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“Hey, Daddy, if there were no snow this year, what are we going to do?“. I remember my daughter once asked me when we were watching a cartoon movie together.
I love spending time outdoors with my daughters. Even during the winter time, we would hang out in our backyard in building a snowman, snow tubing, or constructing a snow fort. (Here are some of our favorite winter activities)
Despite winter is usually very cold in the region I’m living in, there were times it wasn’t snowing much. In fact, there were a couple of years where we didn’t have a white Christmas holiday.
However, that shouldn’t stop you from bringing a child to play outdoors. After all, it is important for them to get some fresh air, sunshine and remain physical active throughout the year.
With some creativity, you and your child could still have lots of winter fun. Below is the list of fun things to do in winter without snow.
Interesting Things in this Post
1) Make Your Own Snow
Just because it isn’t snowing, it doesn’t mean your child cannot enjoy a snow play. To create artificial snow, all you need is some superabsorbent polymer and water.
Once the superabsorbent polymer is mixed with water, its volume would expand dramatically. You’ll end up with some fluffy and realistic-looking snow imitation.
If you want the texture to be even more like snow, some families suggested using ice water to mix it. You could also add some food coloring to make it more beautiful.
However, do not add too much water, else it would make it look soupy. 4 gallons of the superabsorbent polymer could make enough artificial snow to cover an area of 4.8 square feet with one inch deep. You could test out with a small amount of first.
A parent stated that it could be messy if it is played with the wood chips in a playground. She suggested placing a plastic lining underneath so that you could fold it up and trash it when the kids are done playing with it.
Depending on the weather condition, it could last for days or even weeks. Not only you could turn your backyard into a wonderland of snow play, but it would also be a fun outdoor experiment to try with your child.
Here’s the super absorbent that I like for your quick reference. (affiliate link)
2) Give Your Child the “Frozen” Power
This is a very cool trick, and I’m sure your child would be thrilled by it. You’ll need a few bottles of purifying water and some freshly crushed ice.
- First, you put the water bottles into the freezer’s section of your fridge.
- Make sure they are placed away from other items. So you might need to make extra room for them beforehand.
- Then leave it there for two and a half hours. The idea is to have the water remaining in the liquid state, but while turning its internal temperature to below its freezing point.
- Take out one of the bottles, and pour the water into a glass.
- Have your child dip a small piece of crushed ice into the glass of water.
Then your child could witness the amazing chain reaction in turning the water into ice with a magic finger.
3) Create an Ice Monster
It is another simple and fun activity. Here is what you need to do:
- Pour some water onto a glass plate, then put it into a freezer.
- Once the water freezes into ice, take it out of the fridge.
- Pour some super cold water onto the plate. Then your child would be amazed to see as the water would turn into a pile of ice
With some creativity, you can shape it into awesome an ice monster simply with a small spoon.
To make it more appealing, you could use color straws or popsicle sticks as their arms. You could also add food coloring into it.
4) Outdoor Fondue
Enjoying a heated pot of fondue in a chilling day could be another great option.
This could be a delicious chocolate fondue, where your child dip their favorite fruits into it. Strawberry, apple, pineapple would all go well into the mix. I personally prefer dark chocolate as I like its bittersweet. Fruits such as banana and raspberry would be a perfect match for it. [1]https://pregelamerica.com/pmag/articles/chocolate-fruit-pairings/
If you want to try a cheese fondue, you could consider dippers such as french breads, breadsticks, meatballs, hams, or shrimps. You could also include lightly steamed vegetables. (i.e., asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots).
[2]https://www.thespruceeats.com/dippers-to-serve-with-cheese-fondue-1664716
However, melting the chocolate or cheese could take some time, so you really need to be patient for it.
Since the weather is likely to be cold during the winter, you need to choose a fondue set where the heating power is adequate. But keep in mind not to overheat it, as you don’t want to burn the chocolate or cheese.
I often think that fondue is a relatively classy choice. The entire fondue set (affiliate link) and even the forks are so delicate. It sends out a very relaxing vibe which makes stop thinking for a moment about your to-do-list. I’m sure my daughter will imitate Peppa Pig again by saying “What a nice day of doing nothing!”
However, if the weather is too cold, you could run into a problem of melting the chocolate or cheese. So if you and your child are looking for a quick meal, an alternative I really like is hot pot in a backyard. Here’s a post where I talked more about it.
