15 Awesome Kid Activities for Winter Break
Schools out for Christmas break and you now have stressful chaotic wonderful family time on your hands for the next two weeks. If you are like me you need to have some go to activities in your arsenal so the days do not devolve into cries of "I'm bored" or "Can I watch T.V.?"
These awesome activities will keep your kids entertained and occupied while they are home on winter break from school. They might even learn a few science lessons along the way and you will feel like a fun, responsible parent. It's a win-win.
Amazing Winter Break Activities to Keep Young Kids Busy
Get ready to score some very cool mom points!
Candy Cane Slime
My daughter loves making slime. It's simple to mix together, doesn't take a lot of ingredients, and keeps her interested for hours so I love it too! This slime is a wonderful twist and who doesn't love the smell of peppermint during the holidays.
Via Kimspired DIY
Tree Sensory Bin
Little fingers like to be busy and love touching everything. Give them something to keep their hands busy with this Christmas inspired sensory bin. If your kids are like mine, they will have to find each and every item before they quit and you will get a few minutes to check email, call a friend, clean up, whatever.
Painting with Nature
This activity is great because it starts with a walk outside. The fresh air will help your little ones get out some energy and help them be able to focus when you get back home. On your walk collect items that can be used for painting - think pine boughs, pinecones, acorns, rocks. It will be fun to experiment with the different items to see how they work for painting. Then simply use this items as the "paintbrush" to make afternoon masterpieces.
Simple Christmas Tree Art
This craft was originally made for little kids, but I can see older kids being creative with this too. We're in Germany for Christmas this year so we needed to make all of our Christmas decorations as we did not bring our items from the USA. Simple crafts like this are perfect and kept us busy for a couple hours as we worked to make several different kinds.
Via Nurture Store
Easy Gingerbread Houses
How adorable are these gingerbread houses! I love that they are small so you do not need too many candies and that they are made with graham crackers so there is very little prep work to be done. This is great for a family day or you could do a whole kids party and make these gingerbread houses. Side note: we love to use our remaining halloween candy to decorate our gingerbread houses. It's the perfect excuse to use up any last candy.
Via Alice and Lois
Frozen Calm Jar
My daughter loves calm jars. She always has and still does at 5. These are simple to put together and only take a few minutes, but she loves watching the glitter flow to the bottom and shaking it back up again. If your kids are over Frozen, just call it a snow ball sensory bottle.
Via Rhythms of Play
Hot Chocolate Gift Bags
At the holidays we are always going to friends' homes or having people over to play. I love being able to give them a little gift when we see them and this is a great option. These snowman soup gift bags are adorable and yummy. You can make them with packaged hot chocolate or make your own with this simple recipe. I would also suggest using chocolate chips instead of chocolate kisses to keep the prep work to a minimum.
Via Glorious Treats
Cookie Decorating Party
Decorating cookies is another tried and true holiday past time. I remember the yearly party I went to as a little girl so fondly and I would love to pass a memory like that on to my daughter. This decorating party is definitely a step up and I look forward to replicating it in the future.
Via Taryn Whiteaker
Christmas Tree Crayons
Give your old broken crayons a new life with these adorable Christmas tree marbled crayons. This is also a great way to use up the crayons you get from eating out. There always seem to be a few of those laying broken in the bottom of my bag. We have also made these in the shape of hearts as an alternative Valentine's Day gift for school. They were a hit!
Via More Naps
DIY Erupting Play Snow
If you do not live where it snows (or the weather is not cooperating, like for us this year) you can make your own white Christmas with fake snow. This one takes it up a notch and adds in a little science experiment along the way, but it is sure to be a hit with your kids.
Via Paging Fun Moms
DIY Snow Globe
You can make these with almost any small figurines so feel free to make them your own. These super cute ones are made with LEGOs. I could see this being really cute with the LEGO Friends decorating a tree or exchanging presents.
Via Minie Co.
Snowman Joke Teller
My daughter is in the phase where she loves silly jokes. Pair this with a cootie catcher and it's loads of fun as she opens and closes the flaps to find all of the jokes. It even comes with a free printable.
Via Bren Did
Christmas Bingo
Looking for an easy family game or a way to keep a few kids busy? Christmas bingo is a wonderful option. This free printable comes with a few different cards and pieces to cut out. Little ones can take turns drawing or putting pieces on their boards. A fun addition would be to use candy pieces as markers so the winner can eat their 5 in a row.
Via The Kurtz Corner
Macaroni Snowflakes
Move over paper snowflakes! These macaroni snowflakes takes it up a level. Gather your favorite noodle shapes and glue them together. If you want to speed this up and not wait overnight for them to dry, you can use a hot glue gun.
Via Parents Magazine
Printable Reindeer Craft
My daughter has really been into making things for decoration this year. You could even make nine of these and turn them into Santa's Reindeer. You just may want to make eight with black noses and only one with a red nose.
Via Kids Craft Room
Did you find this helpful? If so, be sure to pin it so you can reference next time your kids are looking for something new to do or share it with a friend.
Cheers!
