For those increasingly frequent snow days (and weekends!) here’s a list things to do in winter outdoors with your kids. The greatest side benefit is less dependence on electronic devices, and more time spent in healthy activities.
- Have a snowball fight.
- Have a scavenger hunt. (Make a list of things to find or see and check off each item as you find it on your walk.)
- Go sledding, or have a sled-pulling contest.
- Go skating at an outdoor rink or on a pond.
- Build a snowman.
- Spray paint snow with food colouring and water — simply mix it up in a spray bottle. Maybe try spray painting the snowman too!
- Make a snow maze. (Making a snow maze is so easy to do! Simply shuffle, stomp and walk in itty-bitty steps to form trails for the maze. Then walk back and forth over the paths a few times to make sure that the snow gets packed down. Be sure to make lots of dead ends too.)
- Make snow angels.
- Build a snow fort.
- Make animal snow sculptures and use twigs, berries, leaves or other nature bits to decorate.
- Blow bubbles, watch them freeze and try to save them without breaking them.
- Play a giant game of tic-tac-toe in the snow. Draw the board and use twigs and acorns as Xs and Os.
- Take cake pans and muffin tins outside and use them as snow molds. Use the molded pieces to make miniature buildings, sculptures, etc.
- Make different tracks in the snow. Pointing your feet out and staggering them will create tractor tire marks, for example.
- Play football or soccer in the snow.
- Catch snowflakes on your tongue.
- Go bowling using snowballs.
- Have a winter picnic.
- Make faces on tree trunks with snow.
- Draw smiley faces on snow covered car windshields.
- Have a snowball throwing contest. Hang a target on a tree and keep track of the best scores.
- Play at a playground after a fresh snowfall.
- Have a contest to see who can roll the biggest snowball.
- Go on a hike.
- Check out your local zoo — some offer free admission during the winter months!
- Go out searching for animal tracks after a fresh snowfall.
- Make a pyramid out of snowballs.
- Throw icicles on the ground and watch them smash.
- Play a game of snow golf — bury tin cans in the snow to be your holes.
- Write your name in the snow, like you would on a beach.
Thanks to Dyan Robson (https://www.cbc.ca/parents/play/view/50-outdoor-things-to-do-with-your-kids-in-winter) for the partial list of activities mentioned above.
Global Montessori has been offering primary child care, after school care, and the Montessori method of schooling in Langley since 1988. In our new Montessori in Marpole facility, we accept infants and toddlers living in and around the area and beyond. For more information, visit https://globalmontessoricenter.ca