What do you do when your daycare provider cancels on you because of snow? There are plenty of fun things to do on a snow day with preschoolers and older children, but there are not a lot of activities that appeal to toddlers. Assuming that your toddler is getting antsy at being cooped up inside, taking her outside is still not always a good option. Three snow day activities for children make it easier to stay inside and have fun. In fact, you might even be able to sneak in a bit of education without her noticing!
Make cardboard mittens. Print out DLTK-Holidays’ basic mitten template on cardboard, orange construction paper or heavy card stock. Get out the safety scissors and let the toddler work on cutting out the parts of the mittens. Point out the thumb portion and reinforce the recognition of left and right. Show your toddler how to put together the cuffs, mittens and decorative pieces. Let the child color the pieces with markers, crayons, colored pencils or embellish them with dried noodles, cotton balls, cereal pieces or whatever other dry goods you have on hand that school glue can attach to the paper.
Create a Winter Wonderland. Some snow activities for kids are messy. If you are not averse to having a bit of a mess on your hands — and if you have some baking goods in the cupboard — then this winter wonderland craft is for you. I have done it for Christmas and it is a lot of fun. You need an ice cream cone, lots of cake frosting, candies, cake decorating supplies you have left over from the last holiday and a piece of cardboard. Wrap the cardboard with aluminum foil to prevent any liquids from seeping through. Turn the ice cream cone upside down and fasten it to the aluminum foil-lined cardboard with frosting. Decorate the cardboard and cone with frosting and all the candies. You can make a forest of snow-covered Christmas trees if you have a large number of cones. On the other hand, you could just make one tree and lots of little hills and snow-covered bushes. Cleanup is easier if you do not use food coloring, but where is the fun in that?
Build an oasis. Take a different route for a child who misses the warm days of summer. You need green, orange and brown construction paper, tape and a lot of imagination. Having a few old blankets or towels on hand does not hurt. Cut out palm fronds from the construction paper. Go ahead, draw the basic shape onto the paper and let the child practice cutting with the safety scissors. As activities to do with toddlers go, this one is open-ended and may keep you engrossed all day. After all, who gets to decide when the oasis is done? Make palm trees, spread out blankets and towels as faux sand, wear warm weather clothes — yes, you need to turn up the heat — and do not forget to drink fruity summer drinks. The stuffed animals your toddler undoubtedly owns play the roles of animals coming to the oasis.