The snow is coming! Here are some snow related activities for you and your little ones.
Go outside and enjoy the snow…
“Paint” the Snow with Colored Water. I got this idea from Kids on the Grand. If you have an empty spray bottle and some food coloring you are ready for fun. Just add cold water to the spray bottle and give it a generous dose of food coloring. Send the kids outside with bottles of differently colored water and tell them to”paint” the snow [and not the dog. Or each other.]
Make a snowman. If you want to plan ahead, here’s what you will need to make a super cute one: black river rocks (2 for the eyes, 5 for the mouth, 3 for the buttons), 1 carrot for the nose, felt to make an easy scarf and a top hat. You can find the rocks or buy them at a craft store when you are looking for a plastic top hat.
Play with sandbox toys. We always think of pulling out our shovels when it snows, but don’t forget about your sandbox toys too!
Have your kids help you shovel. Surprisingly, even my 1 1/2 year old likes to shovel. It’s a great sense of accomplishment, they feel like they are being helpful and it’s satisfying to see immediate gratification of their work. And I hope I am preparing them to shovel for me or at least substantially pitch in with the family when they get older. 
Then enjoy these activities while you stay warm in the house…
Make tents. We have made forts with umbrellas, blankets or sheets from one piece of furniture to another or just underneath a table! To keep everything in place I have some clips that I normally use for closing bags of chips etc, but you can also use clothes pins or binder clips.
Have an indoor “snowball” fight. My son’s teachers did this with them today at school. They had a bunch of paper and tissue paper (I wouldn’t recommend newspaper, unless you want to clean up dirty hand prints all over) and let the kids wad them up into balls. I’m sure this one has the potential to get crazy, but before you sense it getting crazy you can switch gears to another activity!
Have a picnic. Instead of eating lunch at your dinner table, spread a blanket on the floor next to the table. I don’t know about you, but I’m always cleaning up food under the table anyway, so might as well make it fun every once in a while!
Have a luau. Turn up the heat and pretend you are at the beach! Put on some bathing suits, t-shirts, shorts and sunglasses.
Make Snow Ice Cream. I got this idea from Mid-Mitten Kids. Here’s a recipe to try:
Ingredients
- 1 cup of milk or cream
- 3 Tbsp. sugar
- 2 Tbsp. mini chocolate chips
- vanilla extract
- *clean* snow
- 1/4 cup salt
- Mix milk, sugar, chocolate chips and a few drops of vanilla extract in a small ziplock bag; seal bag.
- Fill a gallon-size ziplock bag halfway with clean snow and add salt.
- Put smaller bag inside bigger bag; seal bigger bag, squeezing out air.
- Knead bags until milk mixture solidifies, 5-10 minutes.
- Remove small bag and rinse before opening
- Squeeze ice cream into a bowl and enjoy!
