off your bucket list.
Winter Outdoor Activities
Well, most of these require snow unless you want to attempt to make “grass angels”.
What activities can you do in the winter?
1. Host a Sledding Party
If you have a slope or hill in your yard, invite some friends over to sled!
No hill. No problem. Find one near you and gather your friends for a a couple of hours of amazing winter fun!
My husband grew up in the south and they sled ON THE GRASS with a cardboard. Sounds like a lot of fun.
2. Build a Snow Maze
Use a shovel or stomp with your feet to create a snow maze in the back yard. Hours of fun for the kids to make it and to play in it.
3. Go to the Lake
We live near Lake Michigan and it is gorgeous in the winter! So if you have a beautiful frozen lake nearby, go see it. Just don’t walk on the ice, admire it from a distance.
4. Go for a Walk
Grab some warm cocoa and go for a walk on a beautiful winter night. And if you have snow, listen to the sound of snow crunching under your boots.
Pull your toddler in the sled, he’ll love it!
5. Build a Snow Fort
Growing up in Finland building a snow fort was a must! We had hours of fun digging tunnels and building passageways and rooms.
Here are a couple of pictures of the snow fort my brother build with his kids a couple of years ago.
6. Have a Bonfire
Sit by the bonfire and tell snow stories. Do this winter activity with friends to make fabulous memories.
7. Go Ice Skating
If you don’t have an outdoor rink around, go to an indoor one.
8. Go Cross Country Skiing
Cross country skiing can be fun. It is great exercise for sure. And while you are getting a good workout you can enjoy the beautiful scenery.
9. Build a Snowman
Maybe you have enough snow to build a whole snowman family. You could even have a little competition and give rewards for the most beautiful, crazy or creative snowman.
10. Go Down Hill Skiing
Enjoy the cold breeze as you glide down the hill. In my case it would be more like stumble down the hill…
11. Make Snowball Lanterns
Make a bunch of snowballs and stack them to form a beautiful lantern.
12. Host Backyard Winter Olympics
Compete in various things like
- snowball throw
- snowball stacking
- snowball relay race
13. Make Snow Angles
Everyone likes this activity. Even toddlers can make snow angles.
14. Paint In The Snow
This is a super simple winter activity and the kids LOVE it.
Prepare easy spray paint: fill a spray bottle with colored water.
Take your spray bottles outside and use the snow as your canvas.
I love all these “active winter activities” and some of the indoor ones are like that too. They keep you moving.
Winter Indoor Activities
What to do with kids when it’s cold? Spend time indoors doing fun winter activities!
1. Watch Winter Movies
It seems that many winter movies are also Christmas movies.
I know some families (coughing) who have watched Christmas movies still in February but if you are looking for something that is wintery but not too Chrismassy these might interest you:
I don’t think this movie needs an explanation. We all know how a part of the chorus goes: “let it go, let it go…” . You’ll have a great time watching this movie, eating special cookies and drinking hot cocoa.
Ice and winter. Yes! Go on an adventure with a mammoth, sloth and other fun characters in these movies set in the ice age :).
A story of friendship and sacrifice in the land where it is always winter and never Christmas until…
2. Play Hockey
If not on the ice then maybe a table top game. My dad had one of these. I use to love to play with it: Stiga Stanley Cup Hockey!
You could also get hockey sticks and a ball to play hockey in your backyard.
3. Read Winter Books
Little ones would love these books:
Squirrels on Skis A delightful book with fun pictures and a rhyming story about squirrels on skis.
Eloise Skates! An Easy-To-Read book about little girl Eloise who goes ice skating with her dog.
Snow Bear This book has soft to touch pictures on every page. A sweet story about a bear exploring the snowy world.
4. Create a Winter Wonderland
Use some white and blue lights and garland to turn the play room or your child’s bedroom into a winter wonderland.
Hang sparkly tulle pom poms from the ceiling, maybe some ribbon too.
And cut out snowflakes to tape them to the windows or walls.
Other ideas for creating wintery look in your home.
5. Go to a Theater
Take your kids to see a theater production. Kids, at least many of them, love the live performances.
Find some inexpensive ones in the local schools if you don’t want to pay the big bucks for a broadway show or other professional theater production.
6. Make Winter Wonder Baskets
Create lovely Winter Wonder Baskets filled with surprises for someone who could use cheering up.
7. Play Winter Themed Board Games
Playing in the snow is fun but so is playing these cool winter themed board games!
8. Bake Snowman Cookies
or other wintery treats like marshmallow snowmen or snowball cookies.
9. Tell Winter Stories
Get cozy, wrap a blanket around yourself and tell awesome winter stories.
10. Paint a Winter Scene
I’m sure there is an artist inside all of us! Grab some canvas and paint for everyone and get creative.
It would be fun to make a collage with everyone’s winter paintings.
Perhaps you could all paint a part of the scene… that could be quite interesting… and maybe hilarious depending on the various skill levels.
11. Make A Sugar Cube Igloo
This is a fun winter afternoon project for kids. Build an igloo with sugar cubes.
12. Build An Igloo Fort
What’s even better than a sugar cube igloo? An igloo made with blankets, pillows and boxes.
13. Have An Indoor Snowball Fight With Marshmallows
Let the snowball fight begin with these delicious treats. You might have a hard time keeping the kids from eating these snowballs.
14. Play Minute-To-Win-It Games
These minute-to-win-it games are easy to put together and a lot of fun to play on the snow day.
15. Plan a Valentine’s Party!
Celebrate love and host a Valentine’s party or simply play fabulous Valentine’s games together or do these 14 sweet Valentine’s activities during the days leading to Valentine’s.
P.S. Save for later! My Tuesday Therapy is here to help you to make Great Memories!
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