20+ Fun Activities to Do in the Snow
20 great games to cure cabin fever.
By Amanda Kingloff and Lauren DeBellis from Parents Magazine
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Kate Powers
Hoop It Up
Grab a few hula hoops, and have a contest to see who can last the longest. It's a lot harder when you're all bundled up!
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Kindra Clineff
Shake It Up!
Use strong glue to attach a plastic toy to the inside of a jar lid, then add baby oil and glitter for a homemade snow globe; it makes a fun souvenir of a great day.
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Heather Weston
Cool Critters
Use bits of nature to embellish animals sculpted from snow.
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Heather Weston
For the Birds
Hollow out an orange and fill with seeds to feed your feathered friends.
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Heather Weston
Ice Maker
When the temperature drops below 32 degrees, blow bubbles and watch them freeze on the wand.
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Heather Weston
Snow Graffiti
Give kids spray bottles full of water that's tinted with food coloring to decorate the white canvas in your backyard.
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Kindra Clineff
Tic-Tac-Snow
Two players go for the championship in this classic game. Use crisscrossed sticks and pinecones as game pieces.
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Kindra Clineff
For the Birds
String cranberries, popcorn, and cereal onto fishing line for a garland to attract and nourish your feathered friends.
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Kindra Clineff
Cold Molds
Borrow some pans from the kitchen. Use them to build crystal fairy castles or to create cakes for a cold-weather "buffet."
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Kindra Clineff
A Sweet Chalet
Decorate your playhouse with laminated paper snowflakes, pinwheels, and a wreath dotted with plastic ponytail holders.
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Kindra Clineff
Ice and Easy
Freeze colored water into ice cubes, then hide them around the yard for a wintertime scavenger hunt.
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Kindra Clineff
Frosty Toss
Have a snowball-throwing contest! Make a target by creating a bright circle in the snow with colored water in a squirt bottle.
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Kindra Clineff
Sugar Daddy
Give your friendly snowman a candy-coated makeover with licorice, lollipops, and gummies.
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Kate Powers
Build a Fort
Build a fort. Use sand buckets, loaf pans, and cut-up empty milk cartons to make a cool snow castle.
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Kate Powers
Go Tubing
Beach toys aren't just for sand. Have your kids sit in inner tubes and then race to the finish line using just their feet.
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Kate Powers
Swing Away
Make a golf course by packing down a section of snow every few feet. Bury tin cans halfway down in the snow to create holes, and mark them with mini flagsticks.
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Kate Powers
Pin the Smile on the Snowman
Pass out chocolate cookies, then blindfold each child and let him try to get the mouth, eyes, and buttons in place.
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Kate Powers
Practice Your Pitch
Paint a bull's-eye target on a piece of cardboard, giving each colored ring a point value. Attach it to a tree, and keep score as the kids try to hit the target with snowballs.
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Kate Powers
More Fun Ideas
* Have a snowball fight. Divide your family into teams, then start throwing. Save this one for last so you can go inside, dry off, and have some hot chocolate.
* Walk this way. Have your kids follow your lead as you move like different animals: Waddle like a penguin, stomp like a bear, and wiggle like a fish.
* Create a maze. Put on your hiking boots and stamp out a path for your kids to follow.
* Plan a scavenger hunt. Hide an apple in a mound of snow so that a little bit peeks out. Give the kids silly directions to follow as they search for it.
* Play freeze tag. Can you think of a more appropriate game for a chilly day? Once someone's tagged by the person who's "It," he has to stay frozen until another player tags him again.
* Make faces. Use handfuls of packed snow to create funny characters on a tree trunk.
Originally published in the January 2007, January 2008, and January 2010 issues of Parents magazine.What do you think of this story? Give your opinion!
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