We all know that winter in Wisconsin usually involves snow – and lots of it! But what do you do in the winter months when you have small children who don’t really like the idea of getting cold and wet or bundling up like Frosty? Here are some fun indoor winter activities for kids that don’t require heading out into the cold!

Indoor Winter Activities for Kids

Toilet Paper Snowman

Help your family think outside the box. Grab a roll of toilet paper and have a snowman building contest. Work in pairs as one person stands still like a statue and the other warps the toilet paper round and round. Use a scarf and hat to create the final snowman look.

snowman-mummy-game
Image credit: Party on Purpose

Tip: If the kids can’t stand still and the toilet paper breaks, then just move straight to idea #2.

Have A “Snowball Fight”

Give each member of the family their own roll of toilet paper and let the games begin. Each person can tear off small wads of TP and crate snowballs to throw at the other participants. True, this does create a mess; but it will be a great stress relief for everyone in the family.

You can also turn this into a shredded paper snow fight.

If you have papers with sensitive information that you need to discard, then have a shredding party. Shred the papers, then dump all the shredded pieces in a pile. Let the kids have a paper snowball fight. Then work together to clean it all up and throw away the pieces. You will accomplish your goal of cleaning out old papers and give the kids a memory they will never forget.

Indoor Winter Activities for Kids - Paper Snowball Fight
Image credit: Kevin Shorter, Flickr

Tip: If this idea is accepted well, then you might want to break out a bag of cotton balls and add those to the fun. If you have older kids, you could even hand out plastic spoons, pencils, and rubber bands to create a simple catapult for your cotton balls.

Catapult instructions found at Hobbies on a budget.

Pillow “Snowman”

Grab all the pillows from the beds and help the kids stack them on top of each other to create a life-size snowman. Don’t forget the scarf and hat to help decorate. When you’re done, finish off the fun with a pillow fight.

Build A Fort

What kid doesn’t love the indoor activity of building a fort?! My kids absolutely love it, and they could spend hours using their imaginations building a faraway land that they get to explore.

Want some ideas or don’t think you have space?
Check out my Top Ten Fort Building Tools that work for rooms of all sizes!

Bring the Snow Inside

Even though it brings the outdoors in, I’ve seen some parents bring several buckets of snow inside and dump them in the bathtub. These indoor winter activities for kids help get smaller children prepared for heading outside for longer periods of time. The small toddlers can have the experience of playing in the snow without actually being out in the cold air.

After they are finished give them a nice warm bath to clean them up and warm up fingers and toes. 🙂


Do you have some fun Indoor Winter Activities for Kids to enjoy without being out in the cold? Let us know! Head over to our Facebook page and join in on the conversations!