Winter activities for two year olds
Winter Activities for Toddlers & Preschoolers – Happiest Baby
Winter can be a particularly challenging time for keeping little kids entertained. Cabin fever is real, and it can be brutal. But with a few supplies that you probably already have around your house, you can turn a boring, cold winter day into a fun adventure filled with activities that activate your child’s imagination. Check out these 30 winter activities for toddlers that you can try right now.
Image and activity via Happy Toddler Playtime
Kids LOVE to make messes, and parents…well, parents aren't quite as rapturous about cleaning them up. That’s exactly what makes this project so much fun. Kids will have a blast making a sticky mess without destroying the house.
Image and activity via Little Bins for Little Hands
Why not sprinkle in some science to your day? Check out this snowball launcher activity that easily turns into a game for the whole family.
Image and activity via Powerful Mothering
Kiddos keep their fingers busy working with some homemade dough resembling freshly fallen snow. Bonus: This snow dough is “taste safe,” which means kids won’t get sick if their curiosity prompts them to take a nibble.
Image and activity via Brilliant Little Minds
This snow painting project is perfect for young toddlers. Plus, it makes for pretty, wintry décor!
Image and activities via The Best Ideas for Kids
Go outside and grab some pinecones, and then mix in a few ingredients from the kitchen to make this sensory box that emulates snow and will give your kids some tactile delight.
Image and activity via Busy Toddler
If you face the challenge of having your kids whip through activities at breakneck speed, then this will definitely help slow their roll. Freeze your paint into a popsicle and have your kids create works of art as the paint begins to melt.
Image and activity via Entertain Your Toddler
This sneaky STEM project invites kids to drop snowballs into jars and then watch them explode with color. Talk about a bright idea!
Image and activity via Inspire Uplift
This is perfect for little kids who can’t keep their hands off the real tree. Create your own felt version of a Christmas tree and let your kids go to town decorating (and redecorating) their own.
Image and activity via A Little Pinch of Perfection
Sensory projects are so much fun but they tend to get pretty darn messy. Try this cleaner twist and watch your child have a great time without worrying about picking up later.
If you have an old cardboard box and some imagination, you’re halfway there! With this winter activity, kids get to try death-defying ski jumps without ever getting hurt.
Image and activity via Blanket Fort
Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned blanket fort? Try dressing yours up with twinkly lights, pillows, cozy books.
..it's the perfect nook for reading, playing, or even sipping hot cocoa!
Image and activity via Toddler Approved
Kids can decorate these larger-than-life “cookies” to their hearts’ content! If you don’t have a roll of craft paper, try cutting up brown paper grocery bags or using the white side of old wrapping paper.
Image and activity via Busy Toddler
This winter activity for toddlers is perfect for busy bodies who love to have something to do. Fill one tub or bowl with ice and another with colored water. Then, let your kiddo go to town moving the ice to the water to see what happens.
Image and activity via 5 Minutes for Mom
Grab the recycling bin and get busy painting some cans to create the equipment you’ll need to play this DIY game. Toddlers will especially love tossing bean bags at the stacked cans.
Image and activity via Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten
If your kids have ever pretended that the floor is lava, this winter activity is the game for them.
Create a few icebergs out of paper or fabric and turn your floor into an Arctic ice field that your kids must hop around to navigate.
Image and activity via Kids Craft Room
You’ll want to help your toddler with this one. With just a few materials, you can work together to create sparkling icicles that you can save as ornaments, decorate a window to catch some sun-rays, or even turn into a mobile to hang in your child’s room.
Image and activity via Little Bins for Little Hands
If you’ve ever spent a winter in New England, you may have heard of this one. Using snow and some maple syrup, your kids can make their own delicious candy that will double as a magical memory when they grow up.
Image and activity via Hands On as We Grow
This winter activity looks like too much fun! If you are one of those people who saves bubble wrap to reuse, then you’ll have plenty of pop for this project.
Image and activity via Teaching 2- and 3-Year-Olds
It’s amazing what you can fit into a bottle with this discovery activity that is perfect for little kids.
Combine some small objects with glitter in a clear plastic bottle, and you’ve got some sparkly on-the-go entertainment.
Image and activity via 123 Homeschool 4 Me
Grab some food coloring and suit up with this winter activity that will get the whole family outside and playing in the snow.
