Outside Winter Activities When There Is No Snow

Tissue Snowball Hunt

• Begin by gathering up some rolls of toilet paper or tissue paper. Roll up the paper into several thick wads to represent snowballs. Hide these tissue snowballs around the outside area. When it&'s time to play, divide the players into pairs. Tell them that they have to find the snowballs before they "melt." After you say "Go," the players search for the snowballs. Once a few minutes has passed, tell the players to stop. Count all of the pairs&' snowballs. The pair with the most snowballs wins the game. With the tissue snowballs you can also have a safe snowball fight outdoors between players.

Ice Candle Craft

• Though you may not have snow outside, you can create your own icy atmosphere by making ice candles, as suggested by the Family Education website. Begin by placing a small plastic cup face down onto the bottom of a small bucket. Then, fill the bucket up with water from the hose outside. After you have filled the bucket up completely with water, place it inside the freezer. Once it has turned to ice, maneuver the sculpture out of the bucket by running some water on it and turning it face down. Take the cup out of the bottom of the sculpture and place a small candle in its place. Make as many ice candles as you like and place them around the yard. Add wintry designs to the sides of the candles using small carving knives.

Winter Clothes Relay

• Even if you have no snow in your backyard, you still need to bundle up during the winter season. Prepare for this activity by gathering some winter clothing items you can fit over your regular clothes, such as scarves, coats and beanies. Select two items of each type of clothing, so that you have two pairs of mittens and two sets of ear muffs, for instance. Then, divide the group of players into two teams. Line each team up outside and set up an obstacle course with a starting point and a finish line. Place a pile of clothes in front of each team&'s line. When you say, "Go," the first players in each team quickly put on all of the clothes, then race through the obstacle course. After they make it to the finish line, they take off the winter clothes and hand them to the next players in their teams. The first team to have all its players run the course wins the game.