22 Winter Activities for Kids With Free Printables for the Months Indoors

These winter activities for kids cover the two longest months of the year, when the daylight runs out by four and the walls start closing in.

You get 14 printable sheets, each described so you know exactly what to print and for whom, plus 8 ideas that need nothing but what is already in the house.

Toddlers and early primary children are the sweet spot, though several sheets stretch to age seven or eight without feeling babyish.

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

1. Colour by Number Snowflake

Each child gets her own sheet showing a large symmetrical snowflake divided into numbered sections. The numbers correspond to a small colour key printed at the top: 1 is blue, 2 is purple, 3 is white, and so on.

The finished snowflakes look genuinely different from one another even though every child starts with the same sheet, because crayon pressure and colour mixing vary so much at this age.

Print one sheet per child on plain copy paper. Crayons, coloured pencils, or felt-tips all work. Ages three and up can manage it independently; a two-year-old will need a parent to point to each number. Budget fifteen to twenty minutes, though some children will stay for longer.

The most common problem is a child who ignores the key entirely and colours however she likes. That is absolutely fine for a home afternoon. If you want to use it as a group activity and keep everyone on track, colour one section together as a class before releasing them to finish solo.

2. The Sensory Bin of Rice and Small Toys

Fill a large plastic storage bin, a roasting tin, or even a deep salad bowl with uncooked white rice and bury eight to twelve small objects: a toy animal, a wooden button, a plastic gem, a small car, a coin. The child’s job is to find everything using only her hands, no looking inside.

No printing needed. Setup takes three minutes. For toddlers, use large objects they cannot swallow. For four- and five-year-olds, give them a written or picture list of what to find and ask them to tick each item off as they go.

Coloured rice adds visual drama: seal a cup of rice in a zip bag with a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of food colouring, shake it, spread on a tray to dry overnight.

Rice escapes. Lay a cheap shower curtain or a large piece of fabric under the bin before you start, so cleanup is one shake rather than a sweep of the whole kitchen. If a child tips the bin deliberately, reduce the fill level next time so there is less to spill.

3. Cut and Glue the Snowman

The sheet prints a snowman template at the top and a set of pre-drawn cut-out pieces at the bottom: a carrot nose, two eyes, buttons, a scarf strip, a hat, and two stick arms.

The child cuts along the dotted lines and glues each piece onto the snowman body in roughly the right position. No artistic pressure, just assembly, which is exactly the right level of satisfaction for a three- to five-year-old.

Print one per child on plain copy paper. Supply child-safe scissors and a glue stick. The session runs about fifteen minutes of cutting and five minutes of gluing. Younger children who cannot yet cut well can tear the pieces out roughly, and the snowman still looks charming.

Glue sticks dry faster than PVA, so the finished sheet can be held up immediately without pieces sliding. If a child glues her hat where the nose should be, it is still a snowman. Do not correct it.

4. Painting With Cotton Buds

Set out a sheet of white card, three or four small blobs of washable paint in a muffin tin or on a plate, and a fistful of cotton buds.

The child dips a cotton bud into one colour and dabs it onto the paper to make dots. Snowflake shapes, snowfall scenes, and simple winter trees all work well at this scale.

No printing needed. This runs entirely with craft supplies most households already own. Allow twenty to thirty minutes: the repetitive motion of dipping and dotting is genuinely calming, and many children will keep going much longer than you expect. Tape the card to the table with a small piece of masking tape so it does not slide.

Use one bud per colour to keep the paint clean, or accept that colours will mix and the palette will go muddy. If you want crisp results, set out a fresh bud for each colour from the start and make that the rule. Washable paint is non-negotiable if clothes are involved.

5. Count the Mittens

The sheet shows several groups of mittens scattered across a snowy scene, each group inside a loose cloud border. The child counts how many mittens are in each group and writes the number in a box below it.

There are eight groups in total, ranging from two mittens to twelve, so the sheet works for children who are just learning to count as well as those who are ready for simple addition.

