Snow days don’t have to mean endless screen time. These low-prep snow activities use items you already have at home—and work for toddlers through early elementary kids. Is it just me or do snow days feel magical… until you’re inside with energetic kids and limited ideas by 9 a.m.? The good news? Snow is basically a free sensory material, and you don’t need fancy supplies or elaborate setups to make it fun.These easy snow activities work for toddlers through early elementary kids and use items you likely already have at home. Pick one, or try a few and head back inside before fingers get cold.
Make Snow Ice Cream
A snow day classic we’ve been doing since we were kids and it never gets old. All you need is 8 cups of fresh, clean snow, 1 cup of any kind of milk or cream, 1/3 cup of sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix the milk, sugar and vanilla extract (we even add a pinch of sea salt too) in a bowl and then add the snow fresh from outside! Let the kids help you scoop, stir, and taste and then of course, extra toppings like sprinkles (we love this healthier, dye free option) and whipped cream make it extra yummy! It’s a simple way to sneak in sensory play and basic kitchen skills-plus eating snow feels very exciting when it’s allowed.
Paint the Snow
This is one of easiest, least messy snow activities and kids love it. All you need is food coloring or water colors and some mode of transportation (water droppers, squeeze bottles, spray bottles, water bottles with a hole in the lid). Let kids spray, drop, and mix colors right onto the snow. This is best done outside which means zero clean up for you, but if you have littles you can easily bring a few scoops inside in a sensory table or plastic tub and let them go to town.
Construction Site
Bring out the dump trucks, sand toys, shovels, buckets, etc. and let your kids imagination do the rest. Snow works just like sand, only heavier. Kids can dig, haul, dump and build. Again, this can be done out in the elements or on a smaller scale inside.
Snow Volcanos
This is great for kids who love big reactions. Just grab baking soda and vinegar, food coloring is always optional. Build a small mound of snow, add the baking soda and watch it fizz as they pour in the vinegar. I recommend putting the vinegar into a different container with a water dropper and letting kids experiment.
Snow Transfer Stations
The perfect activity for toddlers with short attention spans. Set out bowls, spoons, ladles, measuring cups, etc. and let them scoop snow from one container to the next, dump it out, and start again. An ice cream scoop would make a great addition and kids can open their own ice cream shop! Let their imaginations run wild and their hands stay busy!
Looking for some indoor activities that don’t involve snow to keep everyone busy while stuck inside? I’ve got you covered in that department too!
Make Bird Feeders
Use the bottom of an egg carton, cut it so its 6-egg size, color or paint the outside to make it bright, add nut butter and bird seed. String it up and hang it outside! This can be multi step and revisited throughout the day. Get 5 minutes of fresh air as you hang them!
Read Books
I am going to make a pile of our all-time favorites we haven’t read in a while. We also plan to read our snow books (obviously) and pull out the Valentine’s Day books (because why not?)
Work on Our Valentines
I got watercolor paper, white crayons for drawing hearts and watercolor paint. We are going to go to town. I hope we can make them for all our pals. G also requested fork painting love monsters, so we’ll work on that too!
Bake Something New
I’m not sure what yet but both of my kids love to bake and of course eat what we make. It will likely involve sifting flour because they love that and sprinkles too!
Clean Out the Toy Closet
If all else fails, I am going to pull out everything in our toy closet and let the kids go to town! We can then sift through what we want to donate and sell too. A win for everyone!
Snow days don’t have to mean endless screen time or complicated set ups. A few simple materials, some fresh air, and a flexible mindset go a long way!
Written by Becca Thiemann, Kelsey Jaspers and Kathleen Koester
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