The cold weather is a big topic of conversation right now. It seems to be colder than usual no matter where in the country you live. I live in Tennessee where it is normally around 45 degrees F this time of year. A couple weeks ago it was in the single digits.
It has gone back up this week, but there is talk of it going right back down… and staying that way for a few weeks.
I figure, if we have to endure freezing temperatures like that, then we should at least have a little fun with it!
I scoured the good old internet for ideas and I am going to share 10 of them with you so you can have some fun, too!!
You may have already seen the first couple of ideas floating around on your social media channels. If so, have you tried them yet?? These temperatures won’t last! (Thankfully!!!)
For most of these activities (if not all), it MUST be below freezing… And, in some cases, well below freezing, in order for them to work.
Due to that, when my family tried them, they didn’t work. It is pretty cold here compared to our normal temps, but still not below freezing!
If you don’t have temperatures that are below zero, there are still a few activities you can do on this list… some of them you can even bring inside!
1. Frozen bubbles
This one is easy. The colder it is outside, the better this works. All you do is blow a bubble outside and watch what happens! You will be able to see it freeze right before your eyes. And it’s really pretty, because you kind of get to see little snow flakes forming on them! (Again, it does need to be well below freezing for this to work properly.)
2. Make snow
This one will not work for most people, but could be really fun if you own a pressure washer! Please let me know if you do it! I would love to hear about your results!
You just need water and cold temperatures. You want the water to be as cold as possible. Spray the water outside and watch the snow fall! (There are a couple of tutorials online on how to set it up if you are interested.)
I have seen the one online where you use boiling water as well. Although, you have to be in a REALLY cold climate in order for it to work. It must be –30 degrees Fahrenheit. (PLEASE BE CAREFUL IF YOU TRY THIS. PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN BURNED BY NOT USING PROPER PRECAUTIONS. DO NOT THROW IT ABOVE YOUR HEAD!!)
3. Make your own ice spikes
Get some distilled water from the store. You can usually find them by the gallon in a grocery store. Pour the whole gallon into a large plastic container and place it outside.
Maybe place it outside a window so you don’t have to go outside to check on it.
When the water freezes, you will see ice spikes form. If you are able to watch it as it freezes, you may even be able to watch them grow.
4. Make balls of ice
Fill up some water balloons (or regular balloons if you don’t have water balloons). Place them outside. Once the water is frozen, cut and peel off the balloon. You now have a ball of ice!
For a little more creativity, let the kids put water coloring in the balloons!
Now… with your balls of ice, you can play a giant game of marbles!
5. Snow art
This one is for those of you in the areas of the country that actually have snow to go along with your frigid temperatures. Instead of doing art inside, get food coloring and let them do art in the snow!
You can squirt the food coloring straight from the bottle for a thin stream effect. Or you can mix some in some water and put it in a spray bottle and let them spray it onto the snow.
You could also put some water in bowls with food coloring and use paint brushes on the snow. Use this as a color mixing activity and help them learn what colors to mix to make different colors (yellow and blue make green, red and blue make purple, etc.).
If it’s too cold outside, put the snow on cookie sheets and bring their canvas inside!
6. Make an ice spider web
For this one, just take a spray bottle of water and lightly spray a spider web outside. Just make sure there is no spider on it when you spray it or you will kill it.
This will make a beautiful display!
7. Make ribbons of ice
This one looks so neat! I have not tried it, but I may have to get hubby’s help if it ever gets cold enough. (We DO live in the South, so those temps are abnormal for us.)
It is way to much to explain here, so go check out Dr. Jim Carter’s explanation on how to make your own ribbons of ice. He takes you through is trial and error process of figuring out how to recreate ribbons of ice that he found in nature.
Here’s a picture of one of the ice ribbons Dr. Carter made:
8. Make sheets of ice
I got this idea off of Hands On As We Grow. This site is all about activities for kids. I had never heard of it before reading this idea, but it looks great!
She used the activity as a way to teach her kids why we put salt and/or sand down when it is snowy/icy. And then they figured out which one of those things would help the ice melt faster.
This one is especially great for those of you whom don’t live in super cold climates. You can make your sheet of ice in the freezer instead of relying on the weather!
9. Make fire ice
This one is cool… or, ummmm… hot! Pour hand sanitizer into an ice cube tray and freeze it. Once frozen, you can light it on fire! It looks really pretty!
You can use this as an opportunity to teach your kids about flammable substances.
And, again, you don’t have to rely on the weather for this one!
10. Get outside with them!
Okay, this last activity is an easy one. Nothing special. Just go outside and play with your kids! Get down on the ground and make snow angels. Build a snow man together. If you have enough snow, make a snow family! They thrive on time spent with you!
These are all activities that your kids will remember for years to come.
If it’s too warm where you live to do some of these, I highly recommend sitting down in front of the computer with your kids and watching some videos online that display them. The kids will still enjoy watching the bubbles freeze in a video if you can’t make it happen outside.
I hope you enjoyed these ideas and I want to hear all about them if you try any of them!! So come back and comment after you try them.
Don’t let your friends and family miss out, though. Share this post so they can try these ideas too! (There are some handy sharing buttons below you can use.)
Don’t forget to bundle up while you are trying all these activities!
Oh! And… Pin it for later!
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