I love to be outside, and I try to get my kids outside as much as possible. I admit, I prefer it when it is not freezing cold outside, but in my experience kids aren’t bothered by the cold at all. Below are some of my favourite outdoor education winter activities to do with kids.

Snow has an almost magical way of transforming any outdoor learning space into a whole new world of possibilities.

If you can, invest in some warm clothing and take learning outside with these winter outdoor learning activities for kids.

I teach kindergarten, so I try to make the activities educational, but any new hands-on experience is great for kids! I tried all of these winter outdoor educational activities with four classes of young children.

So they have been tested and are kid approved by over 100 children.

I used the following winter activities for school and set up the centres in our outdoor space. However, they can easily be done at home for kids to explore and play.

Winter Outdoor Learning Activities – Snow Kitchen

My students love playing in a mud kitchen during the summer, so why not have a snow kitchen? Provide children with a variety of kitchen materials, such as bowls, rolling pins, muffin tins and even wooden spoons.

These may seem like really simple materials, and they are, but you will be amazed what children will come up with and create given these supplies.

I don’t give any direction or ideas for what I want kids to use the materials for. This encourages them to use their imagination and work and play with their peers as they come up with ideas.

Plus, kids always come up with ideas that I could never even imagine!

This ended up being one of the favourite centers. There was always a large group here and they played and baked for a long time.

Some children added a bit of sand to their snow to create cookie ice cream. Then then served it to all of their guests. I love that provided with materials a child’s imagination can create things that I never imagined.

I was careful to remind everyone to not taste or eat their kitchen creations, but everyone had fun pretending.

Outdoor Education Winter Painting

Another activity typically left for the warmer months, is painting. It is definitely easier to set up and paint in the winter, and it is less messy, however, this was the most popular center!

I used an old muffin tins to put the paints in and I added a bit of water to the paints to help make them drip and ‘paint’ the snow better.

This center can get messy! It was a center that required supervision so that snowsuits didn’t get covered in paint, but I have an amazing group and we didn’t end up with any art work on clothing. Just something to keep in mind if you use this center idea.

This is also a center that would work really well at home. The center was so popular that we spent a lot of time refilling the paints for all of the children who were excited to paint in the snow.

I also filled some squirt bottles with a bit of paint, and water. These were very popular!

Another thing that I loved about this center is that when all of the groups were done creating our outdoor education area looked amazing!

The snow was a rainbow of colors and kids loved seeing what they had painted.

Winter Outdoor Education Activities – Snow Forts

I always try to have a building activity because I have a few students who always gravitate towards these centers and will stay here for the whole period. Plus I always love to see what they come up with!

I put out wooden sticks, fabric sheets and large plastic clothes pins. These fabrics are amazing for outdoor education and I use them year round.

Children built a tent/home using the fence and our plexiglass paint easel. The kids who choose this centre quickly discovered, and loved, the fact that they were able to use the snow to stabilize their forts and sticks in the ground.

Outdoor Education Activities with Ice

This centre took a bit more prep than the others, but children were really curious about it.

I froze a bunch of ice cubes with a few drops of food coloring. Once they were frozen, I used them for this center. I put them all in a hula hoop and children built with them using the snow to stick them together.

Winter Outdoor Learning Activities – Water Balloons

I filled several balloons with water and food coloring. Once they froze, I removed the balloons on a few. On others, I left the balloon covering for kids to explore.

I set the balloons out on trays and warm water and eye droppers in a bowl beside the trays. Children squirted the water over the balloons.

For us, it was such a cold day that children were fascinated by the fact that their water was freezing onto the ball of ice.

If I were to do this center again, I would have frozen little items, such as pompoms in the water in the balloon. I also would have provided salt for kids to put onto the ice to see what happens.

Winter Outdoor Education Club House

We are lucky to have a great outdoor space at my school. We have a small stage that children love to play in. Today, using fabric sheets and large clothes pins we transformed our stage into a house.

Everyone was really excited to go inside their structure and work together to seal up the sides. This was a fun way for children to create an “indoor” space. They loved being inside our winter fort.

Winter Outdoor Learning Activities – Zoo

Whenever I do outdoor centers for kindergarten I always try to include a spot that has a variety of animal figures. There are always a few children who are drawn to these animals.

Although these animals are commonly brought out in class, playing with them in the snow adds a whole new sensory experience.

Kids loved building sections for each animal and walking them through the snow.

I later added a few toy cars that were also very popular to play with in the snow!

Outdoor Activities in Winter – Snow Cookies

Our last center involved small trays filled with snow that we packed down. I then set a big bin of cookie cutters.

Children used the cookie cutters to create prints and outlines in the snow. It was a new way to create pictures and art. The trays of snow provided their canvas and they used their imagination to create awesome pictures.

This was a good sensory activity for kids to feel and compare what it felt like to create a print in snow versus playdough or food.

There is so much you can do outside in winter. I hope that the centers I used have sparked some ideas for you to bring back to do with children. As long as children, and you, are dressed warmly the possibilities are endless!

Animals that Hibernate Outdoor Education

Go on an adventure, or scavenger hunt as you learn about animals in winter. Learn a little bit about how animals adapt and are able to survive the cold winters, outdoors. A free printable check list and information sheet is available for download.

To add to the experience, you can hide a small toy animal for children to search for and find. Once found children will take note of what they see, such as many of the animal together, such as ladybugs as an indication of how they survive the winter. For a full activity description, check Animals that Hibernate.

More Outdoor Education Activities

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Free Printable Winter Learning Activity

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More Outdoor Learning Activities and Hands-On Activities

I love sharing ideas that I have successfully used with children that I get to spend my days with at school and my own children at home. Below are some of our favourites!