Fun Outdoor Winter Activities for Families

Feed the Birds

You can create inexpensive pine cone bird feeders.

• You will need a pine cone (you can find one or buy one), peanut butter and birdseed.
• Take the pine cone and cover it with peanut butter.
• Roll the peanut butter coated pine cone in some birdseed.
• Hang your creation outdoors and watch the birds eat and eat.

Build Snowmen

Get the entire family bundled up and head out to build snowmen. Light a winter bonfire, serve hot chocolate and toast marshmallows. Make a day of it by inviting friends and family members to join in the fun.

• Read our article on How to Build a Snowman.

Make Snow Sculptures

Instead of making that old snowman, try something different by creating a beautiful snow sculpture. This can be tons of fun for the entire family and spark your creative sides.

• To carve one of these creations, you will need some buckets, spoons, snow shovels, trowels and gloves to keep your hands warm.
• When you are finished with these sculptures, you can then paint them. You can use spray bottles and fill them with water and food coloring. Spray the pain on the sculptures and make it colorful.

Igloo or Snow Fort Building and Picnic

• First your family must make an igloo. As this can take a few hours, you can make a snow fort instead if you like.
• When the igloo or fort is completed, heat up some grilled cheese sandwiches, soup, and hot chocolate. Put the hot liquids into thermoses. Pack a blanket, utensils, napkins, and whatever else you like in a bag and have a lovely winter picnic in your igloo.
• Read our articles on How to Build an Igloo and How to Build a Snow Fort.

Snow Messages

• Start by mixing food coloring or watercolor paints into a cup or two of water.
• Then fill squirt bottles and spray bottles with the mixture. Old shampoo and dishwashing liquids are good bottles to use for squirting.
• Go outside and write a large winter message in the snow.

Winter Time Capsule

A winter time capsule is a fun activity that you can do with snow.

• Start by finding a water proof container such as a bottle or Tupperware.
• Next find items that are important to you and remind you of winter time. Or write messages to read early spring. Put them inside your container. Cover the container with a plastic bag and duct tape.
• Find the biggest pile of snow and bury the time capsule in the very bottom of it.
• When the spring comes and all the snow melts children and adults will enjoy the fun of finding and open the time capsule.

Snowy Scavenger Hunt

• For this activity everyone has to choose an object to hide in the snow. (If the object is not waterproof make sure to put it in a waterproof container.)
• Everyone takes turns hiding an object in the snow and writing down a clue about how to find it.
• When all the objects are hidden, exchange clues to find the objects.

Go Bowling in the Snow

• Grab ten 2-liter bottles and fill them up to 1/4 with water. The water will give them a base for stability. These bottles will be your “pins.”
• Now, set up your 10 pins in a triangle like they do in the real bowling alleys.
• If you do not have a bowling ball, you can always use a soccer ball or any other ball with a diameter over 6 inches. It can also be very fun to play with a few large snowballs!
• Ready? Start bowling away!

Sledding

No matter where you live you are bound to be able to find some sort of hill that you can slide down. Everybody, parents and children, gets a kick out of a good, fast sled ride. If you are lucky, your area may even have a sledding organization that will rent sleds and has a great hill. Whatever the case, sledding is a great way to get the family together for a wintry afternoon.

Outdoor Ice Skating

Cities everywhere create artificial Ice Rinks every year for the enjoyment of the residents. These rinks are free to use, and well maintained to ensure safety.

Beach

This may not be an activity everyone can partake in, depending upon where you live, but if you are near any large beaches, you can have a great time. The Great Lakes beaches spawn huge icebergs and ice flows. They are everywhere; still, the water flows just beyond the ice. It’s amazing to see the water splash up over the icebergs when the wind is strong enough. This is a wonderful family outing.

Nature Hike

If you live near an area with a park, a forest, or a beach, you can really have a great time just walking through the snow. I’m sure there will be the occasional snowball, or snowman on the way also.

Scenic Drive

A little more comfortable is riding in the family sedan along roads that are near the beach or that are known to provide scenic winter views. If it is during the Holiday season you can take a family scenic cruise around areas that are known to take the decorating tradition to heart. Some of these places can be extremely impressive.

Christmas Light Tour

Pack up the kids and take a drive around town to see the Christmas light displays. Some towns hold contests for the best displays, and some folks go all out. Many homes that have these elaborate displays leave a donation box outside and the money that their display raises is given to a local charity.

Window Shopping

You may be living near a city where the downtown stores or shopping mall take on a little competition of their own. It is the window decorating competition. They fill their windows with animatronics and position them in all sorts of wintry and holiday situations. The windows are full of little characters, dancing Christmas toys, lights and music. This one is great fun for the little ones.