Print one per child. A pencil is all they need. The sheet takes five to ten minutes for a confident counter and longer for a child who is still pointing at each mitten individually, which is exactly right. An answer key sits at the foot of the sheet.

If the child finishes fast, ask her to circle all the groups that add up to more than six. That turns a simple counting exercise into an early comparison task without needing a second sheet.

6. Building a Fort From Cushions

Pull every cushion, pillow, blanket, and sofa throw into the middle of the living room floor and hand the child a simple mission: build a fort big enough to sit inside.

The engineering problem is real: a roof that stays up requires weight at the edges or something to drape over, and children work this out remarkably quickly through trial and error.

No printing needed, no materials to buy. One child can build solo; two or three children will negotiate, argue, rebuild, and produce something more ambitious than any one of them would alone. The activity runs as long as the fort stands, which is usually forty minutes to two hours depending on age and temperament.

The fort will collapse at least once. That is not failure; it is the most educational part. Resist the urge to rebuild it for them. If sheets keep sliding off cushions, one heavy book placed on each corner solves the problem instantly without adult involvement.

7. Trace the Icicle Lines

The sheet shows a row of icicles hanging from a rooftop along the top of the page, each one with a dotted vertical line running down from its tip toward a small puddle at the bottom.

The child traces each dotted line from the icicle tip to the puddle, practising the downward pencil stroke that underpins letters like l, i, and t.

Print one per child. A pencil works best; felt-tips bleed through thin copy paper and make the lines harder to see. The sheet suits ages two and a half to four especially well. It takes about five minutes for most children that age, so print two or three copies if you need it to last longer.

Children who press too hard and go off the line should simply start the stroke again from the top of the icicle. Position the pencil grip correctly before the child starts: this is one of those activities where posture and grip matter more than the finished result.

8. Baking on a Wet Afternoon

Give a child a job in the kitchen and an afternoon stretches in the best possible way. Simple biscuit dough, a rolling pin, and a star or snowflake cutter are enough. The child rolls, cuts, places on the tray, and owns the result completely.

Older children (six and up) can measure ingredients from a simple recipe card you write out by hand.

No printing needed. The activity covers easily forty-five minutes of active participation plus the oven time, which can be a reading or puzzle session. Have a damp cloth within reach, not paper towels, for floury hands. If you are short on time, buy ready-made shortbread dough and start from the rolling step.

The most common problem is a child who wants to eat the raw dough. Egg-free recipes sidestep this entirely: a basic butter, flour, and icing sugar shortbread has no egg and tastes good raw in small quantities, so the stakes are low. Decorate with coloured sugar after baking for a second activity built in.

9. Follow the Line, Mitten to Pair

Six mittens on the left side of the page each connect to a matching mitten on the right via a tangled curved line that crosses over and under other lines.

The child traces her finger or pencil along each line from left to right to find out which mittens belong together. The lines cross in the middle zone, so the answer is not obvious at a glance.

Print one per child. A pencil or thin crayon works best. This suits ages four to seven: younger children trace with a finger first, older ones go straight to pencil. Allow five to ten minutes. An answer key listing each matching pair appears at the foot of the sheet.

If a child uses colour, give her a different crayon for each line: she traces line one in red, line two in blue, and so on, then checks the answers at the bottom by colour. This makes the sheet last longer and gives her something more to do at the end.

10. Sock Snowball Fights Indoors

Roll ten to twenty pairs of socks into tight balls and divide them equally into two laundry baskets or piles on opposite sides of the room. Draw a masking-tape line down the middle of the floor.

Each player throws sock balls to the other side as fast as possible. When time is called, the player with the fewest sock balls on her side wins.

No printing needed. You need only socks you already own and two minutes of tape on the floor. Set a one-minute timer per round: short rounds keep energy high and arguments minimal. This works for two players or two small teams, indoors on carpet or hard floor.

