5 Snow Day Activities to Keep the Kids Entertained and to Keep You Sane

We have yet another snow day! They canceled school last night at 8pm, hours before it even started snowing. I am equal parts excited and UGH. While I welcome an extra day home with all the kids, with the forecast this week, it looks like we may have them home more days than not – and with windchills projected to be -40, it looks like we will be cooped up inside.

The girls generally play so well together, but after 24 hours cooped up inside, tensions start to run high! I am sharing a few tried and true snow day activities that will keep the kids entertained and keep you sane on your next snow day!

5 Snow Day Activities

1. Get Outside

The obvious first option is to bundle the kids up, and send them outside. With how cold it is here, however, we are looking at the ole “20 minutes to get bundled, to play outside for 10 minutes before everyone is cold, and ready to come back inside” game.

The girls’ hats and Peytons mittens are from Primary, if you use code HEYITSJENNA, you can score 25% off on your first order!

Some of our favorites for playing outside are the little sleds, saucers, a play snowboard, and snow paint (warning: snow paint will stain mittens!!)

Bonus points for cool neighbors who are willing to attach a sled to their UTV and take your kids on rides all afternoon!!

2. Make Your Own Play Dough

This is a favorite! The recipe we use is from Peyton’s kindergarten teacher, and it’s fairly easy to make!

Here’s what you need:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 cups water
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
• food coloring

Here’s what you do:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a pot, and then put it onto the stove over medium heat!
2. Stir continuously, make sure to stir the bottom of the pot so it does not burn. The mixture will be very runny at first, but after about 2 minutes, it’ll begin to form into dough.
3. Remove from heat, set the dough on wax paper and allow it to cool.
4. Knead like bread a few times, and divide the dough into however many colors you want.
5. Add food coloring. A little goes A LONG way. I add a tiny drop, and knead to mix it.

Do not skip the cream of tartar, if you don’t have it – this is what will keep it shelf-stable!

A few fun additions: add a drop of lavender essential oil to purple play dough, spearmint to green, and lemon to yellow for an extra fun sensory experience.

We love to use these tools for our play dough.

You can check out this post for another fun play dough craft idea!

3. Make Snow Ice Cream

This one is fun – but I want to stress the fact that you want to find CLEAN snow, and I wouldn’t recommend doing this daily. We live in a wooded area – so “clean” snow is hard to come by!

1. Scoop clean, fresh snow into a large bowl.
2. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract over snow. (I like to use clear vanilla extract!)
3. Drizzle condensed milk over all.
4. Fold all ingredients together, and stir until well-combined (if it gets too runny, add more snow and mix again)
5. Scoop into a bowl, add sprinkles, and enjoy!

4. Make A Blanket Fort

I think this is filed under Snow Day 101! Find all the big blankets, and drape them from couch to chair. We love filling ours with pillows and soft, fuzzy blankets. We have little string lights we drape around inside for ambience.

Grab a bowl of popcorn, put on a movie, and bam! The perfect little snow day escape!

5. Make A Sensory Bin

This is such a fun one! A few years ago, I shared this adorable rainbow rice sensory bin on Instagram.

Here’s what you do:

1. Fill zip lock bags with 1 cup of rice. However many bags = how many colors. You could do one big bag of the same color. But 7 cups was a good amount for this clear container (it has a lid, so you can store it for later).
2. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to each baggie.
3. Then, add a good amount of food coloring.
4. Push all the air out, seal, and shake to mix the color.
5. I left these open in the garage, to vent the vinegar smell for about 2 hours!
6. We added some gem vase fillers and little plastic fish. We love these little scoopers and this tool set for the girls to dig around with – but if you’re in a pinch, little spoons work well, too!

You could do the same set up with water beads, too!

Shop my sensory bin picks below:

Do you have any go to snow day activities for you kiddos? I would love to hear – let me know in the comments below!