5) Backyard Camping
Many people have experience camping during the summer. But doing so in winter could be just as fun.
You and your child could sit around a bonfire. Heating marshmallows, and hot dogs. Enjoy the beautiful night view of the sky. Have a deep conversation while laying in the camp. This would be a memorable experience for family bonding.
Since it could be extremely cold during the night time, here are some tips to keep your child warm.
- Dress your child in appropriate layers of clothing.
- Get a sleeping pad with high RV value. This could reduce the amount of body heat that would lose to the ground
- Use a 4-season camping tent
- Choose a sleeping bag with the right temperature rating
If you want more tips, here’s an article about backyard camping in winter.
6) Grass Skiing
I didn’t know about skiing on grass until now. To my surprise, grass skiing is actually a sport on its own. [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_skiing. This seems to be more popular in Europe.
Your child would wear a pair of skis that are intentionally designed for grass skiing. They are typically short with rolling treads or wheels, which are to be attached to the skier’s boots.
There should also be two ski poles which help your child in balancing.
Here’s a video I found on Youtube about grass skiing.
Initially, I wouldn’t let a child to ski on a slope that is too deep. A child should practice more often until they master their skillset. I would recommend getting some proper lessons from a certified coach.
Unless your backyard is enormous, I don’t think playing in it would be suitable. Afterall, the site should be free of barriers such as fences, walls or trees. You could try Google search for a proper grass skiing site in your region.
Although grass skiing would be fun, one huge difference from regular skiing is that there wouldn’t be any snow. Some skier said that it would hurt more when falling on the grass.
Therefore, a child should wear appropriate protective equipment such as a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, and gloves.
7) Roller Skiing
To my understanding, grass skiing seems to be more for downhill, while roller skiing is more like cross-country. Many professional ski teams would use it for off-season practice in simulating snow skiing. [4]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_skiing
Unlike grass skiing, roller skiing is typically played on hard surfaces. If my daughters were to try, I would let them play in their schoolyard first. [Picture]
The roller skis have wheels on their ends. The shoes and skis should be a lot lighter since there aren’t heavy boots like the one with grass skiing. However, there would also be ski poles which help a child in balancing.
A child should get some proper training from a certified coach initially. Once again, they should wear safety gears such as helmet, gloves, elbow pads, knees pads.
8) Snow Plow Walk
Sometimes, you do not need to buy any expensive toys or play equipment for your kids to have fun. Snow Plow Walk is exactly that type of game.
You simply hold the child’s legs and have them walk on their hands. To make this even more fun, invite a few of their friends over, and start a snow plow race.
To protect your child from sharp objects (i.e., rocks), they should wear protective gloves while playing. This game should be played on a ground where there is a soft landing.
9) Snowball fight with Socks
Who said you couldn’t enjoy a snowball fight without snow?!! You can balled-up baskets of old socks, then the battle could begin!
Our family has plenty of old socks where my daughters have outgrown them or there is a hole in them.
With tapes and colored markers, the kids could design their shields using cardboard sheets.
Since we do not want the socks-balls to injure anyone’s eyes, I would recommend them to wear safety goggles.
10) Bird Feeding in your Backyard
During the winter, some birds could have difficulties finding foods as most of the insects and worms are gone, while there are no more fruits from the trees.
To help them survive through a cold winter, you could set up a bird feeder. You could also provide a water source such as a bird bath.
Many kids love birds coming to visit their yard. The beautiful birds chirping could also help me relax. The most importantly, feeding birds could educate your children how to care for animals and love the nature.
Here’s a complete guide on “How to feed birds in your backyard?”
My Final Thought about a Winter without Snow
Outdoor playing time is essential to a child’s development. Although having snow in winter would be a great bonus to play with, there are different ways you could mimic the snow play experience. Besides, some activities such as backyard camping, bird feeding, walking a dog, and playing in a treehouse do not even require snow.
To be honest, I did not know many of the games mentioned above until I started researching for this post. One thing I really would like to try is roller skiing with my daughters. But I better learn how to do it myself first 🙂
So that’s all for now, I hope you do enjoy this post. Now, it’s time to play!
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Jacob is a father of two daughters. He loves spending quality time with them in the backyard. Playing sports, blowing bubbles, and planting are some the favorite activities Jacob and his daughters like to do together. He believes it is essential to spend quality time with them while they are still young.