It’s the most beautiful time of the year, which means Holiday feasts, a bunch of presents, and lots of fun, outdoor Christmas activities for kids!
This list of creative, fun, yet easy outside games is perfect for making memories with the entire family. Kids of all ages, including toddlers, pre-schoolers, and pupils, can enjoy the maximum in each of them!
Let’s get into the holiday spirit with these 10 Outdoor Christmas Activities for Kids.
Contents
- 1 #1 Build a Snow Castle
- 2 #2 Make a Snowcake and Cookies
- 3 #3 Draw in the Snow
- 4 #4 Go on Ice Scavenger Hunt
- 5 #5 Host Kids’ Olympic Games
- 6 #6 Light a Winter Campfire
- 7 #7 Play Tic-Tac-Toe in the Snow
- 8 #8 Make a Snow Volcano
- 9 #9 Create a Snow Maze
- 10 #10 Take Winter Hike with Hidden Animal Hunt
- 11 Author
#1 Build a Snow Castle
Make it a family project and build a giant fortress. You can make the game even more enjoyable by setting up the maximum time to make a castle. You can dig and shape the snow using trowels, spades, buckets, and planters. Let your kids lead the building; allow them to explore, try, and be imaginative.
#2 Make a Snowcake and Cookies
Outdoor games such as baking, cooking, and making food are all-seasons activities! And winter, as snow falls down, is a perfect time for making frozen cakes, cookies, and muffins!
For instance, take an old pot, fill it with snow and turn it upside down. Take some branches, pine cones, acorns, and other natural ornaments to decorate the cake. For making snow cookies, you can use Christmas mold, which is available at almost all stores. Make different shapes, and decorate them with cinnamon sticks or whatever your little one finds suitable.
#3 Draw in the Snow
Drawing and painting don’t necessarily need to be on paper! Put a drop or two of liquid gel food coloring in a squirt bottle and shake them up. You can adjust the nozzle’s flow to spray narrower lines or a more expansive mist.
Let your kid doodle and make whatever they want. Let them express themselves however they want and get creative. It’s a great time to paint freestyle, make hopscotch boards, practice outside alphabet, decorate a snow fort, or color snowballs for a thrilling battle.
#4 Go on Ice Scavenger Hunt
An ice scavenger hunt is one of the most popular games among kids. With the scavenger hunt winter addition, your kids will have so much fun!
Playing outside with your kids is easier when you use ice to spice up a traditional treasure hunt. “The treasure” can be ice that is easy to set up and suitable for kids of all ages.
Make ice cubes and decorate them with some food coloring so it can be easier to hunt them. You can also make them as ice lanterns your toddler can find in the garden and identify the colors! Instead of ice, you can use balloons as well. Fill with water and a few drops of food color to make the beautiful ice marbles.
#5 Host Kids’ Olympic Games
If your kids love to compete, they will love improvised winter Olympic games. You can create different obstacles, basically whatever comes to your mind. Here are a few examples, create an obstacle course by piling snow into varying-sized mounds that kids can jump over, maneuver around, or weave through while you time them. You can also separate kids into a few groups for a snowball competition; whoever makes the biggest snowball wins. Another great game is to create a bunch of snowballs, where each kid will have a few tries to throw them—the one who tosses the farthest wins.
#6 Light a Winter Campfire
Lighting up a fire is a task for older kids and an inspiring activity, especially if they are scouts. Since this task can be challenging, it’s good to have grown-up supervision when making a campfire.
Here’s how to do it: To do so, place a flat stone in the center of the hole you plan on lighting up the fire. Ensure you have enough tinder and arrange some branches, then light the tinder, and you will have your winter campfire in no time!
Once you bundle up and light up the cozy fire, throw some marshmallows, make some smores, and even add some hot chocolate. Your kids will have so much fun doing it! To make things more interesting, try creating color-changing flames for your winter campfire!
#7 Play Tic-Tac-Toe in the Snow
The game is very easy, and you can even make it in your front yard. Make a table for tick-tack-toe but instead of X and O, play the game with branches, pine cones, or acorns.
You can also do it another way. Take some spray bottles, fill them with water and add food colors. Shake it and use one color to make the table and another for your Xs and Os. The importance of play is gigantic and with this game, they will have so much fun while practicing their precision and coordination.
#8 Make a Snow Volcano
Winter crafts can be equally fun as fall crafts. To make a snowy version of Volcano, you will need the same explosion-inducing ingredients. All of them are available at your home, which is the best part!
You will need:
- A small narrow plastic cup
- Dish soap
- Baking soda
- Red food coloring
- Some vinegar
Make a pile of snow and place the plastic cup in the center of it. Add more snow around it to form a volcano shape but leave the top of the cup exposed. Add a spoonful of dish soap, a few spoons of baking soda, and the red food coloring to the cup. Finally, pour in a big splash of vinegar, and here comes the snow Volcano eruption!
#9 Create a Snow Maze
Make a maze at the same time as making a snowman. Roll the ball together by following a specific path instead of going all over the place. Use your feet to stomp on the snow, and don’t forget to make a few dead ends to make the maze more interesting.
When walking thru the maze, give your kid leaves or pebbles to leave behind as they walk. This way, they will know exactly where they are going and navigate easier if they make a mistake.
#10 Take Winter Hike with Hidden Animal Hunt
Taking a hike on winter days and having outdoor play can be very healthy for your toddlers. Aside from breathing fresh air, building the immune system, and developing motor skills, kids can learn much about nature.
Before you take a winter hike, ensure you have the proper clothing, quality hiking shoes, and necessary gear. They can do so many things when they go out exploring the world on their hike. They can play some nature scavenger hunts. They can find many things – berries on trees, fallen pinecones and acorns, leaves on evergreens, or animal tracks on the snow. Even when animals are hidden, the snow allows you to spot them easily.
Tell your kids to look down and see if they can find any tracks, whether they belong to birds, squirrels, deer, cats, or dogs. It’s difficult to spot the tracks, but you can also assist them. However, when they locate a path on their own, they will have a moment of awe, especially when they find the images of the animals they spotted.
