Four Easy Winter-Themed Activities for Kids

Whether you live in an area where your yard is buried in snow all winter long, or you live somewhere where you've never seen snow in your life, doing some indoor, winter-themed activities is a good way to keep kids occupied. Here are a few ideas to get you started!

An old stand-by... make paper snowflakes! In case you don't remember how, just get a piece of white paper, and fold it in half several times. When your paper is pretty folded-up, but the edges aren't too thick for your scissors, start cutting along the edges. Make little slits and shapes. When you unfold your paper, you'll have a beautiful snowflake! You can do an internet search to find patterns for professional-looking snowflakes, where you just have to fold and cut on the dotted lines. But most kids like to come up with their own patterns! You can sprinkle these with silver glitter, if you'd like, and hang them on the walls and from the ceiling to give the house a wintery feeling!

Too cold to go out and play in the snow? (Or too warm to have any snow?) Whip up some snow of your own. Buy the powdered laundry soap called Ivory Snow (which is still available in grocery stores, contrary to popular belief... look for it at Meijers!) Put two cups of Ivory Snow and one cup of water in a mixing bowl, and beat with an electric beater or mixer. It will get fluffy and thick! Let kids play with it! (Or, as an easier alternative, simply squirt shaving cream or whipped cream onto a table or cookie sheet and let kids play around in that!)

Make slushies or snow cones with real snow! When it snows, go out and collect some clean, fresh snow. Add some flavored syrup, or a little bit of soda or juice, and at it! (It may sound gross, but eating a little bit of snow is fun and won't hurt you. Just don't eat too much of it!)

Let your kids use crayon to draw a scene on black or blue construction paper. Then, mix four ounces of Epson salt with four ounces of warm water. Let the children paint over their pictures with this mixture. The pictures will take on frosty looks!

These are just a few ideas to keep you and your kids busy this winter!