Best Winter Activities for Kids During the Holiday Break
This holiday break, carve out some much-needed downtime with these reliably fun activities that promise to keep the little ones occupied. Find indoor winter activities, fun outdoor play, and more.
Say what you will about the joy and magic of the holidays, but this season comes with its fair share of overwhelm, nerves, and anticipation. This time of year always finds me with a mile-long to-do list—and by the time the festivities are through, I’m craving some much-needed downtime… just in time for the kids to have a full week or two home from school.
In our home, I’ve found that our days flow more easily if we have an activity to get the kids to work on in the mornings after breakfast. In the last few years, we’ve perfected a play rotation that keeps clean-up nominal and engagement at a high. Especially in the winter months, when the weather can turn frightful at a moment’s notice, I’ve learned how vital it is to be prepared with fun indoor activities that stave off cabin fever and the inevitable sibling squabbles.
So, from my home to yours, here’s my list of go-to winter activities that promise to keep kids busy over holiday break.
11 Winter Activities for Kids to Get Through Winter Break
Tie Dye Napkins: Let the kids scribble with washable markers on regular paper towels and then mist lightly with kid-sized spray bottles of water. Let the napkins dry and, ta da—tie-dye! Watch out, in our experience, kids turn into a napkin factory from this one.
Ice Sculptures: Pull out little containers of different small sizes, fill each with water, drop in 1-2 drops of different colored food coloring in each, and load them into the freezer. Once frozen, pop them out by using a bit of hot water to loosen things up, and lay them on a baking sheet. The kids can stick the newly molded ice shapes to each other to form “sculptures.” For extra help binding the ice, you can use a dropper of warm water.
Popsicle Stick Snowflake: Gorilla Glue your popsicle sticks together to form the shape of the snowflake and put a small bit of hot glue in between each popsicle stick. Let the kids decorate with sequins, pom-poms, or sticker gems. Bonus if you dare to bring out the glitter!
Alphabet Scavenger Hunt: We fold construction paper down the middle for extra large pieces that we write the 26 letters on. Then we scatter them around the house for the kids to find. You’ll get multiple cups of hot coffee in as they go searching.
Salt Dough Ornaments: We do these all year round and the kids love to imprint anything from Legos to hands to their own approximation of fossils. They have an extra special flair at year-end if you punch a hole through the top before baking and loop twine through after painting for homemade ornaments.
Wintry Hike Bingo: After the delightful chaos of the holidays, spending slow, quiet time in the great outdoors can be a welcome reset. To motivate kiddos to join you for a neighborhood stroll or forest hike, set them up with a (free, printable!) nature hike bingo card.
Obstacle Course: What if I told you everything you need for an easy hour-long activity for those extra long mornings is already in your home? Pull out couch cushions, chairs—anything, really—to encourage kids to crawl, climb, and hop their way through a homemade obstacle course! Up the ante by timing them while you sit on the sidelines with a cup of coffee.
Playdoh Tray: We love the Workspace for Children, as they have loads of ideas on play prompts to reinvent play doh and inspire imaginative play.
Baking Soda & Vinegar Experiments: This one’s a crowd favorite! It simply makes for a fun morning every time. Cover a sturdy flat plate with a thin layer of baking soda, drop food coloring onto the baking soda leaving enough space between each color dot, and then let kids use a dropper to add vinegar in the area of the drops to make little color explosions.
Butcher Paper Cities: Roll out a large area of butcher paper. Put out trays of construction paper shapes—squares, triangles, stars of various sizes and colors—for kids to collage and assemble their own winter wonderland (i.e. the rectangle and triangles pair to make little houses). Bonus if your kids are old enough to help cut the shapes!
Build a Reading Fort: This activity is two-for-one, as kids will first be tasked with constructing their fort out of pillow, blankets, and other things they find around the house. Then, encourage your little ones to make a book stack, gather delicious snacks, and spend the day reading away!
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