Winter is not a reason to stay at home with your children. Active outdoor games for children in winter are relevant at any age, including for preschoolers. Physical activity can help develop coordination, endurance, motor skills, and also teach children teamwork and collaboration. Such activities are also an excellent way to enjoy the winter nature.
How to make your child’s leisure time outdoors more enjoyable?
Winter activities for children should be complex and beneficial to preschoolers – in a playful form, the child acquires cognitive and social skills, and fresh air provides his proper physical and emotional well-being. Let’s consider interesting and active winter activities:
- The game “Snow target shooting” is one of many active games that can be played in the snow. Its essence is to create targets from snow, which are shot at using snowballs. This game will be even more interesting for preschoolers if you form teams among them. The competitive nature contributes to the development of leadership qualities, and children’s efforts will help them develop coordination, balance, accuracy, and spatial thinking.
- Building a winter bird feeder is an excellent way to spend time with your preschooler outside, fun, and useful. After all, building materials for such a house can be not only blanks but also branches, stones, and rowan. The process of assembling a bird feeder actively contributes to the development of abstract and logical thinking, creativity, and the study of the surrounding world.
- Building snow sculptures is perhaps the favorite winter game for children outdoors. However, don’t limit yourself to making a snowman. Add some creativity to this classic but long-awaited entertainment. To make sculptures aesthetically pleasing, prepare auxiliary tools for their construction and sharpening. Shovels, snow sculpture molds, toy hammers, and other accessories can serve as props. Coordinate with the child which object you will interpret or give him the opportunity to choose himself. Such an activity will allow the child to develop creative abilities, organizational skills, as well as strengthen muscles during the snow collection process.
- “Snow Lanterns” is a little-known pastime in our region, a variety of building snow sculptures. Making such a lantern after heavy snowfall is very simple. It’s enough to roll some snowballs and lay them in a circle, forming a pyramid, and then place a candle inside. The height of such a lantern can be adjusted independently. As a result, it creates a very colorful spectacle, especially in the evening.
- Ice skating is an excellent seasonal activity where a child can acquire a lot of skills and strengthen their body. Learning to skate develops determination and willpower in preschoolers. Such a skill develops coordination, physical endurance, and self-control.
- Playing with a hula hoop. The hoop will probably become a universal prop in any active game for preschoolers. It can be used as a target for various games, and it will also be interesting for a child to spin it while wearing outerwear. After all, it’s not so easy to spin a hula hoop with it on, and the child, expending energy, definitely won’t get cold!
- The game “Gold Rush” – preschoolers will need containers to collect trophies, which can be represented by nuts wrapped in foil. Such props are scattered over a certain area, after which little treasure hunters begin to hunt for improvised golden stones. This game can also be played in another variation: children’s eyes are covered, and then the search for nuts begins within the boundaries of a small area. “Gold Rush” will become an exciting pastime for preschoolers, arousing their excitement and competitive spirit. In addition to physical activity, the game develops attentiveness and concentration.
- Studying natural phenomena – although it is believed that nature sleeps in winter, preschoolers can still find material for exploration. A good idea for an educational walk would be to take the little one to a forest park area. Here, you can tell the child about winter flora and fauna, show them the different icicles on snowy clearings, discuss weather phenomena, and of course, the forest park area is a wonderful territory for all kinds of games that are relevant for children in winter.
- “Colored snow” is a wonderful opportunity to teach colors to your child through play. For this activity, no supplies are required – just take food coloring of different colors, cups, and water to dilute the coloring. You can also use any molds if you want to give the snow a shape. You can mix the colors and create new shades. You can color the snow on trees, the ground, draw figures using the solutions, and even color icicles. Your child will be amazed by such a spectacular process! It is worth noting that food coloring will not harm the child’s health or the environment, as this product is used in the food industry.
Should parents be concerned that winter walks are dangerous for preschoolers’ health?
Parents often mistakenly believe that outdoor walks in low temperatures cause hypothermia and colds. Spending time in fresh air is an important factor in the proper growth and development of a preschooler. Even a 20-minute walk will benefit a growing body. To ensure children’s safe stay in winter weather, it is sufficient to purchase seasonal clothing, monitor their behavior, and during the winter games organized by you for children outside, it is a good idea to bring a thermos of hot tea.
Parents should balance their concerns with the benefits of educational activities and games for children outdoors in winter, and then develop a routine for walks that the family will follow.
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