28 Exciting Winter Activities For Kids

Winter holidays are a time when parents look for various activities and ideas to keep their kids fruitfully occupied, especially ones they do not get easily bored with. After all, winter holidays are the time for kids to indulge in some learning activities, while they enjoy the break from school. If you are looking for interesting winter activities for kids, you’ve come to the right place! In the following article, we will acquaint you with exciting indoor and outdoor winter activities for kids that they will surely enjoy. So, let’s not keep you waiting and read about some winter season activities for kindergarten children below.

Fun Winter Activities for Children

Children always look for fun and exciting activities to keep them entertained. However, winter months may dampen their spirits. Worry no more, as here we have fun-filled winter activities for preschoolers and kids to keep your little ones all pepped up and entertained!

Outdoor Winter Activities for Kids

Following are some entertaining outdoor activities for your kids.

1. Dodge Ball With Snow

This is a fun snow game that kids (and adults) thoroughly enjoy! Make sure that you are there to supervise as your little ones play.

What Your Child Needs

• All you need is snow!

How To Play?

1. Make two teams.
2. Give a bucket full of snow to each team.
3. Ask them to make snowballs and throw at their opponents. The team with the most hits wins!
4. The idea is to dodge the balls and hit the opponents.

2. Hat on the Snowman

As cliché as it may sound, making a snowman during winter months is one of the most thrilling winter activities for kids. However, you can use your creativity to enhance the snowman’s features. In this activity, we will be placing a hat on the snowman as a fun winter game for kids.

What Your Child Needs?

• A snowy day (of course)
• A hat
• You may use any interesting accessories that you have to dress up your snowman.

How To Play?

1. Build a snowman of your kid’s height by making different-sized balls out of snow and placing one on top of the other.
2. Now, line up your kids (in case playing with family or friends) in a line, approximately 5 to 6 feet away.
3. Give three chances to each participant to put the hat on the snowman from a distance.

3. Treasure Hunt

Treasure hunt during the winters? This is one of the most thrilling winter games for kids that will keep your little ones entertained for hours!

What Your Child Needs?

• Pieces of paper with clues written on them
• Objects to hide in the snow (take bigger objects)

How To Play?

1. Hide the objects in the snow, in your yard, or your garden.
2. Leave clues for the kids to follow. You can describe the object, give a memory associated with the object as a hint, etc.
3. Keep a time limit and let the kids find their treasure.
4. The one who finds the maximum objects will be the winner.

4. Pass the Snowball

This is an exciting group game and a fun snow activity for toddlers that can make boring winter afternoons more fun.

What Your Child Needs?

• A bucket filled with snow for each team

How To Play?

1. Divide the kids into two or three teams (depending on the number of children)
2. Give a bucket filled with snow to each team
3. The team leader has to make snowballs and keep passing it on to the teammates. The team with the maximum number of snowballs by the end of the game wins!

5. Snow Angels

This activity of making snow angels is easy, fun, and will keep your little ones entertained for long!

What Your Child Needs?

• An open area with ample snow

How To Play?

1. Make your child lie down on the snow, facing the sky.
2. Ask him to move his arms and legs in a quick, flying motion continuously.
3. Once done, ask him to carefully get up without spoiling his creation. Take a picture to show him how it looks!

6. Make Snow Forts

Making snow forts is a fun thing to do with kids during winters. You and your little ones could do this activity together and have ample amounts of fun in the process.

What Your Child Needs?

• A rectangular hollow box, for building snow bricks
• An open area

How To Play?

1. Clear an area and make a boundary
2. Fill the box with snow and press it to make it set
3. Once set, get the snow brick out of the box
4. Start stacking up the snow bricks one by one on the marked boundary
5. Keep stacking till the desired height is achieved.

7. Painting Fun

Get some colour into these drab winters with this fun winter art and craft activity.

What Your Child Needs?

• Some eco-friendly, washable colours
• Paintbrushes
• Moulds

How To Play?

1. Use snow to fill the moulds to make desired figures or shapes
2. Help your kid colour these shapes and arrange them neatly
3. Alternatively, you can help your kid paint by assuming a snow patch as a canvas
4. Draw on snow with the help of a stick, and colour it
5. Use easier shapes and patterns, as painting on the snow can get really tricky.

