What makes winter magical for kids? Snow! What makes snow even better? It’s free! And there’s a million and one ways to play with it in your own backyard. You don’t necessarily have to reinvent the wheel, but there are ways to add a little sparkle to everyday outdoor play when the temperature drops.
Snow Sculptures
For starters, remind your kids there’s more than one way to build a snowman! Ask them to pick an idea from the following list, or come up with one of their own. They could build:
Sensory Play
Bring out your summer sand toys. Who says sand toys are just for sand? In fact, they’re perfect for snow play. Build mini castles and shapes from sand molds, rakes, or shovels, or load a bucket dump truck to transport snow from point A to point B.
Make a snow sensory bin. This is a great way to fill time if it’s too cold to be outside. Fill a large bin with snow and set it up indoors on a large towel or blanket. You can add mini dump trucks, small figurines such as Fisher-Price Little People, or even bury plastic precious gems or jewels to create a wintry dig kit.
Constructive Play
Build a snow slide or hill. Shape the snow in your backyard into a slide or hill. This can be a continuing exercise. Every new snowfall, send your kids out and let them add to their masterpiece. When it's ready, they can slide down in snow pants or on a Crazy Carpet.
Build a snow castle, fort, or igloo. Use snow brick molds or sand castle buckets to construct a building brick-by-brick, or use the easiest tool of all – hands! Decorate with icy elements such as snow marbles. They’re easy to make: fill balloons with water and food coloring, freeze, and remove the latex or plastic to reveal colorful, life-size snow marbles. You can also create square and rectangular ice blocks in various sizes using items such as cardboard milk containers, aluminum pans, or even ice cube trays.
Pretend Play
Fresh air, imagination, and snow create the ultimate play environment. Encourage your kids to do what they do inside, outside!
Play restaurant. Gather plastic dishes and toy pots and pans, set up a picnic table, and let your little ones open a restaurant. The chef can ’cook’ with snow.
Play ice cream shop. A shopkeeper can concoct snowy ice cream cones, and customers can order and enjoy their favorite flavors.
Play astronaut. Suit your kids up in their astronaut (winter) gear and send them outside to shape the snow into a rocket ship. Wave to them as they fly to a new planet – an unexplored planet overcome by snow.
Have a tea party. Bring a play tea set outside and let your kids fill their cups with snow. They can rustle up tea party food from the elements, or you can provide them with delicacies to accompany their snow tea.
Arts & Crafts
These activities take a small amount of preplanning and preparation, but when ready, let your children’s creativity flow without worrying about mess.
Rainbow ice sculptures. Fill ice cube trays or similar with water and food coloring. You’ll want a variety of colors and a dozen or more blocks per child, plus a bottle of water for each, too. On a day when it’s below zero, cheer your kids on while they put together sculptures from colored blocks. After each block has been added to their work of art, trickle water over the cubes to glue the masterpiece together. Wait a few seconds for it to set before adding the next block.
Snow paint. Combine water and food coloring in spray or squirt bottles, and give them a good shake. Kids can paint works of art in the snow, embellish snow forts, or dress up snowmen in shades of the rainbow. Little ones might also enjoy practicing spelling their names or writing letters of the alphabet.
Magical snow paint. Instead of water, combine vinegar with food coloring in spray or squirt bottles. Outside, pack a section of snow down so that the top layer is not soft and fluffy. Sprinkle baking soda on the surface randomly or in patterns. These spots will fizz into a kaleidoscope of colors when sprayed with the ‘magical’ snow paint.
Snow Games
Instead of an old-fashioned snowball fight, try one of these activities to help kids release pent-up, indoor energy.
Hide and seek. Hide colored ice cubes around the backyard akin to a treasure hunt and task your kids with finding them. Assign colors to make it more challenging.
Snowball throwing contest. Use snow paint to draw concentric circles around a bullseye on the ground. Earn points depending on how close or far a snowball lands to the bullseye. Or, create a smaller version using chalk on a fence for target practice.
Snow maze. After a new snowfall, tell your kids to stomp out a maze in the backyard.
Winter obstacle course. Paint a hopscotch on the snow to hop along, stop to throw a snowball at a target, jump over a snow hill or two, and crawl (or race) to the finish line. There are plenty of ways to dream up a fun obstacle course in the snow.
Snow Snacks
Everyone knows that snow play makes for hungry children! Use some (clean!) snow and together whip up one of these unique goodies for snack time. Google ‘Maple Syrup Snow Candy’ to find a recipe for this taffy-like treat. Or, search up the keywords ‘Snow Ice Cream’ for instructions on how to make a different frozen dessert. Even the choosiest kids are sure to want to try one of these snowy sweets!
Born in the prairies, Stephanie has lived in both Canada and the U.S. She is a mother, cancer survivor, cat lover, and avid traveler. Stephanie is the creator of the family travel blog, Next Family Getaway, nextfamilygetaway.com, where she shares trip ideas and travel advice for those traveling with kids.
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