15 fun and simple activities for playing outside at home
Written by Les Rivières | February 2, 2021
The current situation is pushing us to reinvent ourselves and review our family habits. Whether it's finding indoor activities and games, cooking or playing outside, confinement has a positive effect on our creativity in occupying these family moments. In these winter months, we thought we'd suggest a few activities for playing outside and taking the opportunity to create sweet family memories!
1- Organize a practice area for snowballs
The great thing about this activity is that it will keep your troops busy both indoors AND outdoors. Use a cardboard box and make holes to throw snowballs through. Paint the targets in your favorite colors. Go outside and set up the targets all over the yard. If the snow is not sticky, use tennis balls to throw at the targets and practice your accuracy. For the more competitive, count the points!
2- Build a snow labyrinth
The scale of this project depends on your yard. If you have the space, build snow walls to form paths and construct a giant labyrinth. Who will manage to find the exit the fastest? Hours of fun to be had just building it! If you’re ambitious, you could even use old materials to solidify the walls.
3- Assemble ice cream shapes
For squares or balls, use silicone ice cube trays that you fill with a mixture of water and food coloring for colored shapes. For original ice cubes, insert flowers or plants before freezing them.
Finally, assemble all your pieces to create beautiful ice sculptures.
4- Playing tic-tac-toe in the snow
Nothing could be simpler! Draw your lines in the snow with string and off you go! If you already have a tic-tac-toe game for the sand, you can reuse it. Otherwise, use pebbles that you have painted with “Xs” and “Os”. It’s as simple as that!
5- Use the cooking molds to create castles
Cake tins, cookie sheets, silicone muffin tins; all kinds of baking tins can be useful when playing outside. Create unique castles and organize a competition between your family members.
6- Eating out in winter
Who said picnics were only for the summer season? Get out the camping stove and your favorite camping gear and prepare a feast. Soup, hot chocolate and mulled wine for the adults. If it’s warm enough, prepare some lanterns and candles to spend a few extra hours outside!
7- Make and install a bird feeder
If you’re a bit of a DIYer, a quick search will reveal numerous easy-to-build bird feeders. Add a seed mixture and set it up in the yard. You can also make a homemade seed garland or bell to hang in a tree.
8- Lighting a campfire in the backyard
Do you have a place where you can light a fire in the summer? Use it in the winter too.
Take advantage of the short winter days to light a fire in the dark. You can even roast some marshmallows with the family. To get even more into the mood, put on some music and dance around the fire!
9- Creating decorations from nature
Because it’s pretty and very simple to do, this project is a winter must. Even adults will find themselves wanting to decorate the yard. Collect different natural elements that can be found in the yard: berries, cocotte potatoes, branches, etc. Add water (not too much, because you don’t want the block to be too heavy!) in a cake tin, small muffin tins, a small plate or any other fairly deep container. Place the natural items you collected in the container. Take them outside and wait a few hours. Place your decorations in the trees. The result is very pretty.
All kinds of molds, small plastic plates and others, Dollarama
10- Breathe in the cold
If you still have a mixture of bubbles from last summer, now is the time to try the winter bubbles experience. By using your hands to create the bubbles rather than your warm breath, you can see them freeze as they fly away.
11- Send a unique card to a loved one
Glue, sheets of cardboard and natural items; that’s all you’ll need for this project. Go outside and collect some natural items. Stick them on sheets of craft cardboard to make a pretty card. Write a message and post your card to someone you miss and can’t wait to see again.
12- Watch the snowflakes
Take a camera outside and take photos at different times of the month. After a storm, in freezing cold, in milder weather. Are the snowflakes always the same? Record the temperature in a file and accompany your notes with photos of your snowflakes. You could even observe them with a microscope for even more precise observations.
13- Make a homemade wind chime
Using a simple roll of string, tie different pieces of wood together and hang them near the house. Let the wind do its work to create gentle winter melodies!
14- Assemble a natural mandala
Draw a circle in the snow and fill it in by creating symmetrical patterns. Use rocks, water and food coloring or any other natural elements that you find in your yard. The result is impressive!
15- Build a wooden hut
If you are lucky enough to have a wooded area, it is very likely to be dotted with old dead branches. Use them to build a hut. Close the walls with a tarpaulin or fir branches. The children will love to take refuge there!
With all these activities to try, you won’t even see spring coming! Which one will you try first? Have fun!
