Winter is more than officially here! Here are some great ideas for burning off some of that pent-up toddler energy! Bundle them up in their favorite winter clothes, get outside, and have some fun in the fluffy stuff! ...Also great exercise for us moms too! ;)

Head to the Playground

Don't let the snow and low temps keep you from heading to your child's favorite summertime playground. They will be amazed at how different it looks covered in snow and icicles. Challenge them to a game of hide-and-seek with all of the new found hiding spots!

Snow Angels

There's something about falling backwards into fresh soft snow to make a snow angel that brings out the kid in all of us. Don't forget to try this classic with your own kids!

Make Frozen Bubbles

You can use regular bubble solution or make a bubble solution with 1/2 cup soap powder, 1/2 cup sugar, and 3 cups of hot water. You can use an actual bubble wand or bend a new one out of a metal coat hanger. (The actual wand is much easier for catching them to watch the freezing action up-close) Bundle up and head outside! Blow a bubble and catch it on the wand. As long as it is below freezing and not too windy you'll have frozen bubbles in no time! Your kids will be amazed by the delicate crystal (touchable!) bubbles.

Follow the Leader

Create a path in the snow and challenge your kids to only step where you have stepped leaving the snow around your path untouched. Mix it up with big steps, small steps, one foot at a time or both! Have fun with it!

Winter Wildlife

Learn about the animals you share a yard with! The day after a fresh snow is a great time to explore what woodland critters live nearby. Have your kids find all the animal tracks they can and see if they can guess who made them, where they were going and what they could be eating this time of year! They can also leave out food for the animals like birdseed or even carrots for deer!

More than a Classic Snowman

Encourage your kids to make whatever they can imagine with snow! Help them create animals or whatever they can come up with! Animate and decorate their creations with sticks, leaves, pinecones and anything else you can find! If you don't have much around to decorate with you can always splash on some diluted food coloring.

Snowball Competition

Pick a target in the yard and see who can hit the target the most and from the furthest away! Throw backwards, forwards, left-handed, right-handed and any way you can think of!

Traditional Summer Games

Games like "Duck Duck Goose", "Red Rover", and "Mother May I" can take on a pretty hilarious new twist in the winter as it is so much harder to run around and move quickly in the snow with all of the bulky clothing! You also don't have to worry as much about someone falling and getting hurt with all of that fluffy stuff blanketing the ground.

Skiing

This one might already be on your own list, but I bet you didn't know that many resorts will let you use the bunny slope with your little for free!

Snow Forts

Always a great way get outside and get active in the winter. Bundle up and see what you can build! Outside of the traditional "fort" you can create pathways and mazes. Also encourage your kids to decorate their creation with anything they can find in the yard or with watered down food coloring.

Sledding

This last one is pretty obvious, but if you don't have a hill in your yard and cant get to one closet by, pack snow onto the stairs of your porch and make as mini sledding ramp!

Click here for original post on Outside Activities for Toddlers