8. Tic-Tac-Toe on Snow

Kids love to play tic-tac-toe, and the fun gets doubled if it is played on snow!

What Your Child Needs?

• A snowy day
• Some sticks
• Pine cones (optional)

How To Play?

1. Draw the tic-tac-toe pattern on the snow and play the game with your kid
2. Alternatively, you can use sticks in the place of a cross and pine cones in the place of zeroes.

9. Winter Fun With Tubes

This outdoor winter activity for kids does not involve swimming – just loads of fun with tubes!

What Your Child Needs?

• Inflated tubes

How To Play?

1. Take the kids on a snowy slope (not very steep)
2. Mark the ‘start’ and ‘finish’ spots
3. Ask the kids to sit on the tube
4. Ask them to use their legs to navigate the tube towards the finish line
5. The kid who reaches the finish line first will be the winner!

10. Snow Lanterns

A great wintertime activity for kids to enjoy in the outdoors and make beautifully glowing snow lanterns.

What Your Child Needs?

• Snow and Snowballs
• Tealights

How To Play?

1. Locate some flat areas and start making snowballs of the same size.
2. Using these snowballs, make a ring and start building up by adding layers to it.
3. Decrease the width of the ring with each level.
4. Leave some gap at the top for your hand to place a tea light inside it.
5. Once all the snowballs are in place and a pyramid has been formed, place and light a candle and your lantern is ready.

11. Snow-Frozen Yogurt Melts

A yummylicious activity for kids to try making this winter season in the outdoors.

What Your Child Needs?

• Yogurt
• Berries

How To Play?

1. Mix the yogurt and berries together in a bowl.
2. Take a spoon and put some on a cookie sheet, leaving a gap between them.
3. Keep this ground on the porch when it’s not snowing and let them get hard naturally.

12. Snow Volcano

We bet every child must have done the volcano experiment using baking soda and vinegar. So, introduce your child today to the same volcano experiment, but with a twist.

What Your Child Needs?

• Snow
• Baking soda
• White vinegar
• Washing up liquid
• Food colours
• Small, thin tubes or bottles

How To Play?

1. Pile some snow into a shape of volcano shape and secure a small tube in the centre of it.
2. Fill the tube with a drop of washing-up liquid, lots of baking soda and a couple of drops of colouring.
3. Take a bottle of vinegar and squirt it into the tube.
4. As the vinegar reacts with the baking soda the colourful volcano will erupt!

13. Snow Castle

A great outdoor game that can also be a competition for kids.

What Your Child Needs?

• Snow
• Sandcastle moulds, or kid’s gardening items

How To Play?

1. Take the sandcastle moulds, or gardening items like trowels, spades, buckets, and planters, to dig and shape the snow to build an ice castle just like Elsa!

14. Snow Monster

While everyone is out there making snowmen, be a little experimental and make some snow monsters.

What Your Child Needs?

• Snow
• Glow sticks

How To Play?

1. Take a bunch of glow sticks and make big mounds of snow just before dusk.
2. Poke two holes for the monster’s eyes and place a lit-up glow stick in each hole.
3. Cover each hole lightly with snow, so you can still see its glowing eyes.

Indoor Winter Activities for Kids

There is no denying that playing outside in the snow is what every kid looks forward to during winters. However, in the case that you can’t go out to enjoy the snow, the following fun indoor activities that we have for your kiddo may keep him happily engrossed.

1. Winter Bingo Fun

Your usual game of bingo can be made more interesting by adding a wintery twist to it.

What Your Child Needs?

• Chart paper
• Sketch pens
• Glue and glitter (optional)

How To Play?

1. Cut out cards in the desired size
2. Draw 5 by 5 grids, and write numbers randomly
3. Draw winter-themed pictures on the card as well, or stick pictures (if you cannot draw)
4. You can even make the cards shimmery – put some glue on the backside of the card and sprinkle glitter in your favourite colours
5. Now, call out the numbers and ask the kids to strike the called out number on the cards. The kid who strikes out all the numbers will be the winner!

