The holiday seasons are rather magical on their own, but there's a whole lot of winter to deal with before and after the family get-togethers, the presents, and the long-standing traditions. Luckily, adding in some whimsy and fun in the days leading up to and following the holidays easily makes winter the best season ever.
Spray paint snow
The world is your canvas when there's snow outside. Fill up spray bottles with colored water and set to"spray" painting. Squeeze bottles also work great and will melt down the snow a little bit for a sculptural element if you want to get real fancy. The best part about this craft? Your yard will be wildly colorful and there's no mess to clean up inside. Win-win.
Make it snow, make it snow, make it snow
For snow you can play with inside, whip up your own batch of the cold fluffy white stuff. Just a couple of ingredients is all you need to stir together before popping the mixture inside your freezer to make it cold. Make bath time even more fun by allowing your kids to have a snowball fight in the tub. No wet mittens and snow boots to deal with make this an easy choice.
When the weather inside is frightful"
If it's much too cold and blustery to play outside, recreate the weather in your own tiny little snow globe. Find a few plastic reindeer and an empty jar or two and get to crafting. Larger mason jars work well, but for little hands, empty baby food jars work perfectly.
Frozen feeders
There might be some little birds and squirrels in your neighborhood that would love a wintry feast. Hollowed out orange halves make a perfectly "all natural" vessel for various seeds and nuts (and makes the feeder look rather pretty too). Spend a snowy afternoon making the feeders then keep watch to see how quickly they disappear.
Blow some bubbles
If its cold enough outside, blowing bubbles become instant ice orbs. This videoshows you how and will want you wishing it was colder outside in your neck of the woods.
Pin the carrot"¦
Making a snowman is fun, but decorating the snowman while blindfolded is definitely way more fun. If you've got a lot of snow, make a few snowmen and see who can decorate theirs the best while totally blindfolded. Chocolate and creme cookies make perfect buttons and don't forget the carrot nose (of course).
Make some marbles
This youtube videoshows you exactly how to make gorgeous glass-like ice orbs to decorate your yard with. Adding marbles to your winter wonderland is a surefire way to add some magic to your afternoon.
Wintery windows
This easy paint recipeis awfully fun to play with on its own, but makes the perfect mixture to make your own window stickers with. Fill cookie cutters with the paint, and let it dry before decorating any (and every) window for a beautiful winter scene.
Icy ornaments
You've decorated the inside for the holidays, but how about outdoors? Suspend some cranberries, holly, cinnamon or any other goodies inside containers filled with water. Make sure to submerge some string in the water so you can hang these beauties from the trees outside your windows once frozen. Oh, and be warned: watching them melt in the sunshine is just as fun as making them.
Snowball fight!
No need to get bundled up to have this type of snowball fight. It takesa little effort to make each snowball, but once you make a batch, you have them to use over and over again. Your kids will love to be ambushed right before breakfast with an impromptu and indoor snowball fight!
Footprint friends
Take a walk outside in the snow and see if you can find any animal foot prints in the wintry wonderland. Then, come home to hot chocolate and your own footprint craft. Paint a penguin or a reindeer for the cutest Christmas card around.
Test out a few of these ideas and make your own winter wonderland a little more special than the holidays (but only just a little)
