As a kid, hearing you have a snow day is music to your ears! There is nothing better, this is peak excitement for a child. Hearing the kids have a snow day as a mom? I am not sure the same music is playing.

While of course there is nothing better than getting a bonus day to spend with your children and make memories, it can be a little overwhelming knowing you now have to unexpectedly entertain or be stuck inside, with the kids all day. If you are looking for some inspiration as you prepare for the next snow day, you have clicked on the right blog!

Indoor Activities

• Pajama & Movie Day: Deem the first snow day of the year a pajama day! Cozy up in your favorite pajamas, lay some blankets and pillows out in the living room and watch a movie or two!

• Bake or Cook Together: In my house growing up, snow days also meant we baked! Find a homemade cookie recipe to make together, or buy some cookie dough from the store. The oven will help keep the house warm, and who doesn’t love some fresh cookies on a snowy day?!

• Snow Ice Cream: Using ingredients you probably already have on hand, consider creating the sweetest memories and making some delicious snow ice cream! This is a good recipe for a bigger snowstorm as you need around 8-10 cups of clean snow.

• Hot Chocolate Bar: Simply adding the phrase “make your own” in front of anything builds instant excitement. While you can create a Pinterest- worthy hot chocolate bar, you also can lay out a few toppings and let your children’s creativity take over.

• Board & Card Games: Have your children each pick a game or two to play, and turn the snow day into a whole family game day or even just a family game morning/afternoon. Pair the games with some fresh cookies or hot chocolate and you have the perfect cozy snow day!
• Minute To Win It Games: Take your family game day a step further! There are hundreds of Minute To Win It style games out there to inspire you, or simply create your own challenge and set a 1 minute timer. Your house will be instantly filled with smiles and laughter.

• Build forts/castles: Hang some blankets from chairs or couch cushions, and let your child’s imagination come to life! Cuddle up and read together in the fort, take a nap or simply let your child get creative with how they play.
• Build a town with tape: Find some masking or painters tape, and map out an entire town on the floor. Use the tape to make roads, squares for buildings, etc. Let your child grab some toy cars or people and adventure around Tape Town!

• Blow Up Balloons: It is just as simple as it sounds. If you have some extra balloons lying around, blow up a few and let your children have fun. They may play some balloon tennis, or “don’t let the balloon touch the ground” games, they may try to walk around the house with the balloon in between their knees – let your children’s creativity take over here.
• Bubble Bath: If you can’t go outside in the snow, bring the ‘snow’ indoors with a bubble bath! Fill the bath with some bubbles, throw in some bath toys that are new to your children (even some measuring spoons and bowls from the kitchen) and play in the bubble snow. Something as simple as taking a bath in the middle of the day stirs up some extra excitement.
• Craft Day: You might be able to look around and piece together a few crafts for your children to do. Roll up some green construction paper into a cone and decorate the Christmas tree, color on some coffee filters and make snowflakes to hang, the list of winter crafts is endless!

• Free Printables: If you don’t have an abundance of craft supplies on hand, consider finding some free online coloring or activity printables. A website like Crayola will have general coloring and activity pages, or go to a specific site like Picture the Magic which will have options that are more Disney-specific.
• Dance Party: Stay in your pjs or dress up to the nines, turn on some music and dance together! Follow along to a YouTube dance video and have some fun.
• Read Books by the Fire: There is nothing sweeter than having your little one climb up in your lap to read or listen to a story. Put on a YouTube video of the yule log and pretend you are all keeping warm by the fire. Don’t forget a cozy snow day blanket like this cute one!

Outdoor Activities

• Sledding: If you have a local small hill and the sleds are out of storage, a snow day is the perfect day to go sledding! Bundle up and brave the cold, those are the memories your little one will cherish.
• Build a Snowman: Is there a better way to spend a snow day than to build a snowman?! Find the accessories your snowman will need, then work together to roll the perfect snowman body. Get creative and make a snowman family, or snowmen of different sizes.
• Throw Snowballs: Depending on the age of your little ones, you may not want to (understandably so) encourage a snowball ‘fight’ but you know your little one is going to make snowballs anyway. Decide on a tree or another safe designated target and take turns safely throwing the snowballs – see who can get the closest to the bullseye.
• Paint the Snow: Fill some spray bottles with water and a few drops of food coloring, or follow a simple recipe like this one. Either way, let your child create a masterpiece in the snow or explore by mixing the colors. This activity is sure to be a hit!

• Colorful Snow Bubbles: Another fun coloring activity for the snow – but this time, with bubbles! Add food coloring to the bubble mixture, and watch the bubbles explode with colors as they pop along the snow.

• Snow Tic Tac Toe: Collect a few rocks, leaves, sticks or whatever you can find. Draw a tic tac toe board in the snow, and use your items as X’s and O’s! If you can’t find anything to use, your fingers work as the perfect snowy pencil.

• Snow Kitchen: Bring some pots, pans, and kitchen utensils outside and let your children create their own snow day kitchen. Whip up some snow cones, cook some snow burgers, just imagine and have some fun!
• Help Shovel: If your children are able to help with some of the snow removal, might as well put them to work! Have them help you brush off the steps, or shovel a small walkway. Even your littlest ones would love the added responsibility (even if they are creating more of a mess then really helping you out).
• Create Art in the Snow: After you’ve played tic tac toe with some sticks, stones or leaves, encourage your little one to use those supplies to create some unique art in the snow. Maybe use the sticks to lay out the framework of a house, and the leaves can be the roof, let your child’s imagination flourish.

• Build Something: Whether it is an igloo, a castle, a maze, take the time to build something magical for your little ones, and as long as it stays cold enough where you live- it won’t melt too quickly either. Then the fun you created will last for a few days too!

When that next snow day rolls around, I hope you and your child feel the same sense of excitement! If your job doesn’t give out snow days like the schools do, don’t be afraid to encourage some independent play while you catch up on work. Your kids are just happy to be home with you. Either way, enjoy the bonus day with your kids, make the memories and embrace the chaos!