Hooray! Who doesn’t love a snow day? There’s nothing for magical for a child than sleeping in late and playing all day. But for parents, snow days can get a little stressful. If you’re looking for ways to occupy your kids’ time without excessive screen time or general rumpus, here are a few delightful winter activities from our award-winning children’s magazines!
Winter Welcome Mat
Lay out a tasty welcome mat for your feathered friends with this adorable activity from LADYBUG Magazine! Soon you’ll be in bird-watching paradise!
What you’ll need:
- A wooden spoon
- Bird seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Unsalted peanuts
- Cracked corn
- Large cookie sheet
- Paper cups
- Apple and orange slices (optional)
What to do:
- Choose a smooth area of snow for the mat. If you make it by a window, you can watch the birds eat!
- Press the cookie sheet firmly into the snow to make a rectangular shape.
- With the handle of the wooden spoon, draw shapes or designs in the rectangle. You’ll fill these with the treats for the birds.
- Fill each paper cup with a different seed, peanuts, or corn. Bend a little spout into the side of each cup to make pouring easier.
- Decide which treat goes where, then sprinkle even layers of hem inside the shapes. If you like, add a border of sliced fruit.
Icy Art
Are you looking for a different way to express your creativity through snow art this year? Are you tired of building ordinary snowmen? Looking for new ways to express your creativity through snow art this year? Try this colorful new twist on winter fun from SPIDER Magazine!
What you’ll need:
- Lots of different-sized containers
- Jug
- Food coloring
- Large metal spoon
What to do:
- Set all of the containers on a flat area outside.
- Use the jug to fill each container with water.
- Add food coloring to some or all of the containers, stirring with the spoon to mix.
- Allow the water to freeze overnight.
- Remove the ice shapes by twisting the containers, squeezing the sides, and tapping the bottoms.
- Now create! Use snow as “glue” to hold the ice shapes together. You can stack and place them into any forms—ice people, ice castles, or something totally zany!
- For a shiny finish, lightly sprinkle your masterpiece with water.
Crystal Snowflakes
When the weather outside is frightful, make your own delightful snowflake crafts indoors with this cool activity from SPIDER Magazine. These magical snowflakes will never melt away! Make sure that children have adult supervision when handling borax for this craft!
What you’ll need:
- 3 to 4 inches of string
- White or blue pipe cleaners
- Pencil
- Large glass jar
- 6 to 12 tablespoons borax laundry powder
- 2 to 4 cups boiling water
What to do:
- Make a snowflake shape by twisting together the centers of three equal-sized pipe cleaners.
- Tie the string to one of the snowflake arms and tie the other end to the pencil.
- Ask an adult to fill the jar with boiling water.
- For each cup of water, have the adult add three tablespoons borax. Stir to make sure the powder dissolves completely.
- Hang your pipe-cleaner snowflake inside the jar with the pencil resting on top. The snowflake should be completely covered with liquid and not touch the sides or bottom of the jar.
- Let the snowflake sit in the jar overnight to crystallize. In the morning, lift the snowflake out of the water, hang it up to dry (away from pets and small children), and admire your crystal creation!
Pinecone Derby Racers
Pinecones litter the ground all winter. Did you know they could transform into snowboarding or skiing trolls? Try this fun activity from SPIDER Magazine and see if you can race your pinecone creations down a real snowy slope– or indoors on a ramp made of cardboard!
What you’ll need:
- 2 ping-pong balls
- 2 pinecones
- Hot glue gun
- 2–4 craft sticks
- 2 pipe cleaners
- 2–4 toothpick
What to do:
- Draw a human face on one ping-pong ball and a terrible troll face on the other. Color and decorate craft sticks on both sides.
- Gently remove the stem from the wide end of each pinecone.
- With hot glue or wood glue, have an adult help you attach a ping-pong ball to the wide end of each pinecone.
- Glue the narrow end of each pinecone to your craft stick(s). One wide stick will make a snowboarder, and two skinny ones will make a skier.
- To make hands or troll claws, wrap a pipe cleaner around each pinecone and twist small loops at each end. If you built a skier, add ski-poles by gluing toothpicks or twigs to the hand loops.
- Time to race! Who will win? The human or the troll?
Snowflake Wrapping Paper
A snow day is the perfect time to get a head start on your holiday gift wrapping! The next time you give a gift, wrap it in your own handmade wrapping paper. Not only is it one-of-a-kind, it’s recycled!
What you’ll need:
- Brown paper bag
- Empty cardboard tube
- Scissors
- Acrylic paint
- Paper plate or pie tin
What to do:
- With an adult’s help, cut down one side of the bag, then cut off the bottom and handles. Flatten out the bag with the plain side up.
- Carefully snip a 1- to 2-inch cut in one side of the cardboard tube. Continue all around the tube, leaving about ¼ inch between each cut. Bend the fringes gently outwards to create a snowflake shape.
- Squeeze some paint onto a paper plate or pie tin. Dip the snowflake-shaped end of the tube into the paint, swirling it around to make sure it’s covered. To print, press the tube down on the paper. Repeat until all the paper is decorated, adding more colors if you wish.
- Let dry overnight, then wrap your gifts!
Have you and your family tried any of these activities? We’d love to hear about it or see your photos and videos! Feel free to message us on Facebook or Instagram or email us at support@cricketmedia.com!
Want to try more winter crafts and activities? Check out these homemade holiday gifts that kids can make for friends and family!
