Families living in the more northern climes of North America are presented with the unique challenge of finding things for our kids to do in the cold and snow.
Some families are “snow bunnies” and love doing anything outside. The rest of us are stumped and look out our windows going, “What am I going to do with Johnny today” – especially after a few at-home days because school buses aren’t running.
Below are a few snow activity ideas.
Snow Craft Ideas
Snow Painting – Fill squirt or spray bottles with water and food coloring. Let the kids have a blast adding a little bit of color to the whiteness (probably a good idea to skip yellow and red, though).
Make a bird feeder – Birds are often forgotten about in the winter time. Building a bird feeder whether out of a milk jug, milk carton or pine cones is a fun wintertime activity. Not only do the kids have fun making it, but they can also enjoy looking at all the birds that come to visit – and seeing something they made being used.
Patterns can be found online. Make sure the bird seed you put in your feeder is appropriate for the kinds of birds in your area.
Snow Science Activities
Winter scavenger hunt – “Create a scavenger hunt that has the kids identify and gather items that they can see from various parts of your yard, block or in the local park. For example: How many pine cones can you gather in five minutes? How many trees can you count? How many snow balls or snow angels can you make in one minute? How many dogs do you see in the park?” (2)
Snowball weigh-in and melt-out – Let your kids make the biggest snowball they can. Weigh or measure the snowballs and write this information down. Place each snowball in its own dish or bucket in various areas of the house (for example: under the radiator, by the window or on the kitchen table).
Watch how long it takes for each snowball to melt and how much water each produces. As an alternative, add a little food coloring to the snowballs. (2)
Snowball throwing contest – Create a “snow” bull’s-eye by stomping out rings in the snow and then coloring the rings by spraying colored water on them (see snow painting above). The closer to the bull’s-eye, the higher the points. Even the odds by giving each “contestant” their own bucket of snowballs. (3)
Snow Construction Activities
Headless snowman – For this you will need a snowman without a head, props, a camera, and a small stool. Kids and adults can take turns posing and photo-taking and hamming it up! (3)
Ice Sculptures – For this activity you will need food coloring, water, and molding things such as ice trays, muffin tins and other containers. Freeze colored water before taking outside. A small drop of water will quickly freeze and act like glue to keep your ice cubes and other shapes together. (3)
Frosty – This is a great activity for multiple kids. All you need is a roll of toilet paper and scissors for each team. When you say, “Go,” each team will wrap one kid in the toilet paper, leaving an opening for nose and eyes. Have decorating materials available so the team can decorate their “Frosty”. (4)
Sources:
1) Top Ten Winter Family Activities. Porter, Bethany. Kaboose.com. Web. Feb 11, 2013.
http://parenting.slides.kaboose.com/324-top-ten-winter-family-activities/3
2) 10 winter family games. Doyle, Pat. Canadian Living. Web. Feb 11, 2013.
http://www.canadianliving.com/moms/family_life/10_winter_family_games.php
3) Winter Fun & Games. Spoonful.com. Web. Feb 11, 2013.
http://spoonful.com/winter/winter-games
4) Winter Games & Activities for Kids. Mehl, Sharon. Kaboose.com. Web. Feb 11, 2013.
http://party.kaboose.com/seasonal/winter/winter-party.html
Edited by Jody Smith