By the end of summer my son Michael is always asking, “When is winter coming?” When I ask why he wants to know, he says, “Because I REALLY want to play in the snow!” As much as I gripe about all the gear that goes on my kids before we head outside in the winter, the thrilled look on my kids’ faces makes it all worth it. With all the fun things to do in winter, ’snow wonder kids and adults alike love it so much! Here are some favorite family traditions for you to make your own:
When there’s snow on the ground, grab your camera and pick a few of these:
- Snow angel. Throw on your snow pants and thick coat and flop down backwards in the snow. Move your arms up and down and legs in and out, like jumping jacks, and you’ve got yourself a terrific snow angel. For extra flair, mix some food coloring with water in a spray bottle and decorate your angel!
- Snowman. Start with a snowball, then roll it all around on the ground so it picks up more snow and turns into a huge ball. That makes the bottom part of the snowman. Do it two more times for the body and head of your snowman. Collect rocks and sticks to use for face, arms, buttons and personality. Put your favorite hat on it, give it a carrot nose and spray it with your food coloring/water spray bottle to give it some character. Snap a picture next to your new pal because he won’t be around too long!
- Shoveling. Sounds like work, but it can be so much fun. If your child is old enough and has the desire, have your little entrepreneur shovel neighborhood driveways for money. After shoveling your own driveway and sidewalks, you then have the perfect makings for a …
- Snow fort and snowball fight. Snow forts are so much fun to build from scratch, or you can dig into a huge snowbank. Then roll an arsenal of snowballs to keep behind the fort and toss them at friends and siblings for an awesome snowball fight!
- Sledding. Google where to find the best sledding hill in your town (small incline for the little ones, bigger incline for older kids), then hop on that sled and zoom away.
- Skiing/snowboarding. Hit the internet again to find a place to ski or snowboard near you. You’d be surprised how many locations there are!
When it’s just plain cold:
- Hot chocolate or hot apple cider. You can make hot chocolate from scratch using cocoa powder, sugar and milk or go easy and just use packets with hot water. Apple cider can be bought cold and heated up or bought in packets. Either way, these are bound to warm you up after some time spent playing outside.
- Movie night. Snuggling up to watch a movie, preferably with a fire going in the fireplace, sounds like a great night or weekend day to me. Happy Feet and the Ice Age trilogy are favorites for just about any age of kid.
- Souper supper. Soup or chili is a perfect dinner on a cold night. Head to AllRecipes.com to find any concoction you could ever think of.
- Paper snowflakes. If you’re craft-challenged like me, check out paper snowflake templates online for some great patterns and other winter crafts. Then you can hang your creations in windows or from the ceiling with string for a really cool winter wonderland effect.
- Ice-skating. This is a blast whether you know how to skate or not. In fact, it can be even MORE fun for the inexperienced (my kids like to watch me fall on my rear!). Check out ArenaMaps.com for an easy way to locate a skating rink near you.
- Game playing. When I was a kid, my parents and I would grab Monopoly or Life from the closet for a few hours of fun on a chilly Sunday. Pair that with some cheese dip (2 cans diced tomatoes and green chilis, 1 rectangle of processed cheese melted together) and chips or veggies, and everyone’s a winner!
Kerrie McLoughlin (TheKerrieShow.com) just bought fuzzy socks for all 7 members of her family, so they can play games, eat soup and be warm.