When I was a kid having a school snow day was like an unexpected gift-suddenly, for no reason you get a WHOLE DAY, right smack in the middle of the week. No school!! The thrill! The joy!
Every time there was so much as a flake in the sky we’d scramble for the radio and listen anxiously hoping against hope that in the regular mix of morning show banter and songs we’d get that magical list of schools that were closed. And oh the anxiety if we caught the list half way through. . . we’d have to wait another 10 minutes until they ran through it again!
As an adult with 2 primary school aged children to entertain I have to admit that snow days don’t fill me with quite the same joy they once did. I work on letting go of my anxiety about all the things I’m “supposed” to be getting done and use it as a special day to connect with my kids. With a little thought and inspiration you can use snow days to build special memories with your kids-even teens!
To get you started on your own snow day fun, here are 40 fun things to do on a school snow day.
Inside fun:
1. Stay in your PJ’s all day
2. Make homemade play dough
3. Make homemade finger paints
4. Build a fort of old boxes & sofa cushions
5. Build a tent with a sheet.
Photo by Chez LouLou
6. Watch old musicals like Singing In the Rain.
7. Have an indoor picnic.
8. Make Bread-for extra fun let the kids “sculpt” with the dough-their creations can be baked & eaten
9. Bake Cookies-I like these shaped gingerbread cookies because they don’t have to chill, but drop or bar cookies are fun too.
10. Make snow “icecream”
Photo by Ginnerobot
11. Make maple syrup “candy” with snow (ala Little House on the Prairie!)
12. Have a taffy pull
13. Make maple syrup/honey snow cones!
14. Make chocolate covered pretzels (or chocolate covered whatever you have in the pantry-it all tastes good w/chocolate!)
15. Bring a baby pool inside with snow to play and make snow castles.
Photo by Gozalewis
16. Curl up on the couch with a hot cup of tea (or hot chocolate) and read a good book. Or two. Or three
17. Make homemade soft pretzels, like from the mall.
18. Write letters to anyone from Grandma to your congressman.
19. Play board games. Maybe have a tournament.
20. Play card games.
Photo by Superwife 2009
21. Do “Snow Art”-use small snowballs as paintbrushes with watercolors. Note-a trash bag under the paper saves you a lot on cleanup!
22. Play video or computer games.
23. Make a torn paper mosaic
24. Feed you birdy friends by stringing popcorn to hang on a tree or making a pine cone birdfeeder.
One of the Canon Printable Models. Photo by M-oo
25. Make paper mache bowls. (note-this tutorial uses a pumpkin instead of a balloon. You can use the same cling wrap technique on another bowl instead)
26. Color on some free printable coloring pages.
27. Let the kids choose the dinner menu and have them help you cook.
28. Have a pretend fashion shoot.
29. Make some toys and models with free printable paper crafts from Canon. (note: trust me, there are things for teens on here-the copy of the Russian church with onion domes is gorgeous & complex)
30. Make paper beads.
31. Make melted crayon art.
Photo by Mahalie
32. Make new crayons from some old ones.
Outside fun:
33. Have a snowball fight!!!
34. Make a snowman.
35. Make snow angels.
36 Go snowshoeing or cross country skiing.
37. Build a snow fort.
38. Go sledding. No sled, no worries! Go cardboard sledding.
39. Play some snow games.
So, what are some of YOUR favorite ideas for fun things to do on a school snow day?
Thanks to the following twitter friends for all their great input: Merlene, ShesSoThere, MommyBrain, kwbridge, DesignerG, Mandison918,smtwngrl, MyschaTheriault, ctreit, olsenspeech, getsweetie, PaddyShaughn,JustDoingMyBest
Photos are used under the following creative commons copyrights:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lin/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamholmes/ / CC BY 2.0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chez_loulou/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginnerobot/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gozalewis/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34691831@N02/ / CC BY-ND 2.0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/m-oo/ / CC BY-ND 2.0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mahalie/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
Great list! Thanks for sharing (and including me!)
What awesome ideas!!! You’re the best!
