I adore winter and all of the fun that comes along with it…I love to curl up by the fire, bundle up in my favorite boots and scarves, and drink a ton of hot chocolate. However, now that we have a toddler sometimes I feel a little cooped up when it’s cold outside, and Jackson gets very antsy on those wet and cold days where we are trapped indoors!
Thankfully, there are about a zillion different ways to keep him occupied when we’re stuck inside – here are more than 40 ideas for keeping your little ones happy and busy when it’s too cold to leave the house!
- Make these free sewing cards! Perfect fine motor practice, and they’re adorable!
- Play pom pom hockey…it makes a mess but it sure looks like a ton of fun!
- You could also take those pom-poms and play this game on the stairs!
- Really itching for an outdoor activity? Try fishing inside! Or, you could always go fishing in the bathtub.
- Try out a sensory bin! They’re easy to make and super engaging. You could do a marshmallow bin, an arctic ice bin, or even a Frozen sensory bin!
- Have any giant boxes laying around? Build a gingerbread house!
- Don’t get snow where you live? Have an indoor snowball fight!
- You could also create your own blizzard.
- Turn a cookie sheet into a magnet activity! These are free printables you can use with any magnetic surface. Magnets are always a hit around here, and I love the idea of using them for an actual activity rather than just free play on the fridge.
- You can even build a snowman with newspapers!
- Or, if you’re really itching for some snow fun, you can just make your own.
- Take all of the pillows off the couch and build an obstacle course!
- Make some soap clouds! It’s a science experiment and an art project!
- Play with water beads! I used to use these as a sensory activity in my classroom all the time when I taught elementary school, but I hadn’t thought to try them with Jackson. He would love this activity so much!
- Play Snowman Bowling! I love this idea for Jackson!
- Make a quiet book. This requires a little extra work on your part, but just imagine how long it would keep your toddler busy! This would be fantastic with older toddlers, and would be a great activity for the car too.
- Make a footprint penguin, or a pasta necklace, or some puffy snowflakes.
- Make a paper plate ring toss game.
- Try painting on ice!
- Make a play doh snowman (you could even make some glittery play doh for it!).
- Or, bring some snow inside and paint that!
- Go ice skating indoors. Slippery, but fun (and mess-free)!
- Have any extra cereal boxes lying around? Turn them into a jet pack!
- Have your kid write their name with marshmallows or random art supplies, or even turn their name into a snowman,
- Grab a long roll of paper, trace your kid, and let them go to town! Jackson would adore this activity.
- Or, cover up the floor, grab a canvas and some painters tape, and have a painting party!
- Put together some busy bags for the days where nothing else is working. I like this color matching one, this color wheel one (great fine motor practice!), and this snowball one!
- You can also turn a muffin tin into a sorting activity!
- Here’s a fun “snow” science experiment made with shaving cream!
- Practice matching numbers with this car game – Jack is very into playing with cars right now, so this one is right up his alley!
- Do some cooking together! You could make these banana penguins, these tortilla snowflakes, this snow ice cream, snowman pizza, or some chocolate-dipped clementines!
. . . . .
How do you like to stay busy when it’s too cold to go outside?
blogger / honeydew / 7081 posts
These are GREAT ideas! My 2 year old would go outside no matter the temperature, but we need activities for when she has to stay in with the baby! I love the numbered parking garage!
nectarine / 2530 posts
These are so cute! already pinned a few to try later
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
Love these!!
olive / 64 posts
Where do you buy aqua beads?
blogger / apricot / 378 posts
@Theresa: I know you can buy them on Amazon (just search for “water beads”), and I’m pretty sure they sell them at places like Walmart & Target too. They’e sometimes with the vases & faux flowers – a lot of people use them as vase filler!
guest
There are some great ideas in here we will definitely be trying! It’s in the winter that I give SO much credit to stay-at-home moms. We live in Buffalo so have a great time in the snow, but with the “mild” temps this winter we have been stuck inside a lot due to rainy days. I work full-time and weekday evenings have been the worst because we always seem to have an hour that drags on that we would normally spend outside when it wasn’t dark so early.
blogger / kiwi / 675 posts
great ideas this is a constant struggle in the winter, fortunately in ca we can get out a lot still but we’ve had a lot of rain too. Thank you for these ideas i need to try some new ones!