Do you struggle to entertain the kids during the winter months? It can be difficult to think of activities for kids when it’s cold and raining outdoors. Fear not, we’ve got you covered! Here are 50 Fun Winter Activities for Kids that include a mix of indoor and outdoor activities, guaranteed to cure any bout of cabin fever!
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When the weather is not so nice during winter months it can be hard sometimes to come up with ideas to amuse the kids. We’ve got a cool list of activities to keep the boredom at bay.
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#1. Build a Fort
Simply grab a sheet and some rope, run the rope under the middle of the sheet and tie it to the opposite sides of your living room and ta da! You have an easy peasy but perfectly functional fort. Now time to camp out or play soldiers!
#2. Feed the Birds
Forget about angry birds, go outside and feed the hungry feathered real variety! Attract the birds by building your own birdhouse using lollipop sticks and paint it before hanging it from a tree. You can also make your own bird feeder to get a close up look at the feathered friends that visit your garden.
#3. Tidy Up Outdoors
Go outside and sweep up some leaves. You might even get a chance to jump in them (as long as you tidy them up again)! Don’t forget to keep some fallen leaves for your indoor winter art projects later on.
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#4. Go on a Winter Scavenger Hunt
Print out pictures of all the things you want your children to find outdoors and hand them each a few, or check out our free winter scavenger hunt. Then send them off on their hunt to discover various winter gems like berries, dead leaves and melting ice, etc.
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#5. Picnic in the Park
Brr, it may be cold outside but isn’t that what winter coats, hats and gloves are for? Head to the park with a packed lunch and be sure to include some perfect winter warmers like a flask of creamy hot chocolate or a splendid soup.
#6. Go Camping….Indoors!
Pitch up your tent in the living room or if you don’t have one, make use of your bedsheets. Now, turn off the lights and switch on a torch and tell some spooky ghost stories…if you dare!
#7. Make your own Winter Wind Chime
That winter wind comes in handy for crafts like these! It’s easy to make your own wind chime and we love this Snowman version from Hands On As We Grow, which is made by reusing your tin cans.
#8. Play Mitten Mix Up
Play Wintery Mitten Mix Up! This game is so much fun and all you have to do is ask the kids to throw their mittens or gloves in a pile on the floor. Throw some music on and get them to boogie on down. When the music stops, they have to grab their pair of mittens. Whoever manages to grab their matching pair wins!
#9. There’s Snow Fun Like Snowball Fun
If it snows, get suited, booted and head out for some fresh air! Divide into teams and hold a snowball fight. Don’t forget your sleigh from the shed, so you can enjoy hours of sledding fun on your nearest hill.
#10. Get your Skates On
Head to your closest indoor skating rink and strut your stuff on the ice. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon with family and friends.
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#11. A Winter Walk
Wrap up warm and go on a winter hike to the park or woods. While you walk, try to spot some animals or their tracks. You can also collect items you find along the way and glue them to cardboard to make a beautiful nature collage. If you’re in need of any more ideas, our scavenger hunt list will pack your walk full of fun.
#12. Make a Snow Globe
To make a snow globe you will need a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, a plastic figurine, waterproof glue, water, glycerine, and glitter.
Method:
- Let your child pick out the figure, then glue it inside the lid and let the glue dry.
- Fill the jar with water, a squirt of glycerin (it helps the glitter swirl), and the glitter.
- Screw on the lid tightly, then flip!
#13. Teach Them To Knit
Knitting basics are easy to grasp and once they have mastered them and grown in confidence, you can move onto bigger projects. Encourage them to try and knit a scarf for themselves or to give it as a gift, knitting is a wonderful life skill to have.
#14. Buried Treasure
Calling all captains! The weather looks snowy and it’s time for the crew to find the “treasure chest” full to the brim with treats. It’s buried in the snow, so the shipmates aka your kids, need a treasure map to find the hidden treats. The game begins when the pirates are handed their first clue.
#15. Build A Snowman
It doesn’t have to be a winter wonderland outside to do this. You can make a snowman inside too! Step one is to assign teams of two, one builder and the other person will become the snowman.
Give them each a roll of tissue paper, pieces of cut out black crepe paper for the stones on the body, and strips of sellotape to hold them down. The race is on as both teams will compete against each other to build their snowman first!
