21 Winter Activities for Kids and Toddlers to get Their Energy Out

Winter can be hard when you’re cooped up instead. Get out your kid’s energy with simple, yet fun, winter activities for kids.

Winter and Kids

I don’t know about you, but I HATE Winter. Like, with a passion. If Winter went away forever, I would not complain, nor would I miss it. (This is one of the many reasons I love Texas so much). One of the reasons I hate Winter is because my kids have a hard time getting out all their wiggles and energy. And I have very energetic-excited-about-life-spirited children. If I had half their energy, I would never nap. They just go, go, go.

If I don’t make a conscious effort to help them get their energy out during the day, then they are “CRAZY” or excited about life, around 5:00-7:00 in the evening. I start to dread that time of day, so if my morning self is lazy, then my evening self hates my morning self. If you know what I mean. I also find that when they don’t get out energy, then they have a harder time falling asleep at night.

Recently, I have been doing different activities with them to help them get that energy out. So, if you find yourself running into the same problem, here are some ideas you can do to help them get energy out during those hard Winter days.

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Tips for Getting Energy Out

Because my kids are so energetic, I have been researching more and more ideas of how to channel their energy so they can still be functional kids without me crushing their spirits. I love that my daughter has an enthusiasm for life, but sometimes it seems like she is spiraling out of control, which increases my anxiety, and then things get destroyed. I don’t want to kill her spirits or think that she can’t experience excitement. I just need to help guide her energy.

Here are a few tips on top of these activities to keep in mind when channeling their energy:

Remember that just yelling “you’re crazy” or “you need to calm down” doesn’t really do much. You need to give them ideas, and redirect their energy. Eventually, they will be able to do it themselves.
Don’t call your children “crazy”. I’ve learned that this isn’t helpful. I try to say, “I appreciate your enthusiasm for life, but we need to find a better indoor activity.”
You can help them do a calm activity like sitting down and reading a book with you, or using a calming toy. Eventually they will learn to do these things on their own when prompted.

21 Winter Activities for Kids

First, I’m going to list the things they can do on their own. These are the activities that they need little to no supervision for, which frees up some time for mama. I know that we can’t all entertain our kids ALL. DAY. LONG., so here are some things they can do on their own.

Winter Activities for Kids WITHOUT (or very little) Help

Dance Party

I think this has been our number one go to this Winter. The kids LOVE this and it definitely gets out the wiggles. Turn on any YouTube Just Dance video and they can dance along to it. You could plan a little and make your own playlist to just let them play through it so you know what videos they are watching. We set rules with this game. They have to be dancing, or we turn it off. They can’t just sit and watch. And we limit which dance videos they watch. I think as long as you are clear from the beginning about the expectations.

Park

Depending on where you are from, this might be an option for you. You have to get them there, but if you just let them play, this could be a break for you. This could also be an opportunity to play with them, it’s up to you! Just bundle them up. I’ve realized that most kids don’t care about the cold as long as they are bundled up. Take advantage of those warmer days and get to the park.

Play in the snow

Another thing you can do, depending on where you live, is play in the snow. Make sure to bundle them up and just let them go crazy! This is especially nice if you have a backyard.

Forts

Encourage them to build a fort. Give them all the things they need and let them use their imagination. You could also build them an awesome fort and let them play in it forever!

Stair surfing

If you have the house for it, let your kids do some stair surfing, with safety in mind, of course. You could use a mattress, cardboard or a sled.

House Ice Skating

If you have a wood or tile floor anywhere, take out some wax paper and let them use it as ice skates and skate around the floor.

Build Structures

Have them build something with their blocks, Legos, or toothpicks and marshmallows. Challenge their creativity and give them ideas or give them a list to complete. Kids love challenges.

Play dough

Have a bin designated for just play dough and pull it out on the table when the kids need an idea. It’s great to have those play dough tools to prolong their experience.

Indoor Volleyball/Tennis

Make an indoor volleyball with some paper plates and balloons.

Balloons toss

Break out some balloons and have a balloon toss. Here are some other creative games to do with balloons.

Hallway laser maze

Set up a laser maze for them in your hallway with some crepe paper and tape. Super simple, but can keep them entertained for a long time.

Winter Activities for Kids that Involves Parental Guidance

These are activities that you can do with your kids to spend some quality time with them during those Winter months.

Follow the leader

Whenever I see my kids just acting CRAZY, I’m like, Okay, follow me! And we just do a 20 minutes game of follow the leader, it helps more than you think.

Indoor ball pit

This involves a little bit of prep work on your part. If you have a kiddie pool and some plastic balls you can put a little pit together. Once you get all the things, it might be easier to set it up a second time.

Tricks contest

This is a supervised event. You can tell them to try different tricks and then rate them like cartwheels, somersaults, handstands, etc…

Indoor S’mores

Make some S’mores without a campfire. If you have a gas stove, you can do it over the fire, or you can make these awesome oven S’mores like a dip.

Indoor scavenger hunt

Create an indoor scavenger hunt for them. This could even just be a random list of household items that they have to find, or different color objects, etc…

Make indoor snow

If you don’t have snow where you live, you can make homemade snow to play with. You could also make homemade bubble foam.

Do an art project

Create a fun Winter art project like Starry Night, Snow Globe Craft, or Mitten art.

Sock snowball fight

My mom did this with us when we were younger. You make a bunch of sock balls, split up into teams, and throw them at each other. We also used to do this when my dad got home, we would ambush him.

Cardboard box tunnel

Make a fun cardboard box tunnel. Start collecting boxes to make this tunnel, or give them all the boxes and let them be creative and go to town. You can even buy a cardboard house that they can color and play in.

Go to a store

If you just need to get out of the house, go to a store and have them look at the toys. We go to Costco and look at the books, or Barnes and Nobles, or we hit up the toy section in Wal-mart! Oh! The Dollar Store is another favorite, sometimes I let them pick out a toy.

I hope you find some opportunities to channel your energies with these winter activities for kids! 🙂

21 Winter Activities for Kids and Toddlers to get Their Energy Out

21 Winter Activities for Kids and Toddlers to get Their Energy Out

Winter and Kids

Tips for Getting Energy Out

21 Winter Activities for Kids