Top 10 Activities for Snow Days!, Confessions of a Writeaholic

According to the weather forecast Mother Nature has decided to shower us with some snow love this weekend! And that means, a snow day off from school on Friday, followed by the weekend and then school is off again on Monday!

While my son and I enjoy watching it snow and admire the beauty of our snow laden backyard, snow days also mean staying indoors mainly. It won’t take long for the boredom to kick in leaving my boy with a tremendous amount of pent up energy, which requires an outlet.

Resisting the temptation to let him “veg” on the couch in front of movies or video games only, I decided to be prepared this winter with these fun, creative, simple projects that will keep him busy during a snow day.

Create Snow Art!

Let’s face it, the moment snow sticks to the ground the kids want to go out and play (and maybe so do you?). Why not make the snow experience more creative? Fill empty spray bottles or liquid dishwasher bottles with food coloring and water, then letting the kids unleash their inner winter wonderland artist! Kids can design rainbows, flowers or self-portraits or even add color to snowmen.

Magazine Project

Give your kids a project! Give them old magazines and ask them to design a collage! Want to make it more creative? Ask them to create something that tells a story (for older kids) and for the younger ones have them sketch something and glue the collage into their sketch.

Schedule a Neighborhood Play Date

If there are kids in the neighborhood, most likely they are bored too being indoors for so long. Schedule a play date, that should keep the kids happy and occupied for a longer period of time! Just make sure you have a room/basement full of toys to keep them active! 😀

Craft an Indoor Snowman

You don’t always have to freeze outside to build a snowman — be creative and make one using marshmallows. Outline a snowman on construction paper and trace glue around each circle. Place mini marshmallows onto the glue. Add details with other materials from around the house. Grab scraps of felt for his hat or yarn for his scarf and color in his face with markers or dried food products. When he’s dry, the kids can name and hang him up in the house. Don’t have mini marshmallows? Use cotton balls for a fluffier snowman.

Whip up Snow Cones

Gather up clean, freshly fallen snow and bring it inside. Divide it into cups and pour lemon juice and a little sugar or frozen juice concentrate over each and you and the kids can enjoy some scrumptious homemade snow cones. Get more detailed instructions here.

Game On

Kids love competition, schedule a tournament for board games like monopoly or card games like Uno. Kids would love a tournament on the Wii or Xbox too! Make sure you join in to make it competitive.

Hot Chocolate with an Animated movie

My boy and I love to huddle up in front of the television with a cup of hot chocolate and watch an animated movie of his choice. It makes him very happy when he gets to pick the movie we are watching!

Indoor Sports

Have an indoor sports tournament like a soccer game, football or basketball. My son and I have a game of soccer (his favorite) or basketball when we both have the energy (the energy part mainly applies to me!) We also have sword fights – reenactment of Star Wars. Of course my son is from the light side and I am from the dark side and he ALWAYS defeats me!

Reading Time

Extra time means additional reading time. We usually make a trip to the Library a couple of days before the expected snow days so we are not short on new books to read. I make it fun for my son by making him read to me and then having him write down his own version of the story. Of course, his version has all sorts of characters like Flash and Batman but it keeps him creatively occupied and keeps me amused! 🙂

Treasure hunt

Hide something in your house. Then post clues for your kids to find them. OR – just play ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ telling your kids they’re getting ‘warmer’ when they’re getting closer… and ‘colder’ when they’re walking away from the ‘treasure’

What do you do to keep kids or yourself occupied when you are snowed in? Let me know!

(Activity Ideas from Pinterest)