A snow day is a bit of a nightmare, let’s face it. Even if you love getting an unexpected day at home with your kids, it’s still another day that you have to entertain them for. Most of the parents I know have plans for their kids when it’s the holidays and weekends, so an unplanned day off can be a bit of a bummer.
FEAR NOT! I’ve got you covered.
Snow Day Fun For Kids
The number one rule is to not let them play in the snow too early. Snow is a massive anti-climax and you should probably spend your day using playing in it as leverage. You day will pass much smoother if you don’t play out until the afternoon.
Activity 1: Trick them into tidying up
If they’re going to be under your feet all day, you don’t want to be trampling their Lego and Sylvanian families. Get them to put all of their toys away and dress it up as a game. I’d even go as far as putting the storage boxes in the lot or under the stairs so they are completely out of the way.
Activity 2: Get out any toys they’ve outgrown
For some inexplicable reason, the minute a child outgrows a toy and you put it away in your loft, it suddenly becomes the most interesting thing in the world. Grab a handful of old toys and let your kids go insane with excitement. Then make them pack them away when they’re done – bonus activity!
Activity 3: Serve every meal as an indoor picnic
You can make any meal special if you put a blanket on your floor and tell your kids it’s a ‘picnic’. For some reason, presenting even the most crap offering in this way means your child will be delighted by your culinary expertise and will quietly chow down.
Activity 4: Arts and crafts
When you’ve cleared away your ‘picnic blanket’, there should be room to lay an old sheet to protect your floor. I’d probably get some paints and felt tips out. I only ever venture into cutting and sticking if I’m absolutely desperate. Let them get nice and messy and as soon as they’re bored you can finally…
Activity 5: Let them play in the snow!
This is the moment they’ve been waiting for all day! What kind of snow day is it if no one gets soaked and freezing in the snow? The age of your kids will dictate the length of time before disillusionment strikes. Snow is always an anticlimax because being damp and frozen brings no one joy. My son went of snow after about 5 minutes of trying to pick it up, realising it was cold, then dropping it (ad infinitum). My daughter is much older and can last much longer in the snow. Either way, they both end up wet and sad, which leads perfectly onto…
Activity 6: An unnecessarily long bath
A bath with enough bubbles and enough toys in it can kill up to half an hour. By this point, your day should be two-thirds over by now. After you’d dragged out bath time, you’re on the home stretch.
Activity 7: Bake
This one might actually be out if you’re as unprepared for snow day as me and have limited supplies. If you’ve got enough ingredients for anything resembling cakes or even a tea time meal then get your kids in on making it. If you’re really stuck supplies you might be able to make your own play-doh instead.
These activities should at least have wasted part, if not all, of your unexpected day at home. You could also try:
- Playing family games like Gassy the Cow or Shark Bite.
- Watching a film.
- Building a fort.
- Dressing up or facepainting.
- Playing on apps on a tablet or phone.
- Any of these educational activities in these posts.
Why not pin these ideas for your next snow day?
My response to today’s snow afternoon (school closed early after making us traipse in) was sending my daughter and husband to the pictures 🙂
the bath thing cracked me up. My wife doesn’t understand why I give my daughter a bath instead of a quick shower. Meanwhile I’m sitting on the floor outside the bathroom reading while she splashes around with her toys!