The game gets loud fast. Set the volume rule before you start: voices inside, not stadium. If children keep crossing the centre line, put two tape lines six inches apart to create a no-man’s land. That small buffer stops most of the border disputes.

11. I Spy and Count in the Snow Scene

The sheet shows a detailed illustrated snow scene: a snowman, a sledge, a pair of mittens hanging on a fence, birds on branches, footprints in the snow, a robin, and other small items.

Below the illustration, a list tells the child to find and count specific objects: how many birds, how many snowballs, how many icicles. She writes each answer in the box beside the question.

Print one per child, though a single copy propped up on the table also works for a small group taking turns. A pencil is all that is needed. The sheet suits ages three to six and runs ten to fifteen minutes depending on how carefully the child searches.

Make the scene genuinely tricky by hiding some items partly behind others: a mitten tucked behind the snowman, a bird half-hidden in a tree. If the scene is too easy, the child finishes in two minutes and the activity is over before it starts. The answer key sits at the foot of the sheet.

12. The Torchlight Story Under a Blanket

After the fort is built or at the natural quiet point in the afternoon, hand each child a small torch and crawl under a blanket together. One person tells a story, sentence by sentence, and the next person adds the following sentence. The torches make shadows on the blanket ceiling and keep small hands occupied.

No printing needed. One torch per child is ideal; one shared torch also works fine. This is as good for a single child with a parent as it is for three children together. Allow twenty to thirty minutes, though it often runs longer. A picture book read aloud under the blanket is an equally valid version of this activity.

Children who get silly and turn it into a screaming game need one simple rule established before you go under: quiet voices only, because torches only work when it is quiet enough to hear the story. That framing works better than a volume instruction on its own.

13. Spot the Difference

Two nearly identical winter illustrations sit side by side: a cosy indoor scene with a window showing snow outside, a mug on a table, a cat on a rug, and a bookshelf.

Eight small differences are hidden between the two images: a missing scarf on the coat hook, a different number of books on the shelf, a changed colour on the mug. The child circles each difference she finds.

Print one per child or use a single shared copy. A pencil or pen for circling is all that is needed. Ages five and up manage this well independently; younger children enjoy it with a parent pointing and asking where the images look different.

The sheet runs ten to twenty minutes depending on age and how carefully the differences are hidden.

The hardest differences to spot are the ones in the background or involving a count rather than a colour change. If a child finds seven and is stuck on the eighth, point to the general area of the page rather than the specific item. The answer key at the foot of the sheet lists all eight by location.

14. Threading Beads

Set out a bowl of large wooden or plastic beads and a length of cord or thick yarn with a knot at one end. The child threads beads in any order she chooses, or follow a colour pattern you call out or write on a card. The finished string becomes a bracelet, a necklace, or a window decoration.

No printing needed. This requires fine motor concentration that most children find genuinely absorbing. Age two and a half upward manages large beads on cord; ages five and up can handle smaller beads and thinner lace. The activity runs fifteen to forty minutes per child.

Tip the beads into a shallow tray rather than a deep bowl: it is easier for small hands to pick from a flat surface.

Thread through a piece of drinking straw first if the cord end is fraying: the straw acts as a stiff needle and solves threading difficulty instantly. If pattern work is the goal, pre-string the first three beads of the pattern as a starter cue so the child can read what comes next without needing to hold the instruction in memory.

15. Match the Mitten Pairs

Twelve mittens are scattered across the page, each one printed with a distinct pattern: stripes, polka dots, snowflakes, zigzags, stars, and so on. Six pairs hide among them. The child draws a line connecting each matching pair.

The patterns differ enough that a three-year-old can find the obvious ones, while the near-similar patterns (two stripe variants, two dot variants) give older children a genuine challenge.

Print one per child. A pencil or crayon for drawing connecting lines is all that is needed. Ages three to six is the target range. The sheet takes five to fifteen minutes depending on age. An answer key lists the six pairs at the foot of the sheet.

