During the winter it’s easy to hole up inside like a pack of bears hibernating. However, humans are not bears and there’s a lot of fun to be had outside. This Christmas season, take your family outdoors, get some sunshine and have some good old-fashioned family fun.
If you’re lucky enough to have snow where you live, here are five ways to have outdoor family fun this Christmas.
Snow Football
This is essentially a good game of touch, or tackle, football in the snow. Get everyone dressed warmly from head to toe and head outside. If you have enough folks to get eleven people on a team, that’s great. Otherwise, divide the group evenly. Draw a goal in the snow by digging a trench.
You will also want to mark the half-way point. If you can get one team to wear red snow hats and the other to wear green snow hats, all the better. It’ll be easier to remember who is on your team. If not, no worries. It’s all about fun and playing in the snow. Use the same rules as football and have fun.
Sledding
Sledding is fun for all ages and you don’t need a fancy sled to have fun. Often, the lid of a garbage can or a cardboard box can do the trick. Of course, if you have a large plastic saucer sled then it’s rip-roaring fun. Find the biggest, fastest hill and enjoy.
Build a Family Snowman
This is a great outdoor activity for little kids. They love to make snowmen. The adults and older children can be responsible for pushing the snowball around when it gets too large for the little ones to manage. They can also do the heavy lifting. Young children can be responsible for finding items to adorn the snowman, or snowwoman, with.
Snow Forts
What kid doesn’t like to build a fort? If you live in a snowy area it’s almost a required outdoor activity. If you have big enough snow drifts, you can just dig a “room” into the drift. Otherwise, you can buy snow brick molds, or just form the walls by hand. Build it igloo-style or throw a blanket across the top of your snow walls and you’ve got a fort!
Snowball Fights
Build two forts, or just two separate walls, and divide into two teams. Have each team build up an equal number of snowballs in a pile outside their fort, and have a snowball fight. The team with the most “hits” wins.
Snow Angels
Who doesn’t remember making snow angels as a kid? Get the whole family outdoors and make a whole family of snow angels. Just be sure everyone is dressed warmly from head to toe.
Snowy Obstacle Course
Build ramps, hurdles and other obstacles in the snow and challenge each other to run the course. The fastest time wins. If you don’t live in a snowy area you can enjoy this activity using other items in nature.
No Snow?
You can also simply enjoy a hike together, or walk around the neighborhood and enjoy the Christmas lights, or sing carols to your neighbors. There are a number of outdoor activities to enjoy during the Christmas season. Find one that’s right for your family. Create new family traditions, enjoy spending time together and make it a Christmas to remember.