#16. Hot Chocolate
Winter just isn’t the same without a mug of hot chocolate. Heat up a milk of your choice in a saucepan or in the microwave. Dunk a few squares of your favourite chocolate in it, add some marshmallows and stir until they are melted. Mmmmm… enjoy! If you want to get creative, this chocolatey Snowman Soup hot chocolate is adorable and delicious.
#17. Tag Time
Pop on your hats and gloves and run outside for a good old fashioned game of tag. You won’t be long warming up as you chase each other around the garden.
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#18. Make Christmas Tree Bunting
This quick and quirky Christmas tree bunting is so much fun to make. Bring festive cheer to your home with this beautiful bunting.
#19. Winter Bucket List
Pop down the devices and come up with a winter bucket list for the whole family to enjoy. If you have smaller children at home, we have a fantastic winter bucket list for toddlers that will make magical memories for everyone involved.
#20. Make a Yummy Snowman
We all love a good snowman, but one you can eat sounds even better! Using large marshmallows, stack 3 on top of each other to form the snowman’s head and body. Use sesame sticks for his arms, stick M&Ms or mini chocolate chunks on his face for his eyes, and top it off with a jelly hat.
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#21. Make Christmas Crafts
Brighten up your home with homemade Christmas crafts made by the smallest hands in your family. They will be so proud to show off their creations when family and friends come to visit.
#22. Twig Tower
Gather twigs outside and once you have gathered a bundle, bring them inside to a table. Form twig towers by building the twigs one on top of the other, being careful to keep them balanced and stable. The one who builds the highest twig tower wins.
#23. Hunt for Animal Tracks
Head out in the mud or snow and follow the first set of animal tracks to see where they lead to. Try to guess what animal it is as you follow their tracks. After a busy day of learning about animals, complete bedtime with our picks of the best nature books for kids, so you’ll be dreaming of the great outdoors.
#24. Disco Dance
Blast out the tunes and dance with your little ones as you bust some moves on your living room floor. Dance and laugh your heart out!
#25. Blow Bubbles
If it’s icy outside, then it’s the perfect time to go outdoors and blow bubbles.
All you need is a bubble solution, a bubble wand, and really cold temperatures. The bubbles will freeze as they form but it helps if you blow the bubbles close to a cold surface, so they don’t freeze in the air and break upon landing. You can catch bubbles on mittens/gloves or on snow or ice. A frost pattern forms on the bubble surface, and looks very cool!
#26. Go on a Bike Ride
Don your helmets and head off on a cycle to the park or even to the shops.
#27. Bake a Cake
Baking is an excellent outlet for your child and starting simple is a great way to begin. We have 10 easy peasy bakes that they will enjoy helping with, from measuring to sieving and mixing.
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#28. Make Homemade Soup
Wintertime is sure to bring its fair share of colds, and for those days when you’re feeling a bit under the weather, it’s great to have a hearty homemade soup on hand. We recommend this Chicken and Miso Noodle Soup, or this warming Carrot, Apple & Ginger Soup to cheer you up.
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#29. Go Swimming
Burn off some energy by taking the kids swimming at your local swimming pool.
#30. Dance in the Rain
We all know it doesn’t have to be wintertime to have a rainy day in Ireland but instead of moaning about the raindrops, run outside and dance under them. Sure the neighbours might think you’re mad but your kids will lap up the fun!
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#31. Muddy Puddles
Don’t let a little rain spoil your fun. Put on your welly boots and get outside. Have a splashing time, jumping in all the muddy puddles the rain has left behind.
#32. Toilet Roll Snowmen
Toilet roll tubes can make great crafts and my kids love to make snowmen from them! All you have to do is paint the cardboard tube white and using glue, stick balls of cotton wool all over it. To form the eyes, paint black dots. The nose will, of course, be orange and a grey would be fantastic for the stones that will make his mouth. Cut up a straw to use as his arms, and look, you have your very own snowman!
#33. Snow Dough
Winter playdough is hours of fun using simple ingredients. You will need 2 cups of cornflour, 1/3 to 1/2 of a cup of vegetable oil and 3-4 tablespoons of silver glitter.
What To Do:
- Mix the ingredients together with a spoon until combined.
- Use your fingers to rub the oil right into the flour until its completely integrated. It should feel smooth, slightly damp and will take a form if moulded.
- Roll it into balls to make a snowman or use cookie cutters to make shapes.
#34. Balloon Ping Pong
Balloon ping pong is simple but effective. Clear your kitchen table and stack some rolled up tea towels in a line along the centre to form a net. Blow up some balloons and use the palms of your hands as the bats.
