Winter is a great time to be outside with your kids. I wanted to come up with a whole bunch of kids outdoor winter activities that were simple and that you would be able to do today. I find it so frustrating when I see lots of amazing ideas but they require me to go and buy resources.
These kids outdoor winter activities will have your kids out in nature, exploring and loving what can be an incredibly magical season. Best of all is that they require minimal preparation and effort on your part. Hours of fun and memories for minimal effort is my kind of activity. Especially in winter when I want to curl up in front of a fire!
Why Kids Outdoor Winter Activities are so Important?
Kids thrive in nature and fresh air. Winter can be a month where a sedaroty lifestyle can set in because it just feels too cold to go outside.
Keeping kids active year round is important for their development. Summer is often spent in incredibly active ways such as swimming, hiking, and adventuring. We can make sure winter is just as active, it just might take a little more effort on our parts as parents.
There is never bad weather just bad clothing. Make sure your kids stay nice and rugged up in winter with good thermal wear and you will be set to have a grand old time.
Leaf Confetti
Leaf confetti is so much fun to make. All you need to do in go on a walk or out in your backyard and collect a bunch of different coloured leaves. I find that this activity works best if they are still slightly pliable. Super dry ones tend to crumble.
Once you are home with your leaves you can let your kids practice their fine motor skills in chopping the leaves into little pieces. The concentration on their little faces is almost palpable! If you do want to get a little fancy you can use a hole punch or if you want to be real extra you can use shaped hole punches like these ones. I actually think the little star hole punches are adorable. My little boys love a good dinosaur hole puncher though.
You can use your leave confetti in your arts and crafts. It is a million times easier to clean up then glitter!
Snow Ball Fight
Snow ball fights can be one of the most memorable and epic winter activities. They can often become highly competitive especially when dad’s join the ranks somehow! Very much like the water fights of summer. No mercy shown!
Use the snow to create some safe havens and let the throwing begin. This is a great activity to get the neighbourhood kids in on. During summer they are used to playing the days away and will likely be missing each other during the colder months.
Make sure you have some nice warm hot chocolate ready for when everyone comes inside to warm up.
Snow Angels
We live so far away from snow that we make sand angels at the beach in winter. However whenever we do make it to the snow, snow angels are one of the first things we do.
You can use some coloured water in a spray bottle to decorate you angel too. Perhaps crowning her with a halo of carefully selected twigs and leaves will be just what she needs.
Paint the Snow
Painting the snow is a great kid outdoor winter activity for all ages. Put water with a few drops of food colouring into a spray bottle. We have used dollar store spray bottles but have also recycled other spray bottles that were almost empty. Just use what you have.
Older kids may enjoy using a squirt bottle instead to get more precision in their art work. Same concept, water and food colouring in squirty bottle.
Nature Walk
Nature walks in winter can be just as much fun as in summer. The colours are all different, the animals are behaving differently and you just get a whole new appreciation for nature.
On our nature walks we really like to point on obscure and interesting trees. It has become a bit of a tradition to see who can find the most interesting tree on the walk .
Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are greater activity year round. We usually take photos of the things on the list rather than collecting them. There is only so much nature I need in my house! Also nature is probably best left in nature.
There are cute little scavenger hunt cards that are a lot of fun for littler kids. I love they take the hassle out of coming up with ideas myself. I also really appreciate that they are reusable and can be easily kept in the car for last minute nature fun.
Sledding
Sledding is a favourite childhood past time for so many of us. It is a cheap and easy activity to do this winter. When I was growing up we it snowed very rarely. Once it snowed about 30 mins from us and you best believe our whole city was out there sledding on whatever they could find and having the times of their lives. That is one of my favourite memories.
If you don’t have a sled use your imagination! That will be part of the fun of it.
