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25 Snow Day Activities to Keep Your Kids Busy

Enjoy these fun indoor & outdoor activities for your next snow day!

Like so many others, we are having a ‘snow day’ this week (actually, it’s an ice day today but who knows what tomorrow might bring — my kids are hoping for a repeat performance :).

You can’t go out much (really, driving is horrendous) and it’s not like you had time to plan ahead since snow days are always a surprise.

But that shouldn’t stop you from having some fun today and even creating a few memories.

Here are a few creative ways to spend the day without going crazy from cabin fever!


snow day activities

 

25 FUN Snow Day Activities for Kids & Adults

Whether you want to spend some time inside away from the elements or outdoors enjoying nature, we have a slew of ideas for you along with a few affiliate links to items that will make the day fly by!

Indoor Snow Day Ideas

Maybe there’s a new board game you haven’t played together?

Or something your kids have been wanting to do (like baking cookies!).

Now’s the time!

  • Build & create something from junk! Try taking apart a broken household appliance to make your own DIY Tinker Kit and see what makes it tick!
  • Start a scrapbook of all those favorite items, awards and keepsakes.

Get to Know Each Other (again!)

Kids grow up too quick!

And you and I both know how fast the days and weeks fly by.  Sometimes we just don’t get enough time to connect as a family — we’re together having meals, running errands and doing homework but some weeks lack those quality hours that we need to connect.

  • Let your kids ask you questions about growing up – what was your favorite book, who was your best friend, which vacation memory was the funniest — then turn the tables and ask them the same! Or use this free printable list of 20 Questions and get to know your kids again.
  • Pull on some old home movies – you know, of your kids when they were so young that they don’t recognize themselves.  Or go through your old photos and experience a blast into your past.
  • Connect with relatives afar – call grandma and grandpa, draw a picture and write a note to a distant cousin, Facetime with someone you love!

READ!

The teachers will thank you if your kids squeeze in a little reading time 🙂  And it makes for great ‘down time’ for everyone.

  • Pull out some books that your kids may not have read for a while.

Snow Day Outdoor Activities

Seriously!  Being cooped up in the house isn’t good for anyone – get everyone outside for a while as long as it’s safe.

  • Build a snowman
  • Shovel the driveway or walkway
  • Make a snow fort
  • Go on a snow hike and see who else is outside enjoying the day
  • Help a neighbor to dig out

Pass on Some Wisdom

A snow day may just be the opportunity you need to pass on some life skills and wisdom.

  • I love this sensory experiment that just uses spices from your cupboard from A Little Learning for Two – create some ‘scent cards’ and have your kids guess the different smells.  You can ask ‘which do you think we use to bake cookies?’ or ‘which has a strong odor?’  Kids really enjoy this one!
  • Talk about money – do your kids know the values of the coins?  Have you talked about why it’s important to save money?  Do they appreciate how much their activities cost?  Start the conversation.

Forget about the Weather

Sometimes you just have to close the shades and forget about what’s going on outside. 

  • Start some spring gardening activities.  You may even have some seeds and potting soil in the garage – plant a few in a cup to get those seedlings started!
  • Have an island day with these Island Activities & Movies — play some Hawaiian music, enjoy a tropical snack and think ‘sunny’ thoughts!
  • Create a cool indoor fort – blanket fort, sheet fort, pillow fort, turn the closet into a fort – give the kids some building time and encourage creativity!  Print off these FREE Fort Signs as a fun surprise too.

More Fun Winter Activities:

33 Indoor & Outdoor Winter Activities