#35. Indoor Hopscotch
When it’s too cold or wet to play outside and you really don’t want to turn on a device, try indoor hopscotch. Grab a roll of masking tape and use it to create a hopscotch course. Let the course run the length of your hallway or into various rooms to make it even more challenging.
#36. Bake Winter Treats
Have the mouth-watering smell of freshly baked cookies fill your home. One of our favourite bakes are cranberry and white chocolate cookies, they’re easy to make but hard to stop eating!
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#37. Go Fishing… in the Bathtub
Fill up the bath and throw some magnetic letters and numbers into the water. Attach a magnet to a long piece of string and tie the other end to a wooden spoon. Ask your child to fish out a particular letter or number, or let them fish away until their heart’s content.
#38. Make Mulled Drinks
There is nothing more seasonal than mulled drinks. This non-alcoholic hot mulled apple cider is one the whole family can enjoy, or the adults might prefer this recipe for mulled wine.
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#39. Make Paper Snowflakes
Embrace the snow and ice by making your own easy handmade paper snowflakes. They look great on windows, or for the festive season, decorate presents or the Christmas tree by adding them in.
#40. Snowball Races
Hours of fun will be had with these simple items: balls of cotton wool, straws and masking tape. Step one is to tape a square to the floor, then take a few balls of cotton wool and one straw. Lying or kneeling a distance away from the masking tape square, you must blow the ball into the square using only the straw.
You could create a few squares along the floor so that a few people could compete at a time to get their “ball” into the square first, or time it as each person takes their turn and the fastest person wins!
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#41. Make Gingerbread Men
Gingerbread men are easy to bake, fun to decorate and oh so yummy to eat. This Gingerbread Man recipe is our go-to every year to make our favourite little men. Don’t forget his gumdrop buttons!
#42. Get Colouring
Winter colouring is a great way for kids to learn about the season and these winter themed colouring pictures just need to be printed off for hours of fun. Display their finished artwork on your fridge or in your home office. If you’re looking for festive themed pictures, you’ll love our Christmas Colouring Pages for Kids.
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#43. Go Star Spotting
Bundle up warm and go outside to see if you can spot the stars as the weather becomes colder and the skies are clearer. Darkness falls earlier so you should get the ideal conditions on a clear night to see some of the constellations. Here are some tips on Fun Astronomy for Kids.
#44. Create Your Own Winter Story
Pick a topic to write about, such as a snowy day, or a day in the life of a snowman. Let the parent guide the story and start it off by introducing the topic in the first sentence. For example, the parent might say “When I woke up this morning, it was snowing outside. I rushed out after breakfast and…..”
Now the next person must finish that sentence and start the next one, and then the next person until it comes back to the parent whose job is to keep the story on track and perhaps jot it down as well to read out after.
Be prepared for giggles and a crazy plot but the kids will love sparking their imagination.
#45. Watch a Winter Movie
Make some popcorn, cuddle up on the couch and watch a classic winter movie. My children love Frozen, Ice Age, Happy Feet and the March of the Penguins, but Home Alone is still my favourite! To extend the fun why not get the kids to make their own home cinema, making tickets, ushering and providing snacks etc.
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#46. Read a Good Book
Curl up with a good winter’s read. There are plenty of good books to choose from at your local library or bring the kids to the bookshop to choose from some of the books on special offer.
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#47. Look at Old Photos
The thought of venturing outdoors on a bad winter’s day might make you shudder, so stay indoors and root out old photos and photobooks. Your children will love leafing through them especially if you have ones of yourself when you were their age. Compare your baby photos to theirs and laugh at the fashion styles that were all the rage when you were young.
#48. Game Time
A winter’s afternoon is the perfect time for some indoor games, try out these 10 Family Board Game that other parents have recommended. If you have a deck of cards laying around, whip them out and play these 15 Card Games.
#49. Paint Pine Cones
Get the paints out and add some colour to the tips of the pine cones. They will look pretty as a garland along your fireplace or placed in a vase. You could also tie them together with string to adorn the walls, or make pine cone crafts your kids will love.
#50. Decorate Old Jam Jars
Upcycle old jam jars by decorating them and placing a candle or tea light inside. You can paint snowflakes on the outside or paint a winter’s scene. The light from the candle inside will shimmer through the paint and transform this simple jar.
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Have your say! What winter activities do you like to do with the kids? Leave a comment below and let us know – we’d love to hear from you!
About the Author: FIONA
