Get the most of winter break with your kids using this list of fun and easy indoor and outdoor winter activities! Simple and fun winter break activities to keep your child busy this winter break.
Winter Break Activities
I’m not sure about you but I have a love hate relationship with winter break. After 4 full months of school we all need a break, but have three young kids at home for two full weeks is not for the faint of heart. Even though your kids have tons of new toys that should occupy their attention for the next year, they just won’t and eventually you know that you will hear, “I’m bored” more than once during the break!
So I created this list of easy to do winter break activities to set up for your kids during the winter break, snow days or any days for that matter during winter. These ideas can be done whether you are at home with the kids all day or just after school.
This list is divided into outdoor winter activities and indoor ideas from crafts, activities, sensory play and more! These 50 winter break crafts and activities are great ways to get your through those long dark days of winter. Whether you like to get outside or prefer to stay inside and hibernate, this list of winter break activities are sure to get through till bedtime!
Outdoor Winter Break Activities
1. Go Ice Skating
Whether you can skate or not, for ice skating is a fun and easy outdoor activity with kids. Plus you can get hot chocolate afterwards!
2. Paint the Snow
Materials:
- Spray bottle
- Food colouring or liquid water colours
- Water
- Snow
- Water proof winter gear
How to Set Up Snow Painting
1. Grab a spray bottle and fill it with water.
2. Add a few drops of liquid water coloring or food colouring to the water and mix.
3. Head outside and spray the snow with the colored water. Mix the colours or make a picture!
3. Build a Winter Obstacle Course
Here is a fun way to play in the snow! Create a backyard obstacle course this winter! This is an amazing way to keep kids entertained outside!
4. Go sledding
Have snow on the ground? Pull out the your sled and head over to a small hill and enjoy riding down! Great fun big and small kids.
5. Go to the movies
Check out what is playing at your local theatre and enjoy a mid afternoon movie at the theatre. Its a great way to make it from lunch to dinner!
6. Go to the museum
Head out to your local museum and visit dinosaurs and mummys. This is a great outing for kids of all ages! Large indoor spaces to run around!
7. Make a Snow Maze
If you have enough snow on the ground, create a maze big enough for toy dinosaurs or cars to move through. Use toy shovels to help clear the snow.
8. Learn to knit or crochet (great for older kids 8 years and up)
Check out this video for a quick knitting tutorial for kids.
9. Make a Pine Cone Bird Feeder Craft
Materials
- Pine Cone
- Peanut Butter
- Bird seed
How to Make a Pine Cone Bird Feeder
- Grab a pine cone and remove as much debris and dirt as you can by shaking it and brushing it with a paint brush.
- Attach a string or twine around the top of the pine cone.
- Grab some spreadable peanut butter or if your peanut butter is hard to spread, warm it up slightly and use a plastic knife to spread it all over the pine cones.
- Roll the pine cone in bird seed, completely covering the peanut butter in bird seed.
- Hang it up on a tree branch where birds can reach it.
10. Go Skiing
Take a few ski lessons for beginners and then enjoy some hot chocolate afterwards.
11. Play snow kitchen
Grab a few pot and pans, bowl, mixing spoons and shovels and set up a snow kitchen outside!
12. Make the perfect snow angel
If you recently have fresh powered snow outside, get dressed in your winter gear and head outside to make perfect snow angels!
13. Have a snowball fight
Organize a friendly snowball fight your neighbours. It’s a surprisingly fun way to work on teamwork.
14. Make a giant snowball
The start of making a great snowman is to make giant snowballs. If you have packing snow, see how big of a snowball you can make!
15. Go Snowboarding
Try taking snowboarding lessons this winter at your local hill.
16. Make Swedish Snow Lanterns
Materials
- Snowballs
- Battery powered tea light
How to Make Snow Lanterns
- Make lots of snowballs.
- Create a ring of snowballs and place the tea light in the center, turned on.
