Spending time outdoors benefits everyone’s health, but it’s significant for children. Kids have a lot of energy to spend and it’s best to do it playing outside with their friends. However, as colder days approach parents have to think of new ways of keeping their kids warm while allowing them to entertain themselves. It’s a challenge that requires spending lots of money most of the time.
Therefore parents are looking for ways to let their kids play outside when it’s chilly, without having to spend a lot of money. Luckily, outside activities are not limited due to chilly weather. Although there are things you’d do in the summer, but can’t do in the winter, the colder months also give you some fun opportunities that hotter days can’t.
Why Garden Activities for Kids When it’s Chilly Are Important
Kids have a lot of energy within, therefore enjoying fun activities outside is crucial as it allows your kids to aim the energy toward something positive. Especially during winter, when the sunshine is limited and children start to lack vitamin D., It’s important to get your children to spend as much time outdoors as possible.
Therefore, coming up with fun gardening activities for kids is important. Children are more likely to spend time outdoors if they look at the activities as games and enjoy participating in them.
Moreover, spending time in your garden is preferred to spending time in the forest and the parks when the weather is chilly as kids tend to get cold and they will need to warm up often. You can always pour them a cup of hot chocolate to warm up and continue playing outside.
Free and Fun Garden Activities for Kids During Cold Weather
Although it may seem like there are very few things that children may enjoy in the garden when it’s cold outside, there are multiple entertaining activities to keep them busy outdoors:
- Playing in the snow
- Watching the night sky
- Sledding
- Cooking outside
- Building forts
- Treasure hunts
- Building snowmen
- Creating snow angels
Playing in the Snow
Depending on your area of residence, your winters may be snowy. As soon as kids see snowflakes, they want to run outside and play. You can use this opportunity to enjoy some quality family time playing in the snow.
Build a snowman
Building snowmen takes little effort and does not require spending money. Children can roll piles of snow to create large snowballs, put them on top of each other, and use sticks to create arms. They can put some buttons on the snowman as eyes and mouth and put a scarf around its neck or a hat on its head.
Building snowmen is one of the most fun activities children are looking forward to when it starts to snow.
Play with snowballs
Throwing snowballs at each other can be extremely fun and it’s not dangerous in any form, especially when children play in your garden. As a parent, you can join in on the fun and show your kids that you can be not only their parent but their friend as well.
Create snow angels on the ground
After kids have dressed warmly in coats, scarves, and hats, they can even lie down in the snow and create snow angels with their forms by swinging arms and legs to create wings.
Such fun activities will allow your kids to absorb vitamins and minerals, as vitamin D is less attainable in winter. It will also help you get your kids to lose some energy. Everyone will be able to enjoy themselves, and most of all, you will all get closer to each other.
Watching the Night Sky
Winter days are much shorter than summer days. While some may look at this as a downside, you can use this opportunity to get your kids to watch the night sky before bedtime. You can build forts outside, in your garden, with warm blankets and pillows, build fire, and watch the night sky together.
This is a fun gardening activity that your kids will enjoy and it will allow you to educate them about astronomy without them getting bored. Tell them about stars and planets, answer their questions, and get them more interested in the galaxy. You can even make hot chocolate together and drink it on the porch, wrapped in blankets.
Going Sledding
Sledding is the perfect activity for kids to enjoy in winter outside. Sledding is enjoyable even without piles of snow. Slightly frozen ground will allow you to slide effortlessly. You don’t even need sleds to enjoy! You can simply flatten cardboard boxes and tie a rope to them before starting to play in the garden with your children.
This enjoyable activity will bring you together as a family and help you bond with your kids. It also allows you to get your kids to spend energy and enjoy the chilly days outdoors.
Cooking Outside
Another free and fun activity to embrace in your garden during winter is cooking outside. You can get your kids to enjoy culinary activities by cooking outside with them. Bring out the barbeque and cook different types of meat with your kids.
You can also start a bonfire and even cook marshmallows by the fire while telling fun stories. It could be a fun camping experience without leaving the safety of your home. Cooking in the garden is one of the best ways to stay outside in winter with fire and hot food to keep your family warm. It will also help your kids become accustomed to cooking and view it as something fun instead of a chore.
You could gather dry wood in the garden with your children, cook by the fire, and afterward, have a winter picnic in your backyard. Use this opportunity to teach your children about a variety of meals and how each product can be beneficial to health.
Treasure Hunts
Hunting for treasure is extremely fun for children. It’s especially easy to bury the treasure when there’s snow outside to cover it.
You can use any type of box to put some candy or toys in it and call it a treasure for your kids to find. If you wish for your children to expand their problem-solving skills, you could also add a couple of puzzles to the hunt.
Create a little map of your backyard and put around clues that your children will be able to solve to get to the treasure. You either can make it a fun competition or make them work as a team to get closer to each other and become better team players.
Singing in the Rain
Do your kids have an ear for music? Maybe they enjoy putting up plays for the older family members. Have your kids go outside in the garden when it rains so they can sing their hearts out.
You could put your phone on a speaker and play karaoke music so they enjoy singing outdoors even more. This way, you will allow your kids to embrace nature and entertain themselves, and you will learn about their favorite songs.
Putting on a Play
Kids love playing make-believe and a snowy or rainy garden is the perfect place to put on a fairytale performance. You could give your children a task to write a little play for the adults in the family and play it out. Maybe invite some of the other younger relatives for them all to portray different characters and get closer to each other as a family.
A winter play could be exciting for children to showcase their different talents and expand their creative minds. This activity will get your kids to not only spend a lot of energy and stay proactive, but it will also allow them to exercise their imagination.
Build a Den
One of the most fun gardening projects can be building dens out of fallen branches. You could get your children to gather wood in the backyard and build dens from sheets and wood for themselves, or build small dens out of fallen leaves for ants and other insects that inhabit the exteriors.
Building Nests for Birds
Although not many birds stay around for cold weather, some inhabit our rooftops to shelter themselves. Children can benefit from building nests for birds as they will grow to care for others by starting to care for animals at a young age.
You can gather dry wood in the backyard and build nests for birds that are unable to fly to warmer places during winter. You can also teach your kids to provide the creatures with food now and then.
Conclusion
Although winter is chilly and it may be a bit uncomfortable to stay outside for long during the colder days, it’s still beneficial for children to embrace nature in any weather and condition. Allowing your kids to play in the garden when it snows or rains, if they are dressed warmly, will help them stay healthy, immune to cold, and full of vitamins.
Moreover, fun garden activities will allow your children to bond with each other and you. It’s important to spend quality time as a family outdoors, whether it’s sunny or cloudy.
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Nino Chigoga
Nino Chigoga is a blogger and content creator for investproinc.com. Nino has built a career by researching different topics regarding families and housing and concluding the best ways to build a home.
