The weather outside might not be frightful quite yet, but winter is on its way! When the colder months start to arrive, it can be pretty hard to find a way to pass the time as a family. Check out these family friendly winter activities and a free winter scavenger hunt printable everyone will love. 

Family Friendly Winter Activities and Printable Winter Scavenger Hunt

These family-friendly activities are designed to keep you entertained all winter long, and give you something to do as a family all through the winter months. There are lots of fun ideas to do indoors and also outdoors that the entire family will enjoy.

Make hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies

There are hundreds of Christmas movies out there that the whole family can enjoy! From Rudolph, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, Jack Frost, and the Polar Express, movie nights are perfect for winter months.

Snuggle up under some warm blankets and make a big cup of hot chocolate for every member of the family. Get creative and create a hot chocolate bar and have each family member make their own twist on the typical drink to make it more fun and exciting.

Have a Polar Express Party 

The Polar Express is a favorite Christmas movie and tradition for many families. You can create your very own Polar Express watch party with themed decorations, treats and crafts. 

This Polar Express Printable Party Pack will give you some great ideas for family fun activities to go along with the movie.

Play in the snow

If you are lucky enough to live in a place where it snows, take advantage of that time and play in the snow together! You can build snowmen, go for a walk, or even go sledding if you have hills nearby.

This can be a great way to get outdoors if you are willing to brave the cold and make memories together as a family. While you’re outside, don’t forget to take in a little bit of the snow and make some snow cream!

Build a blanket fort and listen to an audio book

There is something about the winter months that make us want to curl up with a good book. Find an audiobook that the whole family will enjoy and listen to your next book.

To make it more fun, make a blanket fort in the living room with pillows and fleece blankets if you can. This can be a great way to do a little reading in your homeschool classroom as well!

Bake treats together and camp in

When the weather outside is too cold to camp, bring your campsite indoors! Set up tents in your living room or family room, and have a camping experience inside! Turn off all the lights and light your way by lanterns and candlelight.

There are so many great winter treats you can make right at home. These can be great to enjoy during family movie nights, or just for a fun treat around the house. This will become a wonderful winter tradition and create lots of sweet family memories.

Here are some great ideas for treats to make this winter:

• Stovetop popcorn
• Sugar Cookies
• Homemade donuts
• Peppermint Bark
• Fudge
• Hot Chocolate Bar

Make a Winter Bucket List

Create a list with your entire family of simple and fun things to do when you feel the boredom coming on. You can include many of these ideas above on the list. You can break the list up onto small pieces of paper and add them to a jar. 

When the winter blues and boredom hits, grab a piece of paper from the jar with a fun suggestion of something that you can do for fun.

More Family-Friendly Winter Resources for You

Our Winter Family Pack is chock full of activities to keep your whole family busy during the cold winter months. The pack includes: a winter nature notebook, winter bucket list, winter subway art and the winter scavenger hunts.

Go on a scavenger hunt 

Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean you can’t get out and enjoy the fresh air and great outdoors.  Create a scavenger hunt for your kids and teach them all about the winter weather and nature. An outdoor scavenger hunt is one of our favorite winter activities.

Children of all ages enjoy a good scavenger hunt. An outdoor winter scavenger hunt is a fantastic way to spend time together with your family. Put on some warm clothes and go with your children as they look around the backyard, in your neighborhood walking trail, or local park to find the items on their list.

Winter Scavenger Hunt Printables

Create your own winter scavenger hunt for your next family winter walk. Your whole family will have a great time searching for winter items and building observation skills on this outdoor adventure.

There are two different scavenger hunt printables to choose from. A winter scavenger hunt and a selfie winter scavenger hunt!

Search for items on the winter scavenger hunt such as:

• frozen leaf
• evergreen tree
• snow covered roof
• animal tracks in the snow
• and much more!

For the selfie scavenger hunt take a selfie of fun things like:

• your family creating a snow angel
• a selfie with a car covered in snow
• selfie of items you have found like pinecones, red berries on a branch
• selfie with cold weather items like boots, mittens or gloves and a scarf

What to do with scavenger hunt items that you find

There are so many fun things that you can do with items that your children pick up on their walk. Every time we go on a walk or scavenger hunt, the kids are constantly collecting things. Check out these fun ideas:

• create crayon leaf rubbed drawings from found and dried out leaves
• make ornaments with twigs, pine cones and acorns
• Take pinecones and cover them with peanut butter and bird seeds for winter treats for the birds.

Download your own Winter Scavenger Hunts today

Most families spend more time inside during the winter months, which means you need some family-friendly activities everyone will enjoy! Download a FREE Printable Winter Scavenger Hunt to get you started!