2. Slam the Snowman

The ‘slamming the snowman’ activity doesn’t require you to be outdoors – we’ll tell you how this can be a fun indoor winter activity for kids!

What Your Child Needs?

• Paper cups
• Craft paper
• Cotton
• Glue

How To Play?

1. Cover the paper cups with craft paper
2. Cut out small circles from brown-coloured paper to make the eyes
3. Cut out small triangles to make the nose
4. Stick the eyes and noses on the cups
5. Take some cotton and roll it into a firm ball. Stack the snowmen cups in the shape of a pyramid.
6. Make your kids stand 5 to 6 feet away from the stacked snowmen.
7. Give three chances to each child to slam the snowman.

3. Watch Movies Together

Watching movies together on a cold winter evening with family or friends is not only entertaining but also comforting.

What Your Child Needs?

• Any good children’s movie

How To Play?

1. Have a nice, home-cooked meal or order in your child’s favourite food
2. Place extra cushions and pillows on the couch for a comfortable experience
3. Keep some popcorn and soda handy for late night hunger pangs
4. Sit all cuddled up and enjoy the movie.

4. Make Holiday Greeting Cards With Kids

Kids like getting creative often, so this is a great time to get your little one to let out his creative genius! Making holiday greeting cards is a great winter art and craft activity for kids, and your child can make a separate one for each family member!

What Your Kid Needs?

• White chart paper
• Colourful papers
• Sketch pens
• Watercolours
• Glitters (optional)
• Glue

How To Play?

1. Cut out the chart paper in the shape of a card
2. Either draw or paste cutouts of various winter-themed pictures on the cards (Christmas tree, snowman, snowflakes etc.)
3. You can add an extra flair by adding some glitter to the card
4. Have your child sign the card, and post it.

5. Snow Globe

Ignite your child’s creative streak by helping him make something interesting, like a snow globe! This is one of the most fun winter activities for kids, and it can help you and your little one bond.

What Your Child Needs?

• A glass jar with a tight lid
• Some plastic figures (hunt your kiddo’s toy box for some wintry ones)
• Glitter in different colours
• Glycerine
• Strong, waterproof glue
• Water

How To Play?

1. Take the lid and place a plastic figure carefully on it
2. Let the figure stick nicely on the lid and let the glue dry completely
3. Fill the glass jar with water, glycerine, and glitter.
4. Screw the lid on tightly, and secure it with some more glue. Once dried, flip the jar and watch your snow globe in all its glory!

6. Make Slime

Kids love to play with slime – what better than homemade slime to spend a cold day preparing!

What Your Child Needs?

• 300 grams cornflour
• 250 grams marshmallows
• 200 millilitres water
• Food colour (optional)

How To Play?

1. Take the marshmallows and put them in a microwave bowl and heat in 10-second intervals till they melt. Stir occasionally.
2. In another bowl, take water and gradually pour cornflour into it. Mix well.
3. Add the melted marshmallows into the cornflour mixture.
4. Add your favourite colour if you’d like. Then, add some dry cornflour to the mix and continue kneading till you get your slime!

7. Have an Indoor Picnic

An indoor picnic is a great way of having some quality family time. Your kids can have a gala time, sitting together all warm and cosy with you. This makes for a fun indoor winter activity.

What Your Child Needs?

• Picnic basket with some goodies
• Some interesting games

How To Play?

1. Clear out a spot in the house and spread a rug
2. Place all the goodies from your picnic basket out on the rug while you and your child sit are seated
3. Eat, drink, listen to music and play games with your little one!

8. Let Your Kid Help You Decorate the House

With the advent of winters, every kid looks forward to Christmas and New Years. So, let your kid soak in the festive spirit – let him help you out with some Christmas decorations.

What Your Kid Needs?

• Christmas decorations
• Lights
• Candles
• Flowers

How To Play?

1. Let your child help you with Christmas tree decorations
2. You can ask your child to place candles and flowers in the various places around the house
3. You can even encourage your child to make his own Christmas tree decorations by giving him some coloured paper, glitter, glue, and trinkets
4. You can even ask your child for his opinion on where the lights or decorations should go!

