4 Fun Outdoor Activities for the Winter Season with Your Family

If you live in an area where the weather allows you to do a lot of fun outdoor activities – or even if you don’t – enjoy the winter season by taking your family bonding time outdoors and embrace the refreshing weather! Need ideas to get started? Here are some great frosty activities for kids and adults.

Top 4 Outdoor Winter Activity Ideas

1. Hunt for Grandpa’s Beard
   Family time during the winter months generally involves big family gatherings. Your kids’ grandparents should also be included in the picture! If you live in an area where a special kind of hairy lichen (known as "old man’s beard”) grows, have the kids hunt for these “traces of Grandpa’s beard”. Lichen usually grows on old walls, rocks, roofs, trees, gravestones and fences. Just make sure they don’t pluck the samples because some kinds of lichen grow very slowly, so maybe they could take pictures instead. Get magnifying glasses to help them see the lichen better!
2. Outdoor Harvest Play
   Acting can help boost your kids' confidence and creativity. Especially with all the nature props left behind during the fall harvest season, all you will need to make a successful stage production is a large cardboard box, which can be used as a stable, plenty of straw or non-allergenic hay, and some toy animals and items from fall. Challenge them to think of substitutes for more characters and animals they may want to include in their play and have them create it with art supplies, like sticks, clay and cones. As the play progresses, they may even improvise a few scenes and have loads of fun in the process!
3. Snowball Hopscotch
   This fun snow game is meant especially for the amusement of the younger children in your family. On a sunny winter day, have your child use food coloring in vibrant hues like blue, red and yellow to paint a hopscotch court onto the snow, and they can jump around and play on it. This kids’ game is great for getting the kids outdoors. It is a great way to help your kids work off all those heavy meals they had during the holiday season.
4. Watch a Winter Parade
   Most towns and cities in the United States host festive parades where kids come together to have fun and enjoy the season. There are other options for family entertainment as well – concerts, street fairs, cookie and wreath auctions and so on.