Fun Winter Activities in the Snow! | Columbus Moms Network

There is always a lot of excitement in our house each time we get a snowfall here in Columbus.  My daughter immediately wants to round up her friends in the neighborhood and play outside in the snow.   There are a lot of fun activities that you can do when it snows!   I’ve listed some of our favorites here, and have some indoor and outdoor options!


Snow Painting- Outdoors

This is one of my daughter’s favorite activities in the snow and she’s been doing this since she was a toddler.   It’s so simple and you only need water, food coloring and either squirt bottles, or spray bottles.   Just fill your bottles up with water and add a few drops of food coloring to each bottle.  Shake well and take outside to paint and decorate the snow.   To watch a recent video of my daughter and her friends having fun with this activity, check out my Instagram Reel here.

A few helpful hints:

  • Be mindful of any clothing you don’t want stained.  I have always had success washing off the water/food coloring mixture from her jackets, but I never send her outside in any fancy clothing!
  • If you have younger kids, have them select colors but you can do the mixing.  Have them explore combining more then one color to see what color they can make!

Snow Painting- Indoors

Maybe it’s too cold to play outside, or you just want to stay inside.   You can paint snow in the comfort of your warm house as well!  Just go outside and get a bunch of snow together on a large baking sheet, dish or pail.   You can do the same snow painting indoors!   You can also use paintbrushes as well if you’d like.   I always recommend working on a surface covered with newspaper or an old table cloth to protect from staining.


Make a Snow Castle- Outdoors

Do you know how much fun it is to be at the beach and build sand castles?  Why not try it with snow?  This will probably work best with warmer temperatures when the snow is heavier and sticks together.  Use pails and shovels, just like you would in the sand!  Build a number of castles, or just one and decorate it if you’d like.  The options are endless!


Look for Animal Tracks

When the snow is fresh, take a nature walk and see what animal footprints you see.  This works best on fresh snow, so look for a spot in your yard, or a park that has not been disturbed yet by a lot of human footprints!  Try and identify the animals that have been there before you based on the tracks.  Common tracks you might see are birds, squirrels, and deer.  Once you’re done, you can come inside and read a book, or look online about the animal prints you have seen.  It’s a great way to teach your kids about some of the animals that live outside.


Snowball Toss- Outdoors

This is a fun game to play in the snow!   Use some of the food coloring/water mixture to draw a large circle in the snow.  Then, from a distance have everyone take turns throwing a snowball into the circle.  See who can get it closest to the middle!  If the snow isn’t the right consistency for snowballs, you can use something else instead to throw into the circle (I think many outdoor toys would work for that, such as balls, rings or other outdoor toys you have).


Make Maple Syrup Snow Candy

Our house loves this one!   I grew up in Canada, and I remember doing this as a planned activity at school when I was a kid!   You need very clean snow of course, so if you don’t have a number of inches of freshly fallen snow that has not been disturbed yet, I’d opt for crushing ice in a blender.

All you’ll need is a large bowl of snow, or finely grated ice, 1 cup maple syrup and craft sticks.   There are many recipes online, but this one here is a favorite of mine and super easy!


Hot Chocolate Bar

After everyone is done playing in the snow, let them warm up with a hot chocolate bar!   I like to keep some supplies on hand for these days.  My favorite is mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, caramel or chocolate sauce, and sprinkles.   Use whatever your family enjoys and you have on hand!   This is a fun way to warm everyone up and end the day!


Snow days are a lot of fun, and our house always looks forward to them.   Having some fun activities will get the kids outside, burn off some energy and make so many fun memories.   Enjoy!

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