Snow sometimes means stressful driving conditions or canceled plans. But if you have kids, they can see the magic and fun in the snowfall. In order to make the most of the snow, you will want the best snow activities for kids! If you’ve been asking yourself “What can we do in the snow?”, look no further! Below you’ll find outdoor snow activities. Some are classic ideas, and some are new activities you’ve probably never heard of!
If you're looking for some indoor activities during a snow day, check out my Cooking with Kids article! Cooking is a perfect idea for days that no one wants to bundle up!
Some of these ideas are from parents.com. Check out their article on snow activities here.
Unique Snow Fun
1. Color the snow
If you are looking for a snow activity for preschoolers, this is a great one! Get a squirt bottle (a leftover shampoo bottle or something similar will work), and fill it with water and a few drops of food coloring.
Give your child the bottle and let them make beautiful art on the white canvas of fallen snow!
2. Make snow ice cream
Growing up, I always wanted to go to my friend’s house on snow days, because they made snow ice cream! It’s the perfect, easy treat you can whip up on a snowy day.
This is a delicious and simple dessert that you can only create with snow! Check out the recipe below:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup sugar (more if you want it extra sweet)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
Mix well and add snow to get the desired consistency. If you don’t want raw eggs, it’s okay to leave them out. It will still taste yummy!
3. Play hide-and-seek, tracks style
This is another good snow activity for toddlers. Play hide and seek in the snow, but tell your little one about how footprints work!
Let them use the tracks in the snow to help them find people! Otherwise, play as usual!
Pro-tip: make sure to do this activity when you first go outside, so there aren’t a bunch of tracks already in the snow.
4. Play snow Pictionary
Find a stick or just use a gloved hand to draw in the snow. Take turns drawing something specific in the snow and having others guess what you drew!
5. Snowflake surveying
If you’re looking for an educational activity to do in the snow, you’ll love this idea! Take a closer look at snowflakes as they fall by doing a bit of preparation.
Freeze black construction paper in your freezer and have it ready before a big snow. Once the snow starts to fall, have your child go out with the paper and collect the snowflakes.
Having the paper frozen will ensure that the flakes don’t melt. The black paper will be the perfect contrast to the white snow, so you can really see the details.
Once they have collected several snowflakes, bring them inside to compare and contrast. Check out the different sizes and patterns.
6. Keep track!
Help your child notice the tracks in the snow that they make as they walk around. Show them how the bottom of their shoe makes a little print in the snow that looks like the shoe.
After they have observed their own footprints, look up pictures of other animal footprints together. Take note of how the prints look and try to recreate them with your child. This will be fun, and you can make it science-y by talking about the different animals that might live in snowy places!
7. Icy bubbles
Did you know that bubbles react differently in the cold? Set your bottle of bubble solution outside so you can get it nice and cold. Once it’s been outside for a while, go out and make some bubbles.
To avoid warming up the solution too much, just wave the wand to create bubbles, rather than blowing on the wand.
If you’re lucky, you might be able to catch one of these magical bubbles! But it’s okay if it pops, too!
8. Ramp up the fun!
If you have older children who are a little more adventurous, consider helping them build a little ramp for their sled to go over.
When I was a kid, we loved to make ramps! Getting a little air time on your sled was so fun and exhilarating!
In order for this to work, your child will need to know a little about how to steer their sled, so you might have to give them a little lesson. As the grown-up, it is also a good idea to make sure they don’t make a ramp too big that could end up in someone getting hurt.
9. Snow Course
Make an obstacle course in the snow! Keep warm in the snow by helping your child get physical with a snow obstacle course! This is one of the snow activities that can be adapted for any age!
For obstacles, you can just use the snow, or you can incorporate other objects to make it more interesting. You can time your child to see how long it takes them to get through the course, or just aim for completion. It’s up to you!
Here are a few specific ideas for your obstacle course:
- Snow angel station
- Going down a snow-packed slide
- Bike ride in the snow
- Climb over/under a picnic table
- Run to the fence and back
- Target practice with snowballs
- Roll your own snowman
- Pull a sled full of snow (or an empty sled if they are little)
- Walk on your knees through a snow pile
You get the idea! Choose what would work for you and your littles, and go to it! Make it fun and silly!
10. Ice bowling
If you really want to switch things up, go bowling in the snow! Put water in recycled plastic bottles and freeze them. Don’t fill them all the way up, to avoid them exploding! For the bowling ball, fill a water balloon with water and put in the freezer, as well!
Then, on a snowy day, set up your pins (frozen water bottles) and use your bowling ball (frozen water balloon) and let your kids bowl their hearts out!
11. Snow Pirates
What do all pirates love? Treasure!
Make your child a snow treasure hunt by hiding things in the snow for them to find.
