The Best Winter Bucket List Ideas For Families

Are you looking to make the most of the winter season with your family? A great way to get everyone involved and having fun when the weather gets colder is to make a family winter bucket list!

This post contains affiliate links, meaning that I’ll earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See my disclosure page to learn more.

The arrival of winter may have you wondering what you’ll do over the next few months to keep your kids busy! However, now is a great time to start thinking about some fun family activities to fill the long, cold winter months.

These 107 fun, inexpensive ideas for a family winter bucket list will give you plenty of options for entertainment this season! So whether you prefer indoor or outdoor activities, these ideas can help you stay busy while keeping costs down, and having fun at the same time!

Winter bucket list activities for families:

1. Enjoy a campfire (and roasting marshmallows!)

2. Have a pajama day

3. Go to the movie theater

4. Make hot cocoa (or set up a hot cocoa bar!)

5. Go sledding or snow tubing

6. Find a local winter festival

7. Watch a play

8. Build a snowman or snow fort (these brick molds will be helpful when making your snow fort!)

9. Celebrate a fun holiday (Like puzzle day, pizza day, or hat day! I wrote about the many fun holidays you can celebrate all year long in this post if you want to learn more!)

Sign up below and get this FREE helpful printable list of fun holidays to celebrate! Plus you’ll get access to my entire free resource library!

10. Make smore’s or set up a make your own smore’s station (you can do this outdoors or even inside with this neat indoor electric smore’s maker!)

11. Go ice skating

12. Look at Christmas lights

13. Have a tea party

14. Go bowling

15. Try a new recipe

16. Go outside and look for animal tracks

17. Build a blanket fort

18. Have a movie night at home (complete with popcorn and snacks!)

Get these FREE blank movie tickets to use at your next family movie night when you sign up below!

19. Read a new book or series

20. Go for a full moon walk, hike, or snowshoe (Owl Moon is a great children’s book to read before heading out for your walk!)

21. Watch a Christmas movie

22. Make cookies

23. Do a winter themed family photoshoot

24. Play games (board games, card games, dice games – they’re all fun!)

25. Go on a winter scavenger hunt (here are some cute free printable scavenger hunts)

26. Make your own ornaments

27. Set family goals for the new year

28. Look through old family photos or videos

29. Mail someone a letter or card

30. Make your own birdfeeders

31. Have an indoor nerf war

32. Decorate a gingerbread house

33. Visit an indoor park/play area

34. Try out a new restaurant

35. Make paper snowflakes

36. Camp out in the living room

37. Go to a local craft fair or farmers market

38. Make fun winter themed slime (like melting snowman slime or fluffy snow slime!)

39. Attend a tree lighting ceremony

40. Make a Christmas countdown or advent calendar

41. Cook a meal together

42. Make a time capsule (to learn more about how to make a time capsule, read this blog post)

Sign up below to get these FREE time capsule printables!

43. Watch a holiday parade

44. Donate items to a local charity

45. Have an indoor picnic

46. Fill a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child (learn more about this great outreach here)

47. Bake something together

48. Volunteer

49. Sing Christmas carols

50. Have breakfast for dinner (we love to do this at our house – we call it brinner!)

51. Host a fun holiday party

52. Blow bubbles outside and watch them freeze

53. Make snow ice cream (There are several ways to make it, but this is the way we prefer)

54. Put together a puzzle

55. Do something nice for your neighbor

56. Send a care package to a soldier (learn more here)

57. Listen to Christmas music (you can even turn this into a dance party!)

58. Have an outdoor snowball fight

59. Make maple snow candy (here’s a simple way to make maple snow candy – just like they did in Little House on the Prairie!)

60. Attend a Christmas concert

61. Put on a puppet show

62. Make confetti party poppers (easy to make and fun to use – learn how here!)

63. Wrap gifts together

64. Paint ice (go outside and paint the ice, or use ice cubes and paint them inside using watercolors)

65. Play a game of winter charades

66. Make New Year’s Eve party hats

67. Take a winter nature walk

68. Have a karaoke night

69. Make snow angels

70. Have an indoor snowball fight (use crumbled up paper, balled up socks, or store bought indoor snowballs)

71. Paint the snow (bring snow inside and paint it with watercolors, or fill spray bottles with colored water and spray the snow outside!)

72. Do a random act of kindness for someone

73. Go snowshoeing (or try another winter sport!)

74. Bake something for your local hospital, police station, or fire and rescue department

75. Learn how to make shadow puppets

76. Build an igloo

77. Play winter Pictionary

78. Have your own family cooking competition

79. Put on a talent show

80. Build with Legos (try to make a winter themed object or scene!)

81. Learn something new

82. Play hide and seek

83. Make a paper chain

84. Make handmade Valentine’s Day cards for friends and family

85. Host a cookie exchange party

86. Make your own invention (and record future ideas in a fun invention journal!)

87. Paint a winter themed picture

88. Visit a museum or planetarium

89. Watch a Polar Plunge (or participate if you’re feeling really brave!)

90. Have a make your own taco night

91. Go to an indoor swimming pool

92. Have a Super Bowl party

93. Leave sweet notes for each other (This is the perfect idea for Valentine’s Day or whenever you want to show love to your child or family!)

Get these FREE “I love you because…” hearts (perfect for Valentine’s Day) when you sign up below!

94. Set up a pasta bar for dinner

95. Read fun winter books together

96. Host your own winter Olympics

97. Go stargazing

98. Catch snowflakes (on your tongue or on paper!)

99. Make a snow volcano (learn how to make a snow volcano)

100. Visit the library

101. Start your own scrapbook

102. Make a homemade gift

103. Have a make your own pizza night

104. Make smoothies

105. Do a winter craft

106. Make yummy snow cones

107. Start a gratitude journal or jar (to record all of the things you’re thankful for!)

Having a family winter bucket list is a great way to stay connected and have fun with your loved ones during the cold winter months. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune to do something special. There are lots of inexpensive ideas that can help your family make lasting memories. From building a snow fort in the backyard to playing board games together, there are countless activities that can help keep the winter blues away!

What does your family like to do in the winter? What is on your winter bucket list this year?