- Start piling the snowball over the tea light in a pyryrid type shape.
17. Build a Snow Fort
Materials
- Lots of packing snow
- Warm winter gear
- Use hands or shovels for digging
How to Make A Snow Fort
- Create a large pile of snow. Try to build the fort along a tree or fence or another structure to help provide a wall for the fort, especially if you don’t have a lot of snow.
- Use your hands or shovel to dig a tunnel or hole in the pile, large enough for your child to fit.
18. Go for a Winter Hike
Get dressed in your winter gear and go for a walk in nature.
19. Blow bubbles and watch them freeze (if its cold enough)
20. Go Inner Tubing
21. Make a Snowman Family
22. Play hockey
Make a clearing in the slow and play snow hockey using a ball and some large sticks.
23. Make Snow Self Portraits
Make a picture of yourself using snow and nature materials!
Materials
- Large snowball
- Pine cones
- Rocks
- Sticks
- Other items from nature
How to Make Snow Self Portraits
- Make giant snowballs for the head.
- Start to create your face or the face of anybody you know using the pine cones, rocks, sticks and other items from nature.
- Use the rocks for eyes, pine cones for hair and sticks for the mouth, eye brows. See if you can find other items (fall leaves, bark) for the nose.
24. Go on a Winter Scavenger Hunt
Use the free winter scavenger hunt printable below and head outside to find all the winter items on the list.
25. Snowball Target Practice
Draw a target on a fence using sidewalk walk or regular chalk and throw snowballs at it to see who can get the closet to the middle.
Indoor Winter Break Winter Activities
26. Create a Fancy Hot Chocolate Bar
Set up a fancy DIY hot chocolate bar. This is a great idea for after a long walk or play outdoors in the cold. Come inside and warm up with some hot chocolate. Grab some small bowls and add, marshmallows, sprinkles in different colours, candy canes, dark chocolate shavings, coconuts or white chocolate shavings.
27. Have a Movie Marathon
Watch your favourite series of movies all cozy on the counch.
28. Make a Snowflake Banner
Materials
- White paper
- Blue paint
- Blue and sliver glitter glue
- Scissors
How to Make Snowflake Banner
- Fold the corner over on the paper and cut off the excess strip. You should have a square folded in the shape of a triangle.
- Fold it again to make a smaller triangle.
- Use scissors to cut out shapes to make your snowflake.
- Open it up.
- Repeat with more paper to make lots of snowflakes.
- Decorate your snowflakes using the paint and glitter glue. Set them aside to dry.
- Grab a piece of twine. String the snowflakes along the twine and hang it up over a window.
29. Make a Sock Snowman
Create this adorable sock snowman craft with your kids this winter! It’s fun and creative way to use left over socks.
30. Make a Winter Sensory Bin (good for toddlers)
Make a winter sensory bin, that’s sure to grab your child’s attention.
31. Play with Snow Inside
Have snow outside but its too cold to play out there? Put the snow inside a large Tupperware container or sensory bin and bring it inside. Let your little one play with it inside using bowls, spoons, and shovels.
32. Play Board Games (great for kids 3 years and up)
33. Make Pizza Snowmen
Turn lunch time into a winter fun time by making a pizza snowman.
34. Make Fake Snow
No snow in your area? No problem, you can Make Fake Snow using these easy recipes here.
35. Have a All Day Pj Day
Declare one day where you wear and stay in your pjs all day. Remember that doesn’t mean that you have to stay home but what fun it would be head out for a fun outing in your pjs! A day your kids won’t forget!
36. Have an Indoor Snowball fight
Have an indoor snowball fight with these snowballs perfect for a a fun mess free time inside.
37. Winter Colour by Numbers
Use the free download below and print out a colour by number winter page.
38. Make a snow Stained Glass Window (great for kids 3 years and up)
No matter of the weather outside, you can build a snowman to look outside with this fun craft.