Image and activity via Mombrite
Want to have…a blast? This winter activity blends science with pure delight.
Image and activity via Happy Toddler Playtime
This winter activity for toddlers can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be, which is perfect for little kids. Grab a cookie sheet, a marble, and some snow, and make your own marble run.
Image and activity via Living Well Mom
Make some DIY salt crystals that you can decorate your windows with. You can create colorful, sparkling snowflakes that will last the rest of winter.
Image and activity via Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten
Sometimes little kid art makes the perfect gift.
Sit down with your toddler and make a bunch of fun tissue paper art projects and then give them to friends and family.
Image and activity via No Stress Homeschooling
This is the perfect activity for the little Elsa in your life. With the magic of science, your toddler can freeze bubbles and then watch in wonder at the colorful pile.
Image and activity via Kids Craft Room
Not only is this an art project that kids will love but it’s also a puppet show! Your chicks will have fun creating a hatching penguin but why stop there? Create hatching birds, lizards, dragons, aliens, anything your child can dream up.
Image and activity via Raising Little Superheroes
Yup. You can make hot chocolate slime! Kids will love getting their hands lost in this gooey messy fun.
Image and activity via Playdough to Plato
This set of DIY playdough comes in mint, hot chocolate, and pine.
It might be hard for the grownups to not play with it, to be honest.
Image and activity via No Time for Flashcards
Sometimes kids need to focus on something for a while to help ward off cabin fever. This hole punch snowflake project is perfect for kids with too much energy who need somewhere to direct their focus. Bonus? You can decorate your house with their creations when they’re done!
Image and activity via Learning and Exploring Through Play
Teach your kids about local birds by creating these fun cookie cutter bird feeders that you can hang outside your windows. Watch and learn as birds stop by to munch a winter treat.
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40 Winter Activities and Crafts for Toddlers for Snowy Day Fun
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If you’re looking for some winter activities and crafts for toddlers, then this is the spot! I’ve gathered some awesome & fun ideas for toddlers to do, all in a winter theme!
You may find yourself in a situation where it’s too cold to be playing outside for too long, it’s snowing, or utterly rainy and cold in the winter… having a snow day and you may be questioning…
How do I entertain my 2 year old in the winter?
How do I keep my toddler active in the winter?
What activities can I do with my toddler indoors?
Maybe your toddler has mostly been tagging along on activities with your older kids.
And maybe you’re ready to start creating activities for your toddler to do on their own. (So ready, right!?)
Get inspired with some of these fun winter activities for toddlers to do. They all look so fun to do (and cute to make!) that I’m not sure which one to start with.
But I’m always excited about winter craft ideas. They’re so adorable, usually all white and fluffy.
Speaking of, I can’t wait to show you the adorable winter craft that my contributor Sarah of How Wee Learn is sharing with you tomorrow!
How do I entertain my 2 year old in the winter, indoors?
I’ve pulled together a large list of perfect options for 2 and 3 year olds to stay entertained and busy through the winter season. Especially when your stuck indoors due to snow!
Get ready for some adorable winter crafts for toddlers, with some winter sensory and learning ideas, too.
Work on fine motor skills and have a happy time doing it!
Plus, some just plain fun winter activities for toddlers to enjoy!
40 Winter Activities for Toddlers!
Click here for activities perfect for your toddler, anytime!
Winter Crafts & Art Projects for Toddlers
Of course, I’m starting with the adorable cuteness of winter crafts, as well as some amazing art projects that toddlers will love creating!
Try some of these when its cold outside.
From paint to fingerprints, your going to love these little keepsake ideas from your sweet toddler!
By the way, some of these links are affiliate links to products I recommend to do these winter activities with your toddler.
Winter Crafts & Art Projects for Toddlers
Olaf Magic Paint Recipe
A Little Pinch of Perfect
Handprint Mitten Ornaments
Busy Bugs
Bubble Wrap Snowman
Crafts On Sea
Icy Salt Paint for Toddlers
Hands On As We Grow
Marshmallow Snowman Stamping
Kindergarten Kel
Tape Resist Snowflake Painting
Little Bins for Little Hands
Indoor Snow Painting
Busy Toddler
Snowman Snow Painting
Growing a Jeweled Rose
Snowflake Puzzles
Teach Preschool
Abstract Snowman Art
Still Playing School
No Mess Paper Plate Snowflakes
Messy Little Monster
Puffy Snowmen
Simple Fun for Kids
Cottonball Snowmen
Preschool Powol Packets
Salty Snowman
Best Toys 4 Toddlers
Tin Can Snowman Windchime
Hands On As We Grow
Winter Sensory Activities for Toddlers
Sensory activities are a favorite of mine for toddlers.
