I love the winter – but I haven’t always.  Truthfully, I use to really dislike it.  REALLY.  But, I love the outdoors and I love having my kids outside.  And where I live we have snow for a good 5 months of the year, which is a very long time to dislike something.

So a few years ago I started to plan some activities to do with my kids outside.  Some fun things to do in the snow which truthfully made me enjoy being outside. At least for January …

Here are 15 fun things to do in the snow:

1.  Tie-dye the snow.  My kids love art just about as much as they love being outside, so this activity has been great for us!  And best of all, I bet you have everything you need for this activity already!

2. Make a road and play with trucks.  Drawing a road in some snow (or even shoveling out a path) is a great way to have fun in the snow.

3.  Make a snow volcano.  Growing a Jeweled Rose created these awesome snow volcanoes with her kids in the snow.  How cool are these?  What a fun outdoors science lesson too!

4.  Blow frozen bubbles.  Fireflies and Mudpies figured out how to blow some frozen bubbles.  My kids love blowing bubbles outside in the summer … I know these will be a hit!

5.  Create some Colourful Icicles.  These absolutely stunning icicles were created by Housing a Forest.  Just looking at them would make me enjoy being outside in the snow!

6.  Play Mr. Potato Head with snowballs.   Happy Hooligans had the great idea to bring the Mr. Potato head pieces outside.  now that is a fun thing to do in the snow!

7.  Hunt for Buried Treasure.  Premeditated Leftovers has 5 great ideas for playing in the snow.  My favourite is her idea for hunting for buried treasure!  My kids will love this!

8. Snowball Toss to learn letters.  Why not bring some letter learning outdoors?  Learning games are fun things to do in the snow!

9. Glow sticks in the snow.  Since it gets dark so early outside in the winter, playing with lights is a great idea! Simple Fun with Kids had the great idea to play with glow sticks!

10. Maple Syrup on snow.  What about a sweet treat to reward yourself for braving the cold temperature?  This maple syrup on snow recipe from Ben’s Sugar Shack would certainly give me the motivation I need to get outside on a chilly day!

And I thought we would finish this list with 5 classic fun things to do in the snow!

11. Build a snowman.  Or a snowdog.  Or a snowpig.  Or a snowgoat.

12. Make a snowfort.  My husband loves this activity almost more then the kids do!  He is almost always the last one out there – just adding some “finishing touches” – as the kids and I sip hot chocolate and admire from the kitchen window.

13. Go tobogganing or sledding.  This is awesome exercise too!  It’s a great feeling to crawl into bed after a day on the hill with a sled and some kids!

14. Look for animal tracks.  We love to do this right after Christmas … we almost always find some of Santa’s reindeer’s prints.

15.  Play.  Run, jump, sing, dance.  Almost anything you can do inside you can do outside!  Make some memories with your kids, and you will make some sweet ones for yourself too!

Some days it is tough to find the motivation to go outside.  I have this list printed off and on my fridge for days when I need a reminder and gentle push to ‘just get outside!’  It’s helpful to look at this list and remember all of the fun things to do in the snow! At least for January …

Of course this winter you will most certainly be needing Quiet Bins! The winter ones in this book are brrrrr-iliant!