I love snow days, especially the kind that keep me hunkered down at home for a few days. When my children were small, snow days included building snowmen and sledding before we all looked forward to coming inside to a warm house for mugs of hot chocolate. But then what do you do to pass the time?

Here are 40 ideas that will keep your children entertained when the weather outside is frightful:

Arts & Crafts

• • Set out coloring pages & crayons/markers (find free coloring pages and activity pack here)

• • Finger paint (with paint or pudding)

• • Have an art show

• • Make play dough

• • Make birthday cards

• • Create your own wrapping paper using butcher paper, stamps, stickers, crayons/markers, etc.

Quieter Activities

• • Read a book

• • Watch Minno

• • Take a nap

• • Play on the iPad

• • Watch a movie

• • Build a fort

• • Put a jigsaw puzzle together

• • Play card/board games, such as Apples to Apples, Candy Land, Uno, Go Fish, Connect Four; Checkers, Chutes & Ladders)

• • Play “I Spy”

• • Try Q-Tip painting 

Active Play

• • Have an indoor snowball fight using paper wads

• • Play Hide & Seek

• • Have a karaoke sing-off

• • Have a dance party

• • Build a ‘snowman’ relay race (using toilet paper, hats, scarves, etc.)

• • Choose one of these 4 team building activities

Let’s Eat!

• • Make milkshakes

• • Make snow cones with fresh snow

• • Bake cookies

• • Set up a hot chocolate bar with all the toppings

• • Try a new recipe

• • Have a tea party

• • Set up a pizza bar with a variety of toppings

• • Set up a pancake bar with a variety of toppings

Around the Fire

• • Make s’mores

• • Have an indoor picnic

• • Tell a progressive story (give a scenario, then let everyone had a few sentences to it)

• • Camp out in sleeping bags

Get Those Creative Juices Flowing

• • Make a video

• • Build a structure out of blocks

• • Play dress up

• • Have a fashion show

• • Create a family newsletter

• • Create a travel brochure of places you’d like to visit

• • Put on a puppet show using paper lunch bags or socks

• • Act out your favorite story

• • Bible Journal after reading a verse together (here are 10 verses to get you started)

 

Kathie Phillips serves as the Director of Children’s Ministry at Central Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Maryland. She and her husband, Lance, are parents to two teenagers, Daniel and Kennedy. Kathie shares practical tips and inspiration for kidmin leaders on her blog, KidMinspiration.com.