10 Frugal Indoor Snow Day Activities for Kids

Snow days can be a lot of fun! Playing in the snow is always a blast, but when that activity runs out, then what?  When it is storming too much to send the kids out, you need something to keep them warm and busy, so they don’t go crazy!

As a child, I was always excited about snow days, but I sometimes dread them as a parent. As a result, I struggle to keep my kids entertained on that “bonus” day off of school.

These simple and frugal ideas will help keep your kids busy and help them have fun indoors on those long snow days!

Some of these will even help you lower your costs during the snowstorm, saving you money in the long run- you know I am all about that frugal living!

Build some memories and do some of these great snow day activities to entertain your kids on a snow day!

10 Frugal Indoor Snow Day Activities for Kids

Build Blanket Forts

Blanket forts are one of the best frugal snow day activities for kids. Not only does building and playing in a blanket fort help keep your kids busy and out of trouble, but it can also be a fantastic way to help keep your kids warmer without cranking up the heat, helping to save on your heating bill.

You can make it even more fun and frugal by using the blanket fort after some extra securing by an adult to have a living room campout where the kids will stay warmer overnight.

Have a Movie Day

One great way to keep the kids calm and snuggled up under nice warm blankets is to have a movie day. So gather the kids together and kick on your favorite streaming service to get some use out of your membership.

Keeping some popcorn and other great movie snacks hidden away for this is a great way to prepare for snowstorms. To make it even more fun, choose holiday or snow-day-themed movies to add some cheer to a dreary, snowy day.

Dig Out the Arts and Crafts Box

There’s nothing like letting out some creativity to keep kids busy.

So grab your art supplies, coloring books, and extra school supplies and set the kids to lose to get creative and see what they can make. At the same time, they spend some time in a nice warm room rather than running through the house, so you can save money while heating the rooms that are being used and kicking down the primary heat source to the house for a bit.

Make it even more fun by giving your kids old odds and ends that would go into the recycling bin and challenging them to use them in their creativity to find a new use for these items in their art.

Play Dress Up

Kids love to play dress-up. Set out some old clothes, Halloween costumes, and fun jewelry to let the kids have fun playing dress-up for a while.

If you have some old makeup running around, they would love to play with that for a time to help keep them busy. Encourage young kids to play dress-up over their warm footie pajamas to help keep them warm and comfortable while they have fun.

You can make dress-up a learning opportunity by adding fun homemade accessories from history lessons or taking things up a notch to encourage your kids to dress up for careers they want to explore and spend some time promoting some fun and simple pretend play.

Make Your Own Games

Do you have a bunch of old board games running around that are most likely missing pieces? You can pull these old games out and use them to encourage your kids to create their own games using the bits and pieces to put together a fun and exciting game all of their own. Most of us have great memories of this as a child, and the act of building a game is a great way to work on problem-solving skills.

Have a Baking Day

Baking homemade cookies or treats with your kids is a great way to keep them busy, get some quality time with them, and help keep your home warm with the oven going, helping to get the most value for your gas or electric running your oven when you use it on a cold, snowy day. In addition, baking with your kids is an easy way to make great memories with them that they will look back on with a smile. So make baking a snow day tradition that your kids look forward to every winter.

Enjoy Some Sensory Activities

One great way to help keep kids calm while stuck inside on a snowy day is to use sensory activities to keep them busy.

You can make these activities with everyday items you have in your home, like using flour, salt, oil, and a bit of food coloring to make play dough.

This is a fun and satisfying activity for kids, and when they are done, you can bake them in the oven for a few minutes to leave your kids with a lasting reminder of the fun they had that they can proudly display in their room.

Get Active

Gather everyone for a game of floor is lava, or use masking tape to build a hopscotch board down the hallway to burn off some steam. This will help burn off some extra energy; it will also warm them up by getting them moving.

DIY Library

Take out some of your books and line them up in a central location. Have each child (and adult!) grab a book and cuddle up to read. If you want to be really fancy, you can cut some papers into library cards and stamp each paper as they “check out” a book.

Make a Calm Down Jar

These calm-down jars are super fun to make and fun to have. It calls for pretty basic materials, and you can use your imagination to adapt them to whatever materials you have in your home. So mix it up a bit, grab a cute picture of your kids, and stick it inside the jar.

You will have a fun snow day activity and an excellent keepsake of your amazing snow day!