You wake up and the world is covered in white. Then, your little one spots the snow, and if they are like how my children were, they suddenly don’t care about cartoons. They just need to get outside and try out their new Paw Patrol snow shovel, slide around in their sled, and eat some snow! Yes, let’s be honest, all little children eat snow. The staff at Tiny Hoppers can account for that first hand! But, aside from shovelling, sliding, and eating snow, there are other outdoor activities that you can find for your little ones to do. The young ones have a natural curiosity and excitement about the outdoor world that just doesn’t compare to any other age group. Oftentimes, we as parents rush too quickly to make plans and create activities when really all they need is a little encouragement and confidence that their own play and explorations are great activities. Especially this winter, we have been blessed with such good weather, so far.
- Go for a sled ride: Whether it is just for fun or for practical purposes, having a good quality pull sled is very handy with young children. You can pull them around the street, they can slide around in the backyard, or they can pull their own dollies for a ride! Make it even more fun and find some hills to play on. Remember, children don’t need anything too big or scary and if you are going to go down some big hills with them, be safe and have them wear a helmet.
- Paint with snow: This one works really well if you have a wooden fence. You can even do it on a tree trunk. Basically, with handfuls of snow, show your child how to make designs. The texture of the wood will grip the snow. If the snow is wet enough, you can even throw snowballs at the wall and fence to make a picture out of thrown snowballs.
- Build a fort: If you grew up in the snow, I am sure you have built a fort or two. Children are not very big, so this does not have to be an over-involved process. Just a small snow wall will be very exciting to hide behind and climb over for them. I am pretty sure all the forts can be made just with hands and feet. You can purchase fancy snow brick moulds, but ice cream containers, sand pails, and buckets work too!
- Build a maze: This one will need a little more adult time. In a large area of fresh snow use a shovel (or your feet) to cut paths in the yard. Make a maze for your child to find his way through. Then, show them how to make their own maze to challenge.
- Make an obstacle course: These are fun any time of the year, but in the winter, there’s the element of snow!
- Go on a track hunt: Little children will love to walk through the snow, play with their own footprints and follow other prints. Pretend to be spies and head to the park or around the street and see how many different tracks you can find, follow them, and see where they lead you both.
- Be a winter wildlife detective: Head to a natural area and see how the bunnies are managing in the snow. Make a little winter-time scavenger hunt before you head out, or just pretend to be nature detectives and look with curiosity. What are the bunnies doing? Have they left any evidence in the snow with their tracks?
- Freeze stuff: This is a two-part activity that needs a little preparation on your part. First, one day, you’ll fill a container with natural treasures (leaves, berries, pine cones) and add a few inches of water. Then, leave this outside to freeze overnight. On the second day, go see what happened, take the frozen disks out of the contains and hang them in the trees as decorations.
