Fun Family Activities for Winter
 At Home Activities
Create nature pictures
Gather bits and bobs from nature walks together for a project later. Watch for twigs or dead leaves or even bring a jar of snow home for a mixed media collage. Try making pictures using your treasures – Use a baking sheet for a base and let the artists create, destroy and recreate scenes of what they’ve experienced on their walks, their dreams and their visions. Be sure to get involved!
Bake cookies
Try new, healthy recipes together. Be sure to experience all of the pleasure – the smell, the feel, and the taste!
Make wrapping paper for holiday gifts
Use plain brown shipping paper, potato stamps and paint, and some bits and bobs you found on your nature walks – I love using pieces of evergreen, berries and pine cones tied on with raffia or hemp string.
Research a new holiday
Or perhaps how a traditional holiday is celebrated in other parts of the world. Think about how your family could honour the celebration of others together. Serve a new dish at a traditional holiday meal or decorate differently. Make it meaningful by adding your own touches and values.
Have a games night
Create a cozy atmosphere by lighting a fire in your fireplace or gathering some candles and then settle in for an evening of fun. For a great list of cooperative games that get the whole family working together, check out one of our favourite gamemakers, Family Pastimes.
Make a game
Recycle a piece of cardboard, grab the paint or crayons and come up with a theme together. Of course, once it’s made, you get the great fun of playing it together, too.
Knit scarves together
if you don’t know how to knit – take a class together or pick up a book and teach yourselves. Young children can learn to finger knit, if working with needles is to difficult to start with. Pick your favourite colours and then wear with great pride.
Bake bread
There is very little that smells as good as freshly made bread. Try different recipes and share the loaf together – utensils optional.
Make Playdough
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 cups water
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp cream of tartar
Stir together in a pot over low heat until it takes on the consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove and cool until you can knead it into a smooth dough on a floured surface. If you want to add colour, add a few drops of food colouring at a time as you knead it. When you're done playing, keep covered in the fridge. We like to use our garlic press, pastry cutter, butter knives, rolling pin, sushi mat and cookie cutters to make interesting sculptures and designs when playing with playdough.
Have a spa night
Try a family bath or bath one at a time and then pamper, pamper, pamper. Try making your own spa products for a truly enjoyable experience. Check out our base carriers for making your own massage oils, bubble baths and lotions.
Make a gingerbread village
Add a gingerbread person for each member of your family. Check our Swedish travel section for a gingerbread house pattern.
Make an indoor playground
Te
ar apart that couch, bring out the blankets and set up a play space for the whole family. Couch cushions are great for jumping on, climbing on, sliding down and generally having a fabulous time with. We like to prop the spare leaf for our table on the courch and use it as a car ramp and doll slide.
Raise Money for Charity
Band together as a family and brainstorm ways to raise money for a cause that’s important to all of you – hold bottle drives, holiday bake sales, or hot chocolate stands, or create something all together and sell it to your family and friends then donate all the money you make to your chosen cause (you could make cookbooks, Christmas cards, calendars, scarves, mittens, pictures, keychains, toys, Christmas ornaments…)
Outside Activities
Go on a nature walk
Explore with all of your senses the wonder of the season as it takes place in your neighbourhood. Walk often to see what changes are brought about as the season comes, stays and goes. Experience the different scents as you go – is there a fire burning somewhere? Are there evergreens nearby? Taste the snow (making sure that you first find a deep, unmarked and clean patch), Watch the snow as it falls and lands on different things. Talk about the changes and the experience together. Even the tiniest of babies will appreciate hearing your voice and the inquisitive child will learn as you notice the changes together.
Make snowpeople together
All of that snow just waiting to be molded, sculpted and dressed – who could resist?
Find a good sledding hill
If you don’t have a sled, try a garbage bag, or simply roll down in your snow pants. Sleds come in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials, but they don’t need to be expensive. Look around and find one that your whole family will have fun on.
Go skating
Check out local indoor or outdoor rinks or find an outdoor pond or river that has been cleared for skating. (A note of caution here – only skate where the thickness has been checked and approved for skating as ice can look deceptively thick). If you don’t have outdoor facilities available to you, but you have the space, consider flooding part of your yard to make a rink.
Try cross-country skiing
Many golf courses convert to groomed cross-country runs for the winter. Check your community or your local parks division for advice. This doesn’t have to be an expensive hobby, either. Consider renting your equipment or buying it second-hand from a consignment store.
Community Activities
Find a museum
Many museums incorporate hands-on displays for the older child and many babies love to look at the brightly coloured artifacts. Look for children’s museums, science museums and interactive museums. Pack a lunch and make a day of the outing.
Explore the arts
More and more art is being created for children. Check out your local symphony and theatres - they may allow spectators for afternoon practices. Look for puppet theatre and theatre made for children. Go to art galleries or just listen to new music at home together (we were surprised and delighted at our son’s love of opera at 9 months of age and his delight with dancing to the beat of a drum at 12 months). Whatever it is, explore it together and talk about the feelings each medium and piece evokes.
Get a family volunteer job
Think about working at a seniors centre, an animal shelter, your local food bank, or a thrift store. Or help out around your neighbourhood all together – assisting an elderly or disabled neighbour with indoor or outdoor chores, picking up litter in your neighbourhood, or organizing a neighbourhood park clean-up.
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