Make Snow Moulds
I saw this idea on Instagram a year or so ago. They used cute heart shaped snow moulds to make adorable heart shaped snowballs and attached them to tree branches. If you don’t have a cute shape to use, it works just as well with large plastic building blocks or plastic easter eggs. Just use what you have around the house. I did find the heart shaped moulds though. They are really quite a bit special and if it snowed regularly here (we live in the tropics, it’s not going to snow) I would definitely buy one!
Snow Ice cream
We have made this without true snow, because like I said we live where it is summer all year round. It is pretty darn delicious and I can only imagine how much better the real deal would be.
I love all the recipes on Gimme Some Oven and she happens to have a Snow Ice Cream recipe!
Obviously since it is ice cream you should add all the fixings like sprinkles and chocolate sauce too.
Drink Hot chocolate
You can’t be doing kids outdoor winter activities without a good hot chocolate to warm everyone up at the end. One of our favourite things to do on a chilly night is to drink hot chocolate. When it comes to hot chocolate you can go the regular route or you can mix it up a bit with different flavours. Some our winning additions have been:
- Hazelnut Syrup
- Caramel Sauce
- Cinnamon
- Chilli (personally think this is gross but my husband swears by it)
- White Chocolate
- Dark Chocolate
- Peppermint
- Vanilla Syrup
Whatever combination that you make, be sure to write it down. You might have just come across the next family recipe.
Winter Camp
I never realised that camping in winter was actually something people did! It is definitely a thing and is actually really fun. If you want to take your kids winter camping make sure you read this post first because it has all our best tips and tricks.
You don’t even have to go far to winter camp. Pitching your tent in the backyard is going to provide the utmost fun for your kids. They will absolutely love the excitement of something new. If it gets all a bit too much and a bit too cold you can always call it a night and head back inside to your warm beds. Regardless of whether you make it the whole night or not I can promise you that this is one outdoor kids winter activity your family will not forget.
Toast Marshmallows
Toasting marshmallows and making s’mores is not just a summer activity. It is one of the best outdoor winter kids activity too! I actually seem to associate it more with the cooler months. A winter fire pit is a whole different ball game.
My kids love when we toast the marshmallows and have all the fixings for s’mores ready to go. I have found you need to be a little more vigilent around the fire in winter with children. They are generally wearing more clothing that can burn and they also tend to want to stand closer for warmth. Just something to be aware of.
This year I want to try making our own marshmallows too toast. I have heard good and bad about this but there is only one way to find out.
Cook in a Fire Pit
Whether you are cooking hot dogs or and tin foil meals a dinner cooked on a fire is always exciting. We have been experimenting with lots of different tin foil hobo meals lately and the kids have loved the experience. Just the fact that you can eat your whole dinner without a plate is a bit of a novelty. The whole family will love this kids outdoor winter activities.
Christmas Lights
Depending on where you live, this could be the perfect time for visiting all the Christmas lights. It’s magical and there is just that beautiful Christmas spirit in the air the make every one a bit giddy. We usually do Christmas lights with slushies or milk shakes. However one of your new secret family recipe hot chocolates might be a bit more appropriate.
Go to a Look Out and Watch the City Lights Turn On
Our baby calls all lights at night “Christmas” because he connects them with pretty Christmas fairy lights. It’s adorable and we don’t correct him becuase he’s the baby and we don’t want him to grow up!
One of our most memorable activities has been sitting at a look out with take out and watching the sunset. As the sun goes down, all the street light switch on. It is actually a pretty neat thing to watch.
Nature Ice Blocks
I remember do this as a child and I really need to get my kids to do it. It only just popped back into my mind today as I was writing this post.
Spend a morning collecting different leaves, flowers, twigs and anything else that catches your eye. Fill up a small container or pan with water. A small cake tin works really well. Once your vessel is full with water about 2 inches lay out your nature finds. Place your container outside to freeze if it is cold enough or into a freezer. This is really a two for one deal when it comes to kids outdoor winter activities. You can collect the nature items one day and make the ice block the next day.
In summer this is fun to do with edible flowers and leaves. You can use the ice blocks as ice in drinks to keep them cool.