It’s really hard to go wrong with anything sensory.
Sensory activities are left for open-ended play and to explore! What a fun way for toddlers to learn about the things winter brings!
Of course, be careful of small objects if you have a toddler that mouths everything still.
Sensory Winter Activities for Toddlers
Snowflake Slime
Little Bins for Little Hands
Snowman Sensory Bag
Mama Papa Bubba
Wintery Sparkle Cloud Dough
Hands On As We Grow
Winter Star Sensory Ice
Toddler Approved
Winter Sensory Tub
No Time for Flash Cards
Snowy Sensory Window Activity
No Time for Flash Cards
Sensory Snow - Safe to Taste!
The Train Driver's Wife
Build a Snowman
The Train Driver's Wife
2-Ingredient DIY Sensory Snowballs
Paging Fun Mums
Sensory Snow Paint
Mom Endeavors
Sledding Sensory Bin
How Wee Learn
Snowy White Play Dough
The Imagination Tree
Five Senses Snowman
The Imagination Tree
Sparkly Winter Sensory Bin
Hands On As We Grow
No Mess Winter Sensory Bag
A Little Pinch of Perfect
Winter Learning Activities for Toddlers
These winter activities that are focused more on academic learning for toddlers.
From letter formation to the five senses and shapes.
As long as its fun like these, toddlers will love it!
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Fun Winter Themed Activities for Toddlers
And we can’t forget to just have some good ol’ fun this winter! Toddlers will love playing with these snowballs and snowmen and other fun wintery things to do!
Fun Winter Theme Activities for Toddlers
Get all your winter activity supplies quickly and easily!
Winter Craft & Activity Resources Buying Guide
Epsom Salt for Magic Olaf Paint
Painters Tape for Snowflake Painting
School Glue for Snowman Snow Painting
Liquid Starch for Snowflake Slime
Contact Paper for Snowy Sensory Window
Secret Ingredient for Taste-Safe Snow
Contact Paper to Build a Snowman
Squirt Bottles for Colored Snow
Droppers to Color the Snow Indoors
How about that for some fun winter activities for toddlers? We also have a week of winter fun to get you going on the right track.
You can download that here.
Do you feel like you can entertain your 2 year old for the winter now?
Oh, well if you’re not… there’s always these winter activities and crafts to check out too:
- 30 snowflake crafts for kids
- 24 snowman crafts for kids
- 28 more winter crafts for kids
- 32 snow themed activities for kids
Just to get you on the right track, you know…
Make this winter one to remember! Which fun winter activities will you try first?
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About Jamie Reimer
Jamie learned to be a hands on mom by creating activities, crafts and art projects for her three boys to do. Jamie needed the creative outlet that activities provided to get through the early years of parenting with a smile! Follow Jamie on Pinterest and Instagram!
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10 winter activities for kids with and without snow
What would you like to do outside in winter if there is no snow? No weather will prevent children from having fun and having fun! The main thing is to know what to do.
Ksenia Buksha suggests recalling a dozen familiar and unusual winter activities.
1. Decorate trees and bushes in the yard
At plus three degrees bushes in yards, squares and parks look dull: no leaves, no flowers, not even snow. This can be helped. The Christmas trees are over, but the desire for beauty is eternal. We take colored paper, strings, small Christmas decorations - we decorate a familiar bush, take pictures against its background and post pictures on Instagram! If they decorated it not only with paper, after some time it would be good to remove it all and collect it so that there is no garbage left.
2. Feeding the birds
Birds have a hard time even in a snowless winter. You can feed pigeons with millet, ducks with oatmeal or pearl barley. Just not bread: it is harmful to birds. And if you want, try to make the right feeder (there are a lot of ideas, including those not made of wood).
3. Launch LED helicopters
It's still getting dark early, but it's getting late.
