18 Fun-Filled Winter Activities for Home and School

Christmas is over and a long winter stretches before us – often filled with snow and always filled with lots of school work!

The days are long and dark and often it feels like there is nothing to look forward to for months on end. But, with this list of fun winter activities, you can beat the winter blues this year.

Winter Themed Crafts

Christmas may be over, the snow is still here! Celebrate the beauty of snow with this Watercolor Snowflake Mobile from Hen Family.

Light up winter’s dark days and long nights with these adorable Tin Can Lanterns from Kids Craft Room

Isn’t this the sweetest little penguin ever? Cotton Ball Penguin from Glued to My Crafts

Winter Sensory Play

Doesn’t this picture just make you want to squeeze this beautiful, sparkly Snow Clay from Growing A Jeweled Rose? (Hint: You can store this clay in the fridge between uses, so it will even feel cold!) Note: We made this clay and it turned out a little bit sticky (I may not have cooked it long enough.) However, a little bit of added flour kneaded into the dough took care of that problem and my kids have been enjoying this clay ever since, using it like playdough.

Another super fun idea from Growing a Jeweled Rose – Shivery Snow Paint. (Forget the kids. I want to make a snowman picture with this paint!)

Little Bins for Little Hands has some gorgeous winter slime recipes. Check out her elegant Ice Look or blue Frozen Look

Winter School Ideas

For younger learners, try these adorable Winter Counting Mats from Living Life and Learning

Keep older girls from getting bored between subjects with these winter themed word search puzzles from To The Moon and Back

Winter Themed Science

Make your own winter indoors by conducting a winter-themed experiment – Making Frost from Science Sparks

These Borax Snowflakes from Embracing Homemaking are absolutely intriguing. My kids and I are definitely going to be making these this January!

Winter Fun

Make some adorable Melted Snowman Cookies from My Imperfect Kitchen

Bless your kids with words of encouragement (and the excitement of handwritten notes!) by buying or making some Indoor Mailboxes. You can also find more printable love notes here.

When kids are restless during the long winter evenings, pull out some Board Games that the whole family can enjoy together!

Active Winter Games

When your child is having a tough day academically, encourage them to stop and take 15 minutes to do some of these Core Muscle Exercises from Integrated Learning Strategies.

Have an Indoor Snowball Fight! These indoor snowballs are a bit pricey, but based on how much my whole family has played with them, they are worth every penny. There are so many games that could be played with these, in addition to a good old-fashioned snowball fight. Look at them on Amazon.com by clicking here.

Outdoor Snowball Fight/ Sledding When the winter seems long and everyone is getting cabin fever, go outside! Organize a snowball fight or go sledding!

Plastic Cup Bowling and Stocking Cap Bowling are two active indoor games sure to get your kids laughing!

One Last Idea….

Balloon Volleyball is super easy to set up and great for groups of four kids or more. For this classic game, stretch a jump rope or piece of thick string (whatever you have on hand) across the floor. Put an equal number of chairs on each side of the string, as many chairs as you have players.

Have the players sit in the chairs. The only rules to this game is that players rear-ends cannot leave their chair seats (although they can squirm and swivel all they want).

Each team tries to make sure that the balloon does not touch the floor on their side of the line, while also trying to bat it down over the line into the other team’s area.

Which of these ideas/activities will you do with your kids this winter? What activities/games would you add to this list? I would love to hear from you! Please scroll down to comment.

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