Stuck Inside 7: Snow fun on these endless snow days

Need something to do with the kids once they come inside from the cold? Try these snow-related crafts, experiments and activities.

Posted 1:41 p.m. Feb 26, 2015 — Updated 2:48 p.m. Feb 26, 2015

Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

Deep breath. Here we go again!

At this point, I'm just taking all of this in stride. I'm going to enjoy these days off with my kids. They're going to remember them as fun days where they got to hang with friends, play in the snow and stay up late. Seriously, it might just end up being their spring break.

I wrote about a variety of activities last week to keep the kids busy. They included a post about science experiments, crafts and 18 indoor activities provided by Marbles Kids Museum. I also shared some recipes, work outs and other things to do during all of this free time.

And, this week, inspired by a thoughtful post by the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, I shared ways kids can help out other kids who aren't able to have so much fun during all of these days off.

So ... you've done every bit of that and need more options for the kids? How about this?

Learn about snow: So we have a bunch of white stuff on the ground, but do your kids really know how it's made or why it's here? How Stuff Works has a great list of some super simple activities to do outside when it snows, including how to make that candy that Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about in her book. (Anybody else try to do that as a kid?) The National Snow & Ice Data Center also has some great, readable information for older kids about snow, how it forms and more. Update: Prairie Fans has a more detailed recipe for the pioneer candy with exact measurements. I'm totally doing this today.

Eat snow: Not the yellow stuff, of course. But the clean white kind that the kids haven't been running all over. Here's one recipe for snow ice cream. If you have a favorite, please share. Mix together 1 cup of milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 cup of sugar. Go get four or five cups of clean snow and mix it together slowly. Food Network has a recipe with sweetened condensed milk instead. Or you could just make a snow cone with some kind of colored beverage.

Give your snowman a little color: Since we're on the subject of yellow snow, why not make your snow people red or purple or blue. Martha Stewart has instructions for making a rosy-cheeked snowman. But why stop at the cheeks? How about polka dot snow people across your yard?

Make your own snowy scene: Are the kids ready to come inside and get crafty? The Hands On As We Grow blog has 32 snow-related crafts and activities. I'm loving the igloo made of marshmallows. Sadly, we need to reserve the few we have left for hot chocolate.

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