9. Ice Art

What would winter be without a fun ice art activity?

What Your Child Needs?

• Food-safe colours
• Moulds in the shape of different figurines
• Water

How To Play?

1. Take the moulds and fill them with the desired coloured water.
2. Leave the moulds in the freezer overnight.
3. Take the ice figures out from the moulds.
4. Decorate your yard with these ice figurines!

10. Ice Sculptures

A great winter experiment using colourful ice cubes.

What Your Child Needs?

• Cups, muffin tins, containers and bowls of different sizes and shapes
• Water
• Food colouring

How To Play?

1. Using food colouring, dye your water and pour it into various containers and freeze.
2. Once the water is frozen, run the containers under warm water to loosen and remove the ice.
3. Use these cubes to make different ice sculptures.

11. Tissue Paper Art with Snow

A simple colourful activity for kids without getting their hands messy while colouring.

What Your Child Needs?

• Tissue paper
• Scissors
• Watercolour paper
• Snow or water-filled spray bottle
• Tray

How To Play?

1. Cut the tissue paper into small shapes using scissors.
2. Spread the tissue paper onto watercolour paper.
3. Take this outside and allow the snow to gently fall on top of the paper.
4. Bring the snow-covered paper indoors and place it on a tray.
5. As the snow melts, the dye from the tissue paper will “bleed” into the watercolour paper, leaving behind a vibrant wash of colour.

12. Snowflakes With Coffee Filters

Time to make some snowflakes, the perfect winter holiday activity for kids.

What Your Child Needs?

• White coffee filters – basket style
• Scissors
• Watercolour paint

How To Play?

1. Fold a coffee filter in half and then in half again, creasing the folded edges.
2. Using your scissors, snip triangles, lines, and shapes along all the edges of your folded coffee filter to make a snowflake.
3. Carefully unfold it to reveal the coffee filter snowflake design.
4. Paint it with watercolour paint to add some colour to your new snowflakes.

13. Instant Snow for Kids

Kids love snow, but due to the freezing weather, it is not always the best for them to step out in the snow. But here is how you can make instant snow for them at home.

What Your Child Needs?

• Instant snow powder
• Pitcher for water
• Big bowl for mixing snow
• Large plastic tray
• Toy animals

How To Play?

1. Mix the instant snow, and as it begins to grow, fluff it with your hand or a spoon a few times.
2. Pour the snow out onto a tray for the kids.
3. Let kids play with the snow and add their favourite toy animals to it.

14. Playdough Snowman

Yes, now you don’t need snow to make a snowman anymore. Read below how to make a snowman using playdough.

What Your Child Needs?

• White playdough
• Glitter
• Peppermint oil (optional)
• Assorted beads, googly eyes, and buttons
• Pipe cleaners
• Mason jars

How To Play?

1. Make a batch of white playdough and add glitter and peppermint essential oil to make it extra snowy.
2. Roll out three different-sized balls of playdough and create your own snowman.
3. Decorate it using beads, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners.
4. Unscrew the jar and place the lid upside down on the table.
5. Place the snowman on top of the lid and carefully place the glass jar over the snowman and twist to seal.

Winter-Themed Books for Children to Read

Here are the names of some winter-themed books that kids can read in the winter season:

1. The Snowy Day
2. Over and Under the Snow
3. Snowflake Bentley
4. Snowmen at Night
5. Winter Is Here

FAQs

1. Is It Safe for Children to Play Outside in the Winter and How Long Should They Play?

Yes, it is safe for children to play outside in the winter for around 60 minutes. Getting children outside to play in winter works as an immunity booster.

2. Why You Should Teach Kids About Winter?

You should teach your little one about winter as it is important for kids to learn about every weather. When kids know about winter, they will know about the weather conditions, the food they should eat in this weather and the clothes they should wear in winter.

The above-mentioned ideas are some of the many fun outdoor and indoor winter activities that you can engage your kid in. You may improvise any of these activities as per your preference and convenience to have the most fun with your child.

Also Read:

Rainy Day Activities for Kids
Summer Activities for Children
Indoor and Outdoor Physical Activities for Kids