Snow days are almost just as boring as rainy days and super hot days in our house. The kids don’t really like to be outside too long because it’s just too cold! But it’s really important to get them outside and some fresh air in their lungs. So I’ve come up with a few fun games and activities you can do to help them stay out just a little longer getting that much needed exercise in the winter.
- Snow Painting. Get a few squirt bottles and fill them halfway with water. Then add as much food coloring as needed to make them show up dark when sprayed in the show and let the kids spray ’til their hearts content. Just make sure they know to not squirt their siblings, friends, or clothing.
- Sled pull. My kids love this! One person sits on the sled and the other person pulls them around the yard then they switch. My kids like to pretend they are riding a bus around town. This is a picture of my little one eating the snow off of his gloves after I was done pulling him around the yard.
- Make a snow town. We love to put on our big boots and plow “roads” through the snow to “buildings”. You could also use a shovel to make the roads. The buildings are made out of mounds of snow. It’s fun watching the kids decide how to grid their city. Where the hospital is, the library, the school and so on. I used to do this all the time as a kid.
- Snow ball fight. This is self explanatory.
- Target practice. If you have an over sensitive child who doesn’t like to have a snowball fight, you could make a bulls eye on the fence and see who can throw the snowball closest to the center.
- Make a snow fort.
- Make snow angels.
- Go sledding at a different place each day.
- Make a snow man and let the kids dress him how they choose.
- Try to catch snowflakes on paper. Use black construction paper that has been stored in the freezer. Pop some paper in there before you know it’s going to snow so it will be nice and cold. The colder the paper the longer the snowflake will last. Use a magnifying glass to see all the different shapes you caught.
No matter what you do outside, just make sure you are doing it with them. Put down the duster or the dish scrubber and make some fun memories in the snow with your kids!
Happy Winter Everyone! What are your favorite snow activities to do with your kids?
My family is going to visit my dad in Honolulu next month for Easter and he is going to have some artificial snow brought out for all of his grandkids to play with. I don’t think that there will be enough snow to sled in, but there should definitely be enough for snow angels and a snowball fight. However, I have never heard of snow painting before, but I really think that the kids would enjoy doing that too and so I will suggest it as one of the activities.
How fun Faylinn! Let me know how it goes!