We made pretezles today!! It was great. This recipe will go in the recipe book. Thanks for a fun idea.
shannon
Hi Jenn — Thanks for dropping by Mama Joules. In the US, this is definitely a good time to have these tips for snowy days! I can’t believe how much snow we’ve received this season.
i love snow days!
If you are looking for another great thing to do when the weather outside is frightful, if you have a ping pong table or foosball table, play a tournament. Don’t have any of those items? Play it on the wii or on the computer, some tvs even have a gaming channel on them.
I love the fact that these ideas are all on one site. Thank you for taking the time to share them!
OH, another good idea, my friend Lindsay did ORIGAMI with her child today. . . folding paper. . . it’s a great idea!
Vicki-Glad you found the links useful! Origami is another fantastic idea. There are tons of fun, frugal ways to keep yourself & the kids entertained, if we just go out & look for them.
good ideas i tryed lots of them!
Well… It doesn’t snow in California, but the activities you listed are great ideas to do when we visit the snow in the mountains or on vacation. And I remember making my homemade play dough back in the days when I was a preschool teacher. What great memories. Thanks for ideas.
THERE ARE ONLY 39 THINGS TO DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT 40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOW COULD YOU
Huh, not sure. . . did I accidentally delete one, or was I counting stringing popcorn and making a pinecone birdfeeder as two different activities in #24?
Oh well-sorry to crush your hopes
but still the 39 things are GREAT!! THANX! and add ublec
THIS IS WHACK…… JK ITS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you are snowed in it can alsso be fun to drink a lot of beer. Have a beer drinking contest!
WOW… NO COMMENT…….. HAHA
wow! this is so colopoooolio!! yeah we had a delay in MARCH!!! makes me kinda mad! bu these ideas are awesome i wanna make pretzels bu the delaays onNly 2 hrs. im a really slowwwwww! (and im a pretty bad baker) yeah yesterday i melted a plate in my micro!!!!!!! luv the ideasssss! there AMZING!!!!!
thank you soooooooooo much!11!!!! <3 
thanx again!
hehehehe im not crazy lol!!!!
I JUST LOOOVE TYPINGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!~ 
OKAYYY ILL GOOO………… AHAHAHAHAH
wow great ideas thanks i luv these
fun fun fun hahahahahahahahaha
:p 
this was a great website!!!!
Fort! Off to get blankets! Yippeee!
Thnx so much really saved the day! My kids are 12 and 9 but these activities are good fr both of them!
thnx. Loved the snowfort idea they loved it
Toby & Katie-glad to have given you both ideas to have a fun snow day with the kids! Enjoy your various forts
This is only 39 things! Can you count?
P.S. These are stupid.
Everyone makes mistakes. And luckily if you don’t like my work you can simply no longer visit here.
Dont yuck someone’s yum. If others like It then don’t start hating
i really loved this website!!!!!! im a teen and all of these ideas sound fun:) and i love when my school would be closed b/c of the snow… but anyways thanks for the ideas im sure going to use them!!!
So glad you enjoyed the ideas
You’re so lucky that you get all that snow! I hardly see any here in Washington, DC! Forecasters are saying we’ll get two good snow storms this year, and I’m really looking forward to #35. Making snow angels!!
Have you tried to make snow cones with snow? Or does it not work so well?
I’ve made the snow ice cream–but I’ve never tried sno cones
Hope you get that snow you are hoping for this year. . . it comes and goes for us.
These are great!!! My little sisster is 8 and she loved having a fashion show:D
So glad you two had fun Sommer!
Another fun idea is…. SNOW BUBBLES! If your area is under 32 degrees, blow bubbles and they should freeze! Follow me on pinterest!
where is #40
I’m not sure!
Hey there! I’ve been following your website for a while now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Porter Tx! Just wanted to say keep up the excellent work!
Great! Glad you are enjoying Frugal Upstate!
Thanks for the ideas… cant wait to try them,
ps. google ” How to make brownies stuffed with oreos and cookie dough!!!!”
my younger sis’s love them!!!
Wow the brownies you suggested were delish!!!!!
thanks for the idea!!!!
Thanks for the ideas…
ps. brownies stuffed with oreos and cookie dough is also a very big hit!!!!
mastermind,
Hazel B.
we always drink hot coco on our porch while its snowing….its great!