39. Make Snowflake Suncatchers
Materials
- Snowflake template
- Scissors
- Craft knife
- Tissue paper
- Contact paper
- Double sided tape
How to Make a Snowflake Suncatcher
- Print out the snowflake template.
- Cut it out using scissors and a craft knife. You will need to cut out the center of the snowflake. Leaving the black outline visible.
- Place the snowflake on a sheet of contact paper.
- Decorate with tissue paper squares.
- Place another sheet of contact paper on top and cut off the excess contact paper.
- Hang on your window using double sided tape.
40. Make Icicles
41. Create a Toilet Paper Roll Snowman
Materials
- Toilet Paper roll
- White paper
- Scissors
- Pipe cleaners
- Two small pom poms
- Black marker
- Orange construction paper
- Craft Glue
- Small gems or buttons
- Sparkly paper
- Double sided tape
How to Make a Toilet Paper Roll Snowman
- Measure and cut white paper on a toilet paper roll. Glue it on or secure with double sided tape.
- Measure and cut a pipe cleaner around the top of the roll and glue into place.
- Glue on two small pom poms at the end of the pipe cleaner on each side.
- Cut out a small carrot nose and glue that to the face.
- Cut out a thin strip out of the sparky paper. Glue it around the middle of the roll crossing it over in the middle like a scarf.
- Glue three buttons or gems below the scarf.
- Use a marker to draw on the face of the snowman.
42. Set up a Winter Play Dough Invitation To Play
43. Make Giant Paper Bag Snowflakes
44. Create an Ice Sensory Bin
Winter Ice Sensory Bin is THE BEST sensory activity for winter! You will be amazed at how much fun your little one will have with ice! This one is perfect for toddlers and super easy to setup.
45. Paint in the Bathtub
Shaving Cream Bathtub Paint is an easy boredom busting activity for kids of all ages. A great way to keep active toddlers busy!
46. Make Ice Garland
Create a colourful garland of ice. Find the full instructions here.
47. Make Toilet Paper Roll Snowflakes
Marierals
- Toilet paper rolls
- Water colour paints
- Brush
- Scissors
- Glue
How to Make Toilet Paper Roll Suncatcher
- Paint the toilet paper rolls
- Cut them into strips
- Fold them slightly and glue them into the shape of a snowflake.
48. Make Ice sun catchers
Materials
- Muffin tin
- Twine
- Water
- Pines cones
- cranberries
- Oranges
- Pomegranate seeds
- Acorns
- Kiwi
How to Make Ice Sun Catchers
- Fill the muffin tin with water and add the different items into each section.
- Place in the freezer over night.
- Hang outside on cold days.
49. Play Laser Ninjas
Materials
- Yarn
How to Set up Yarn Laser Ninja
- Create a laser field using the yarn strung around sturdy peice of furniture like, tables, couches and door knobs.
- Invite your child to make their way through the field without touching the lasers or yarn!
50. Make Snowman Sticky Wall
Make a snowman using cotton balls and contact paper. This is great for toddlers!
Looking for more Fun Christmas Crafts & Activities? Check out these fun ideas:
Age Suitability
This activity is good for toddlers, and preschoolers, kindergarten aged children 18 months old and up. My kids are 4.5, 4.5 and 8 years old.
Mess Level
The mess level for this activity is medium. Use a tray to keep the paint and glitter from getting everywhere.
Difficulty to Create
Easy.
Skills Developed
Language development, number recognition, color recognition, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, imaginative play, creativity.
Materials
(This post and list contains affiliate links for your convenience. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I may earn a commission. Please visit my disclosure policy for more information.)
- White paper plate
- Red, pink, white and black construction paper
- Cotton Balls
- Red pom pom
- Scissors
- Glue
- Ruler
- Pencil
Books & TV Show!
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles that show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to finally share my new crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched July 1 at on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
WILL YOU TRY ANY OF THES ACTIVITIES THIS WINTER BREAK WITH YOUR KIDS? PIN IT FOR LATER!