If children are playing side by side and one finishes first, ask her to shade in her favourite pair or invent a new mitten pattern in the blank corner of the sheet. That extends engagement without needing a second printable.

16. Roll and Cover the Snowman

The sheet shows a large illustrated snowman body divided into sections, each section marked with a number from one to six. The child rolls a standard die, finds a section on the snowman showing that number, and colours it in.

The goal is to colour every section before time runs out or as a solo race to finish. It is one part dice game, one part colouring page.

Print one per child. Add one standard die per player (or per pair for a competitive version). Crayons or coloured pencils both work. Ages four and up understand the mechanic immediately. The sheet runs ten to twenty minutes per child, longer if some numbers keep repeating and the last few sections resist being filled.

The frustrating version is when a child rolls the same number six times in a row and the last section stays blank. To prevent gridlock, allow a re-roll if a number has no uncovered section left. That one rule change keeps the game moving and removes the only real source of complaint.

17. Playdough Snowmen

Set out white playdough, a small bowl of craft extras (googly eyes, mini buttons, toothpicks for arms, tiny pom-poms), and ask each child to build a snowman in three sections, just like the real thing. The stacking is harder than it looks for small hands, and the decoration is where personality comes in.

No printing needed. Use shop-bought playdough or make a quick salt-dough version: two cups of flour, one cup of salt, one cup of water, kneaded together.

The activity runs thirty to fifty minutes and produces keepsakes if the salt-dough version is baked dry in a low oven and painted the following day. Playdough snowmen can simply be photographed and dismantled back into the pot.

Toothpick arms are sharp and not for children under four: swap them for tiny rolled cylinders of brown playdough instead. If the snowman keeps falling over because the top ball is too heavy, suggest squishing the base section slightly flat before stacking. Stability improves immediately.

18. Dot Marker Snowflakes

The sheet shows two large snowflake outlines, each one made up of empty circles arranged along the six arms and central ring of a classic six-pointed snowflake shape.

The child presses a dot marker into each circle to fill the snowflake, one dot at a time, until the whole design is complete. The result is a punchy, graphic snowflake that looks more finished than most children’s art at this age.

Print one per child on plain copy paper or cardstock. You need one or more dot markers, also called bingo daubers or dot art markers. Ages eighteen months and up can use these: the dot marker requires no fine control, just press and lift.

The sheet runs ten to twenty minutes. If a child only has access to a cotton bud and washable paint, that works as a substitute.

Some children will dot outside the circles, which is fine for a toddler and normal for ages up to three. If you want a cleaner result with older children, ask them to aim for the centre of each circle before pressing. That small instruction improves accuracy without making it feel like a correction.

19. The Eight Piece Paper Puzzle

The sheet prints a complete winter illustration (a snowman in a snowy garden) divided into eight rectangular sections by bold cut lines. The child cuts the sheet into eight pieces, mixes them up, and reassembles the image face-up on the table. It is a made-at-home jigsaw with no extra materials needed beyond scissors and the printed sheet.

Print one per child on cardstock rather than plain paper: it handles better, cuts more cleanly, and the pieces survive being mixed up repeatedly. Child-safe scissors work fine for straight cut lines. Ages four and up manage the cutting; ages five and up can reassemble without help. The whole activity, cutting and reassembly, runs twenty to thirty minutes.

Store each child’s pieces in a small zip bag the moment cutting is done, before the pieces mix with other children’s sets. If cardstock is not available, glue the printed sheet onto a cereal box panel before cutting: the cardboard backing makes sturdy puzzle pieces that hold their shape.

20. Finish the Pattern, Scarf Stripes

The sheet shows eight scarves arranged in two columns of four. Each scarf has a stripe pattern that has been started but not finished: the first three or four stripes are coloured in and the remaining stripes are blank.

The child studies the pattern and continues it to the end of the scarf. Patterns range from simple AB (red, blue, red, blue) to AABB and ABBC progressions.