This is another one of my favorite snow play ideas because it can be easily adapted for any age. If your toddler wants to play in the snow, you can hide things on top of the snow that is colorful. However, you can bury the treasures under the snow if you have older kids.
If you want to make it an educational snow activity, draw a map for your child to help them find the treasure. Talk about cardinal directions and following a map. You could make them get the items in a certain order, to follow the map.
12. Make a snow slide
Making a snow slide would be a super fun snow activity for preschoolers. The idea is very simple-slide in the snow!
If you have a playset at your house or a park nearby, pack it with snow, so your child can slide down into all of the snow. You can either put a bit of snow on the slide, so they “snow plow” it down the whole slide, or you can put a pile at the bottom that they land in!
For those without a slide-around, make your own! Build up some snow into a slide shape and let your child enjoy! By packing the snow up well, they will be able to sit on it and go down. What a fun way to play in the snow!
13. Target practice
If a snowball fight seems like too much for your child, set up target practice instead.
Have your child make several snowballs and then draw a target in the snow. See if they can get the snowball in the target.
For younger children, just make one big circle that isn’t too far from where they are standing. They can toss the snowball underhand.
For older children, you can design a target with a bullseye, and assign various points to each ring or spot on the target.
If you want, you could even have targets that are up a little higher. Have them aim for a tree or a certain spot on the fence.
14. Snow Tag
For a twist on the classic tag game, try snow tag!
Find a large patch of snow without any other tracks in it. Make a large circle or square with your tracks. Then you walk across the shape with your feet, connecting a few paths to the outside of the shape.
The game of tag is normal, except that you have to stay in the tracks that have been made already (the outside of the shape, or the few paths made in the middle).
Classic Snow Activities
These first ideas are great for snowy day activities because they are classics! Chances are if you grew up in snowy areas, you’ve done most of these fun activities, so make sure your kids get the chance, too!
15. Make a snowman
There’s a reason snowman-making is a classic. It’s plain fun and your kids will love it! You can go traditional with three balls rolled up from largest to smallest. Add a carrot nose, and whatever you have on hand for eyes and a mouth. (Does anyone really have coal?).
Your kids might also love to dress up your snowman (or snow lady!) in extra hats and gloves.
You can also go for a whole snow family or even a snow animal. Honestly, the sky is the limit (or your imagination!).
16. Make a snow fort
Snow forts are just so much darn fun! The possibilities are endless! You can go full-on igloo style, or you can just make a few walls to play in between.
Depending on the age of your child, you can get your kids involved and make this outdoor snow activity an educational one, too! If you have an older child, you can get them involved in designing the snow fort. Get out some paper and let them draw what they are thinking. This combines creativity, problem-solving, and fun!
For younger kiddos, you don’t have to be as fancy (unless you want to be!). You can keep your fort simple and they will likely still be impressed!
17. Have a snowball fight
A snowball fight is a great snow activity! Just be careful to set up some ground rules so everyone has fun, and no one gets hurt.
I like making two rules to keep things civil. One rule is that you can’t hit anyone above the neck, and the other good one is no ice in your snowball.
Once kids know the rules, help them learn how to make a good snowball. Make it silly and playful, not getting too serious. Most kids will enjoy getting to throw snow at the grownups!
18. Go sledding
I have such fond memories of going sledding as a kid! We would go to a nearby park and have such a fun time flying down the hills!
If you have a toddler, you can start sledding by just pulling them around with the sled rather than going downhill. Or you can find a small, smooth hill if you think your little one is up for it.
I also suggest going down the hill with your toddler the first time (or every time, depending on their comfort level). This can ease them into the experience and make for a better time.
When children get older, they might enjoy a bigger hill that lets them go fast.
No matter what kind of hill you choose, just make sure you have a good sled! Here’s a classic sled that is sturdy and comes in a variety of colors. Here’s a fun disc sled that is perfect for more confident sledders that can go alone.
19. Snow Angels
Snow angels are a classic snow activity because they are easy for just about everyone to do, and they look pretty cool!
A snow angel is when you lay down on your back in the snow and basically do a jumping jack laying down. Make a sweeping motion with your legs out and in, and sweep your arms from your sides to over your head.
This creates what looks like an angel in the snow. It’s simple and pretty!
20. Catch snowflakes on your tongue!
There really is something magical about raising your head to the sky and sticking your tongue out to catch a snowflake.
Go outside when it’s snowing, and make a contest out of how many each person can catch. Or you can race to see who can get the first snowflake!
I hope you have snow much fun!
Whichever activity you choose, I hope you and your child have tons of fun in the snow. I have many a happy memory of playing outside in the fluffy white powder for hours! So tell me, what are some of your favorite memories or activities in the snow?
I really enjoyed your blog post on snow much fun. You have given some fun and creative ideas that can make snow days more exciting and playful for kids. I especially liked the idea of making snow paint and snow ice cream.
Keep up the good work!