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Keeping kids busy in the wintertime can be a challenge, especially when the weather keeps kids trapped indoors. We’ve pulled together a great list of activities that can be done indoors, outdoors, and both with and without snow. No matter where you are or what your situation, there are things you can do to keep your kids from going crazy during the winter weather. Check out our list of kid-friendly winter activities that you can do with your kids today.
Indoor Kid-Friendly Winter Activties
Make fun treats –
Cookies are a great choice! Break out all your winter-themed cookie-cutters and pull together a batch of sugar cookie dough (check out this recipe here or this gluten-free option here) Make up some colorful frosting and decorate! If you’re looking for something a little less challenging, pull together a batch of brownies and break out frosting and sprinkles!
Indoor Snow Games –
Ball up white socks, crumble up paper, then break out white pillowcases and stuff them. Then use these to create snowballs and snowmen. Let your kids have an indoor snowball fight with the socks! Help them put together the snowman and dress him like he’s still outside.
Gingerbread House or Fort –
Save up your boxes and let your kids build a life-size gingerbread house! Finish it all up with a cup of hot cocoa and a fun winter-themed movie. Cardboard boxes are even the right shade of brown to look like delicious gingerbread!
Try something new with your kids this winter!
Pick up a cheese-making kit from Cultures for Health and make your own delicious cheese!
Kid-Friendly Winter Games –
Use these fun Winter Bingo Sheets and have a fun game of Bingo with the kids! Fill a paper bag with some treats and let them whack at the make-shift pinata. Do a ‘Blind Snowman’ drawing game where you blindfold the kids, then give them instructions on what to draw. No peeking!
Outdoor Kid-Friendly Winter Activities
Sledding, Skiing, and Snowboarding –
Get out there and enjoy these winter ‘sports’. If you live in a place where snow is rare, don’t become discouraged. Get some cardboard boxes, break them down, and slide down any grass-covered hill! Sledding doesn’t require a foot or two of snow.
Get Some Education –
Go to the zoo, the botanical gardens, do a nature scavenger hunt, or even go to the beach! Winter is the off-season for places like zoos and you may find they offer free or reduced-rate days. Look for things that most people miss by not heading outdoors to learn about the world in the wintertime!
Make Bird Feeders –
All it takes is some birdseed, peanut butter, and pine cones or toilet paper rolls. Or dry some apples and oranges and make a garland that the birds can land on and peck at!
Build an Igloo or Winter Fort –
If you have snow, then work with your kid to build an igloo! No snow? Build an outdoor fort that they can play with using what’s available out in the world around them.
There are so many different activities that can be done in the wintertime to keep kids busy! Just remember, colder temperatures mean that kids need to be dressed warmly and they should be supervised! Time spent outdoors in the winter is great for kids and helps them work out all the wiggles and silliness that can make them drive mom and dad crazy while they’re trapped indoors.