On a walk in a snowless winter, you can play with the darkness. Buy LED helicopters with slingshots for kids and launch colorful lights into the overcast sky of the era of global warming. It’s definitely impossible to freeze even in a very fierce wind: a gambling, joyful and festive activity, no worse than playing snowballs.
4. Break the ice in the puddles and make an ice mosaic
Suppose it got a little colder, there is no snow, but ice appeared on the puddles. It is very fun to break it by jumping from all over. Children love to test the strength of the ice in shallow and deep puddles. It is at a temperature of about zero that you can get "puddle" ice floes and lay out an ice mosaic from them. Well, yes, of course, the ice in the city is dirty, but this usually does not bother children, and then you can wash your hands.
5. Watch the weather and daylight hours
The most interesting thing is to start doing it in winter. After all, whatever one may say, it’s coming to spring.
And even if the weather does not indulge us, then the daylight hours increase a little all the time and give reasons for joy. It may be difficult to track the movements of the sun itself in the city, but we can tell for sure when the lanterns are turned on and off. And write down the results of observations. You can also note other indicators - air temperature, precipitation and wind. Many younger students and even older preschoolers love this.
6. Leave footprints in the snow
Oh, and here comes the snow! True, there is very little of it: a thin layer covered the asphalt and the ground in the squares. But even this amount is enough to draw footprints in the snow. Draw a Christmas tree and a sun from the footprints, alternating small and large footprints, make a battlement wall - in general, fantasize yourself.
7. Making small colored snowmen
Miracle: a little more snow (well, let's say). Of course, it is wet - at zero degrees, how else? We also take advantage of this whim of the weather and make tiny colored snowmen out of wet snow.
The body is the size of three snowballs, eyes and a mouth made of berries or sticks. Let's take a sprayer with us for a walk and prepare water strongly tinted with gouache (recipe: a teaspoon of gouache well mixed in a half-liter bottle). And now let's paint our snowmen and rejoice at how unusual they are! If you bring a little more snow, you can build a whole tower.
8. Throwing snow and playing snowballs
It all depends on how much snow we have and what kind it is. Everyone knows that you can really play snowballs only in moderately frosty weather. If the frost is strong, you can throw fluffy loose snow. If there is little snow, we collect it from different surfaces (preferably not from the ground) and throw armfuls at each other! Only with very young children it is better to be careful: they may cry out of habit. It is better to accustom them to snow gradually. As for strong, well-made snowballs, try not to hit anyone in the eye: you can leave a black eye and harm your health.
9. Snow romance
Romance needs quite a bit of snow. It is enough to powder your hair with it a little or collect snow in your palm and breathe on it, watching how the crystals melt. You can watch snowflakes on a sleeve or mitten. And if there is a little more snow, make a “snow angel” (lie down in the snow and wave your arms so that a trace remains like from wings) or throw snow at each other like sand. In general, you can meditate on snow, and this is not only children's entertainment. A familiar mathematician admitted that his interest in the subject began with the contemplation of three snowflakes through which the only possible plane passed endlessly.
10. Rolling downhill
For children under three years old, it is most useful to go downhill not on a cheesecake or sled, but on their own buttocks, stomach or back. The ice track allows them to feel their body better, control traffic safely, and they won’t develop high speed like that. Needless to say, the hill for this should not be too steep and long, but also not too gentle.
Teach your child to immediately get up and go to the side so that no one runs over them.
Older children master ice-sleds and sleds, and it is very harmless for teenagers to learn to squat and ride on their feet. But the cheesecake is not quite what you need. On small hills, it rides slower than a sled, and on large and steep ones it loses control: the speed is often still less than on a sledge or on an ice rink, but at the same time it is almost impossible to turn to the side. If a child rides on a cheesecake with a parent, he has almost no contact with the surface of the mountain, which means he does not get the pleasure that “rolling and wallowing” gives him (tactile sensations, in smart words).
However, no matter what you ride, this entertainment still needs winter weather - at least a little, at least not for long. What we all wish for.
🎿32 ways to take your child on a winter walk. Walking with a child: the right clothes and games
Many parents notice that babies up to 3-4 years old do not really like to walk in the winter, and it can be difficult to gather them for a walk.
