Fun Outdoor Winter Activities For Kids And Parents To Enjoy Together

Why don’t more parents explore fun outdoor winter activities for kids to enjoy with them? Many parents are cautious about their kids playing outside, thinking that they will get sick because of the cold weather. However, encouraging your kids to play outside and be active (even in the winter) is essential for their mental and physical health.

Kids should be getting fresh air and physical activity all year round. Bundle them up with a warm hat, mittens, winter boots and a nice warm jacket. Bring water with you to keep them hydrated, and take them outside. Even if your city doesn’t have snow in the winter, there are still many fun outdoor winter activities for kids to enjoy.

Top Outdoor Winter Activities For Kids

You need to let your kids play outside this winter. Fresh winter air is good for the whole family, so enjoy these activities with them. Let your kids expend energy outside, and help them stay healthy by getting fresh air, exercise, and the social enjoyment of playing outside. Below are some of the best outdoor winter activities for kids and parents to enjoy:

Snowman Building

Do you want to build a snowman? This is a wintertime tradition that sits on top of the list. Your kids will need good quality mittens, a warm hat and jacket. Every young one and “young once upon a time” adult will enjoy this activity. Snowman building is a fun group activity to do as a family. You don’t have to stick with a traditional snowman, either. You can create something unique like a snow penguin, dog, cat, star, dolphin, etc. When you have fun playing in the snow, you’re moving around and dressed warmly, you’re less likely to notice the cold.

Ice Skating

Ice skating is the quintessential winter activity that everyone enjoys. It’s one of those classic outdoor winter activities for kids and parents to enjoy together. Most communities have outdoor ice rinks. To immerse yourself in nature instead, find a frozen pond or lake nearby that’s been declared safe to skate on. There’s something magical about skating outside with frosty winds and sun rays caressing your face.

If skating at an ice rink, you can get your kids one of those skating-assistance items to hold on to, and always hold their hand while skating.

If you’re skating at a frozen lake, you’ll want to ensure the city has deemed it safe to skate on, and have your kids wear a helmet, knee pads and other safety gear.

Sledding or Tubing

Sleds consist of wood platforms and are easier to control. Meanwhile, tubes filled with air are more aerodynamic, so you’ll speed up a lot faster. Either way, both snow activities are fun for the whole family because it feels liberating to zip down a snowy hill. Besides, this provides a good cardio workout because you have to climb a hill to keep sliding down. Make fun memories with your kids while feeding the adrenaline junkie in you.

Make Frozen Ice Globes

You don’t need snow to add some fun. You can try making colored ice globes and watch the wonder in your kids’ eyes. Just fill up a balloon with water and add several drops of food color. Then, let the balloons freeze outside. Once frozen, pop those balloons outside and you’re left with a funky globe to play with and decorate.

Snow Painting

Fuel your creativity with snow painting fun. Combine poster paint or food color with water in a spray bottle. Then send your kids outside to use the ground ladened snow as their blank canvass. Give them the freedom to create any design they like. This activity will allow them to express themselves. You will surely be amazed at the unique creations they think of.

Iced Sun Catchers

Your kids will certainly have a lot of fun creating sun catchers, while they reap the benefits of fresh outdoor air and sunlight. Iced sun catchers are fascinating and easy to make. This entails looking for colorful raw materials from nature. For instance, you can utilize the following:

• Berries
• Branches
• Twigs
• Flowers
• Tiny fruits
• Various leaves

To get started on this project, you will need a mold. You can use whatever’s in your houses like a plastic lid, pie plate, paper plate, or silicone container. Just lay out your natural decorations and slowly fill the mold with water. Put a piece of string at the end for hanging. Then, leave your creation out to freeze. After a few hours, gently remove the ornament from the mold to marvel at your creation. You can hang your all-natural decorations from a nearby tree, a window sill, or the patio. As the weather warms up, this will melt slowly, and the natural implements will biodegrade on their own.

Create a Winter Solstice Tradition

Welcome the winter season by creating all-natural confetti from leaves. Use scissors or punch holes to create punch-out shapes from various colored leaves. There are a lot of fun punch-out shapes like circles, hearts, clovers, etc. at the dollar store. This is a fun project, especially for little kids as it fine-tunes their motor skills. After making tons of natural confetti, have fun throwing them in the air as you snap pics for posterity. Best of all, your creation is biodegradable so you don’t have to worry about leaving trash behind.

Blow Ice Bubbles

Kids have always been fascinated with bubbles in the summer. But you can kick things up a notch by making a frozen version. When it’s below freezing outside, try out this experiment. You may need a few tries to get it right. But whether it turns into a frozen bubble or not, you will still have loads of fun. After all, bubbles equate to fun and you can never go wrong when they’re involved.

Go on an Outdoor Adventure or “Field Trip”

Take a field trip in the woods to learn about evergreen trees. This activity combines hiking with an amazing educational experience. Create printables with information about the trees in your area, so that your kids can spot different conifers based on their unique needles and shapes. You can also snap pictures and list down other unique discoveries. Don’t forget to pack water, extra warm clothing, and a thermos of hot cocoa to enjoy a refreshing drink amidst nature. What could be better outdoor activities for kids than an educational and interactive field trip among nature?

Stay Proactive and Avoid Winter Blues

As you can see, there are tons of awesome outdoor winter activities for kids and parents to partake in together during the wintertime. Don’t use the cold as an excuse to stop moving or avoid enjoying the outdoors. Interacting with nature will also help you and your kids curb the winter blues.