Last Updated on January 18, 2026 by Audrey
Winter doesn’t have to mean staying stuck inside! With a little creativity, the colder months can become one of the most magical times of year for family fun. These winter activities for kids encourage outdoor play, hands-on learning, and lots of cozy memories—no expensive gear required.
Whether you have snow on the ground or just chilly weather, this list is packed with easy ideas you can try right in your backyard, neighborhood, or local park. Check out all of our favorite winter activities below!
1. Make Maple Candy in the Snow
If you’ve never tried this, it’s pure winter magic. Warm real maple syrup, drizzle it over fresh snow, and watch it turn into chewy maple candy. Kids love seeing science (and sugar!) come together. Here’s how!
Materials:
- Small pot
- 100% pure maple syrup
- Candy thermometer
- A platter or cookie sheet
- Popsicle sticks
- Fresh snow
Instructions:
- Pack fresh snow down firmly onto baking sheet and leave it outside do it won’t melt.
- Heat maple syrup in a pot until it begins to boil.
- Let syrup boil on medium heat until it reaches 240° F.
- Pour out several lines of maple syrup on top of collected snow.
- Let it cool as is or wrap it around popsicle sticks.
- Enjoy!
2. Snow Paint
This is one of the easiest and mess-free winter activities. Fill spray bottles or squirt bottles with water and food coloring. The prep on this one is minimal and it kept my kids entertained for quite a long time!
3. Ice Lanterns
Freeze water in balloons or containers, remove the ice shell, and place a tea light inside. These glowing lanterns are beautiful for evening play or backyard paths. Find more details on how to make these here.
4. Build Snowmen
This is one of the most classic winter activities for a reason. Making a creature out of snow never ceases to delight and allows for endless possibilities and creativity every time! Use a combination of nature finds like pebbles, pinecones, acorns, berries, and branches combined with your own items like scarves and hats to give each snowman a unique persona.
5. Frozen Bubbles
Blow bubbles outside on freezing days and watch them crystallize into gorgeous designs! Or, if you’re like me and don’t keep bubbles stocked in the winter time, you can make your own bubble recipe like this one.
Put your bubble solution in a shallow dish with a large bottom and grab some cookie cutters. Head outside on a day that’s below freezing. (The colder the better, so dress adequately!) Dip the cookie cutters in the bubble solution, let the excess drip off, then hold it up and watch patterns form as it freezes!
6. Colorful Snow Blocks
Freeze colored water in containers, then stack and use the finished ice blocks to build snow forts, towers, or castles! This is one of the gorgeous winter activities I’ve been dying to try for a while. I just purchased this 100 pack of aluminum loaf pans and filled them with water and food coloring to freeze outside during a particularly cold spell. My kids had a ton of fun trying to stack them and build forts!
7. Outdoor Fire & S’mores
Set up a small fire pit, toast marshmallows, and make s’mores with all the fixings! Because thy taste just as good in the winter time as they do in summer. 😉 This is one of the coziest winter activities for kids and parents alike.
8. Make Bird Feeders
Use pinecones, peanut butter, and birdseed to make feeders that attract birds right to your yard, ideally in a spot where you can watch from the window. If you want to go all out, we’ve decorated the entire tree for the birds (and squirrels!) to enjoy. (See more about that here.)
9. Ice Ornaments
This is one of our favorite crafty winter activities! Make these gorgeous ice ornaments by freezing objects like berries, leaves, whole pressed flowers, and flower petals inside shallow bowls or a muffin tin filled with water. Make sure to tuck in a loop of string for hanging later! Set them outside on a freezing day, then hang them on trees around your yard for some natural winter decor.
10. Winter Nature Scavenger Hunt
You might be surprised what you can find in nature even during the winter! Head out and let your little ones explore and gather what interests them or use this printable from our advent calendar packet! I’ve found that having an actual activity or objective is key to inspiring kids to head outside sometimes when they’re short on ideas themselves.
11. Animal Tracking
Winter is a great time to let kids try their hand at animal tracking since tracks and sign are more visible in the snow. Grab this free printable and head outside!
12. Bird Watching
Bundle up for a hike and bring along some binoculars plus a field guide to identify winter birds. Pair this with your bird feeders to attract even more birds to your yard for observation.
13. Snow Kitchen
My kids love their mud kitchen, and it can still be used in the colder months for all sorts of winter activities like mixing up snow soup. Use whatever you can find in nature, grab some bowls and fresh snow, and get to mixing! Here are some other fun things we like to use in our mud kitchen:
- Pots and pans
- Droppers and beakers
- Dried flowers/petals
- Pinecones
- Evergreen branches
- Nature confetti (Take dried leaves and use hole punches to cut out shapes)
14. Winter Fairy Garden
Fairy gardens are magical year round, which is why this makes our list of winter activities! Build tiny fairy houses out of sticks, bark, snow, and whatever else you can find. Make it magical with whimsical fairy garden accessories like these. Kids love imagining fairy creatures dwelling in these tiny homes!
15. Winter Picnic
Winter picnics in a snowy landscape are so magical! Prepare soup in advance and put it in a thermos to keep it hot and pack mugs like these plus spoons. Don’t forget a picnic blanket! Keep it simple by heading out to the backyard or pack it up and head to a nearby park. For more tips and ideas, check out our full blog post on winter picnics!
16. Winter Lantern Hike
It can feel difficult to get outside in the winter since the daylight hours are so short, but sometimes it can be fun to go outside after the sun goes down to experience something new. I just discovered that a lot of parks in our area host lantern walks in the evening. Do some googling for your area and see what you can find!
17. Sip Hot Chocolate Outside
If all else fails, I’ve never met a kid who turned down a chance to have hot chocolate! One of the simplest winter activities is sipping hot chocolate outside. Pack a little basket with lidded mugs to avoid spills, a large thermos filled with pre-made hot chocolate, and some marshmallows, then bundle up and head to the backyard.
Spread out a blanket for a picnic-like feel or sit inside of a play fort or any other spaces you have available. Chances are your kids will start playing after they’re done sipping!
18. Build a Fort
Winter activities like fort building are a great way to get kids outside in the colder months! Grab whatever sticks and branches are laying around and see if you can build a fort out of natural materials. We were able to build the one below after trimming up some trees and bushes in our yard. Or, if you don’t have access to any natural materials, uses a fort building kit like this one!
19. Go Sledding
No winter activities list is complete without sledding! This classic just never gets old, even as an adult. My kids have enjoyed downhill sledding as well as being pulled in a sled over trails and around the neighborhood.
20. Make Fire Starters
This is a craft that can be used any time of year, but we find them especially helpful to use for our winter fires when it can be a little wetter outside and we need something extra to get the fire going. They’re also super fun to make and are great gift options! Check out how we made them here.
Why Winter Activities Matter
Getting kids outside during the colder months boosts mood, builds creativity, and helps burn off energy—even when it’s chilly. These winter activities turn everyday snow and ice into opportunities for exploration, imagination, and family bonding.
If you’re looking for simple ways to make winter feel exciting instead of long, pick a few ideas from this list and head outside. You might just discover new ways to enjoy the season! ❄️
No snow where you live? No problem! Check out our favorite no-snow winter activities here.
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