What is the reason? An expert on activities with children Zhenya Katz advises first to check clothes and shoes: are they comfortable, not cold? And then use the ideas of games: some of them the children will definitely like!
My son Grishka at 1.5–2 years old hated winter walks and started whining as soon as we went out. He didn't want to dig, he didn't want to go up the hill - he didn't want anything. And now he loves to walk - he just outgrew those baby problems and learned to perfectly entertain himself on the street at any time of the year, and especially in winter. Well, that winter I had to invent masses in all sorts of exciting activities in order to take the child out into the fresh air at least for a while.
Here's what I noticed then: in autumn it can be difficult for adults to get used to frost and wind, and therefore I myself dress much warmer at the beginning of winter than in its middle. I'm just freezing until I get used to winter! And the kids get cold too! Therefore, from the very first cold days, we dressed warmer.
While the child is very small, sitting in a stroller or on a sled, one-piece overalls are convenient. Young children are usually not particularly fond of dressing up, and winter walks are difficult for them and for parents, in part because you need to put a lot of things on the baby. After suffering like this for some time, I solved the problem radically: we bought a down overalls and a very warm hat with a collar. After that, dressing for a walk was reduced to a minimum: we put on tights or socks for the child, sometimes a thin sweater over a T-shirt, and a down overall. Everything! Moon rover boots - on your feet, and you can go, and put on your hat and mittens already in the elevator.
My children were quite cold in infancy, so I looked for or sewed the warmest and most waterproof mittens for them. Sometimes children don't like to put on mittens because grabbing something is uncomfortable and unusual. Gloves are probably more suitable for such children, although their hands get cold much faster.
In any case, it would be good to take spare mittens for a walk so that you have something to change into if the first ones get wet, icy or full of snow.
Sometimes babies cry outside in winter because their cheeks get cold — you can try smearing them with a special cream before going for a walk. Or maybe it's just cold hands or feet. Then you need to carefully examine the clothes and shoes and find something suitable.
Some children at the age of one and a half refuse to go outside at all if they are put on too thick clothes - overalls with fur or, especially, a fur coat. In such clothes, the child is so clumsy that it is simply difficult for him to take a step. My brother, for example, in a fur coat did not take a single step, but simply lay down on the snow. My mother had to knit a warm sweater for him and sew waterproof winter pants - and then he began to walk normally.
- ride down the hills on an ice rink or on a sled;
- try to climb these slides on the steepest place, or on ice, or on the deepest snowdrifts;
- roll head over heels;
- wallow in fluffy snow;
- dig snow and make cakes;
- climb the tops of snowdrifts;
- kick the ice on the path;
- play hockey;
- throw snowballs;
- make snowmen, snow bears and cats, crocodiles and geese;
- build houses for the mouse - from snow and ice slabs, from bunches of dry grass, from lumps of snow;
- drill holes in snowdrifts with a stick or a handle from a spatula;
- tread tricky labyrinth paths in the snow and then run along them;
- track tracks - play an expedition to the North Pole;
- look for snow snakes in the trees;
- build big snow forts and houses;
- fall on your back in the snow and wave your arms - "draw angels";
- draw with a stick in the snow;
- water the snow with colored water from a bottle;
- lay out multi-colored ice cubes on the snow to make a pattern;
- tear off pieces of crust and throw them on the ground to break;
- throwing snow into the air with your hands or a shovel is very beautiful, especially in the evening under a lantern.
At the same time, you need to shout loudly "salute!" or "hooray!" and try to run under the falling snow; - play catch-up-bang - run through the snowdrifts and whoever they catch up with - play around;
- to plant branches that have fallen from trees during the wind into the snow;
- collect ice and snowballs in the grate from the stroller, and then melt them at home: you can under water, or you can watch how they gradually melt;
- tear off icicles;
- lead New Year's round dances around all the Christmas trees, sing about the Christmas tree;
- decorate the Christmas tree in the forest with all sorts of toys;
- to hammer steps near the slide;
- go skiing;
- to skate;
- run, jump, dance.
Here is our favorite snow dance :
We are walking on snowdrifts,
Raise your leg higher,
Top-top, top-top,
Wow! Everyone fell into a snowdrift!
You can make feeders together with children , for example, from milk bags, hang them in the nearest park, and then go around all the feeders and add crumbs and grains to them.
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