Print one per child. Crayons or coloured pencils are needed to continue the patterns. Ages three to five will manage the AB patterns; ages five and up will tackle the more complex progressions. The sheet takes ten to fifteen minutes. An answer key at the foot of the sheet shows the completed pattern for each scarf.

Children who race through it can be challenged to design their own pattern in the blank scarf outline printed at the bottom of the sheet. That one extra element turns a five-minute task into a fifteen-minute one without any additional preparation on your part.

21. Cut and Build a Paper Snowflake

The sheet provides step-by-step fold-and-cut instructions in illustrated panels: fold a square of paper in half, fold again into a triangle, fold once more, then cut small notches along the folded edges. Unfold to reveal a symmetrical snowflake.

The cut lines to follow are shown as dotted guides, so a child can hold the folded paper over the sheet and cut where indicated.

Print one instruction sheet per child, but the snowflake itself is made from a separate square of plain paper (any scrap paper, a page from an old magazine, or thin white copy paper). Child-safe scissors are required.

Ages five and up manage this with the instruction sheet as a guide; a four-year-old needs an adult to hold the folded paper while the child cuts. The whole process takes ten to fifteen minutes per snowflake.

The most common mistake is unfolding too early. Remind the child not to open the paper until all cuts are made.

If the snowflake tears when unfolded, the cuts went too close to the folded spine: next time, leave at least one centimetre uncut at the fold.

No two snowflakes ever come out the same, which is the only reassurance a child needs when hers looks nothing like the example.

22. Draw the Rest of the Snow Scene

The left half of the page shows a detailed winter scene: a snowman, a tree, a fence, a robin on a branch, and falling snow. The right half is completely blank.

The child’s task is to continue the scene across the blank half of the page, using the left side as a visual reference or as a springboard for her own ideas. There is no right answer and no wrong result.

Print one per child on plain copy paper. Pencils, crayons, or felt-tips all work. Ages four and up engage well with this; younger children may simply scribble, which is equally valid.

Allow as long as the child wants: some finish in five minutes, others work for forty. This is one of the most open-ended sheets in the set, which makes it the best one to hand a child who says she is bored.

Children who are unsure where to start respond well to one prompt: what do you think is just to the right of the snowman? That single question almost always unlocks a full composition. Do not suggest what to draw after that; let the scene develop without direction.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are good winter activities for kids on a rainy day indoors?

The printable sheets in this list (colouring by number, dot markers, pattern work, scissors activities) cover a solid ninety minutes with no special supplies. Pair them with one physical activity like the sock snowball fight and one calm activity like playdough snowmen and a short, busy afternoon is fully covered.

Which printables work for toddlers under three?

Dot Marker Snowflakes, Trace the Icicle Lines, and Colour by Number Snowflake all work for children eighteen months to three years, with a parent sitting alongside. The dot marker sheet needs the least fine motor skill. Avoid scissors activities for under-threes unless you are holding the paper for them.

Do I need to laminate the sheets?

No. Plain copy paper is fine for single-use sheets. If you want a child to use the Roll and Cover the Snowman board more than once, print on cardstock and provide a dry-erase marker so it can be wiped and replayed. Everything else is designed to be used once and kept or recycled.

How many sheets should I print at once?

Print two or three at a time rather than the full set at once. Children move between activities unpredictably and an unused stack of printed sheets is just waste. Start with one active sheet (colouring or tracing) and one cutting sheet, then add more as the afternoon unfolds.

What if I do not have dot markers for the dot marker sheet?

A cotton bud dipped in washable paint is a direct substitute and works just as well. The dot is slightly smaller but the principle is identical. Keep a damp cloth nearby for hand wipes between colours.

Which activities work for a mixed-age group of toddlers and older children together?

The fort build, playdough snowmen, sensory rice bin, and baking session all scale naturally across ages: a two-year-old and a six-year-old can do all of them side by side with different levels of independence. For printables, give each child the sheet that matches her ability rather than using the same sheet for everyone.