A snow day is like a gift from above for most school children. Yet, parents may cringe on those days, especially if multiple snow days are called at once. Hopefully, this handy list of snow day ideas will keep your kids from going stir crazy with all that winter freedom!
1. Play Outside
This is obvious, right? If your kids need a little nudge about what to play with, encourage them to race, build, conquer, and create with these fun ideas. Check out the colorful snow tubes from Bestway. Their unique shapes and fiery designs set them apart from the rest and sure make racing down hills fun. Kids can sculpt their very own snow kingdom with the snow building tools from Create A Castle. There are even amphibious R/C cars, such as the Nikko VaporizR2 that can drive over snow, ice and water. The Toy Insider’s Marissa DiBartolo also shared some Super Snow Toys that encourage hands-on play, such as the Sno-Man Kit from Ideal, a division of Alex Brands that enables kids to create colorful works of art in the snow, or “colorize” their snowman.
2. Have an Indoor Scavenger Hunt
If you need a break from all of that outdoor activity, why not hold a scavenger hunt indoors? Create a list of items for your kids to retrieve, such as a toilet paper roll, paper clips, a pillowcase, a tissue box, or some of other simple household items. Divide the kids into teams or have them work individually to find the items, but make your instructions are clear (no bothering mom or dad for help, return all items where you found them when done, etc.). Don’t forget to designate a central location for kids to bring the items as they find them. Need a prize for the winners? How about some hot chocolate with extra marshmallows or first dibs for movie night choices?
3. Hold a Bake-Off
You’ve seen those fun baking challenge shows on TV, right? Why not hold your own, kid-sized version? Your kids can compete with simple recipes, such as cupcake decorating, pizza making, or sandwich creating. Parents can act as judges or you can upload photos of the creations to social media and have friends/family judge from afar. If you don’t feel like competing, simple baking recipes are always fun, too. Check out this healthy glazed cranberry-nut cookie recipe from fellow Toy Insider parent, Lisa Leslie-Williams, or this fun Snow Cream recipe from Charlene DeLoach, which is made with real snow!
4. Compete in an Indoor Race
If you have the space, indoor racing is an awesome idea for a snow day! Especially if it’s too stormy or snowy to go outside at all. Grab your favorite ride-on toys and line ’em up! Kids can race each other down the hallway or in your basement, or simple obstacle courses can be set up with boxes and cones. Our absolute favorite indoor ride-on toy is the adorable pony from PonyCycle, which requires no batteries or electricity, or the Paw Patrol Marshall Ride-On fire engine . If you don’t have any ride-on toys, you can still have a day at the races with your favorite R/C toys or handheld cars. too.
5. Enjoy an Afternoon at “The Movies”
You can create a movie theater in your very own home. Grab some of your favorite DVDs or stream some of your favorite shows. Create imaginary movie tickets out of paper and set up your living room chairs in movie theater rows. Turn your kitchen into a concession stand with popcorn, candy, and drink choices for all. Older kids can even make their own video reviews of the movies after they’re done watching them.
Need more ideas? My fellow Toy Insider Parent Panelists have great suggestions! Dusty Pendleton recommends some fun games in her post, Board Games for Snow Storms, and Destiny Paquette offered up some creative Winter Crafts for the Family, so you’ll be totally prepared for your first Snow Day.
