Well folks, it’s February in East Tennessee, and you know what that means: absurdly unpredictable catastrophic winter weather events! *whimper*
While being unexpectedly stuck at home with kids is always stressful, a few years ago it might have been a welcome break from the hustle and bustle as we enjoyed long days of sledding, snowball fights, slip-skating on the icy driveway, building pillow forts, and early bedtimes from all that snow-fun exhaustion. Now that most of my kids are teenagers, the last few weeks of snow days have mostly been me trying to get them to move from the same spot on the couch where they’ve been scrolling on their phones ALL. DAY. LONG.
I tried pulling out some old suggestions for fun outdoor play, the kind of things they would have jumped at when they were 4, 5 and 7, but at 14, 15 and 17? Yeah, hard pass. I tried coaxing, bribing, threatening, locking their phones and the internet – nothing worked. I realized that if we’re going to survive any more snow days this year, I need some better ideas.
So here’s my list of 20 Screen-Limiting Snow Day Activities – some of them are completely screen free, but because I don’t really have the energy to quash a full-blown teenage revolt, several of these ideas lean into their tech-addiction – I mean tech-savviness, giving them a chance to use their devices to connect with each other rather than isolate themselves.
Let me know if any of these help you get your teenagers off the couch and into some family fun next snow day!
- Try a new recipe: My kids never want to help me make dinner, but something about winter weather just draws us to the kitchen, does it not? If they’re going to eat you out of house and home, let them pick what they want and get creative making it happen. Bake, cook, throw together a soup, whatever sounds good and gets them to work. You can go crazy and try to earn a Michelin star, or whip out a box mix, there’s no shame. Just get in the kitchen and give it a try!
- Video game tournament: Listen, I know video games is what we’re trying to avoid here, but hear me out: let them pick a family-friendly game that all the kids can play. Draw up a tournament bracket and make it a whole family event! If you suck at video games and don’t know how to work the XBOX remote, that’s even better because they will revel in your demise!
- Mini snowman building contest: Here in Tennessee we rarely get enough snow for a proper snowman, much less several to compete. But a miniature version could happen with not much more than a dusting! Brush a few handfuls off the porch rail and see what you can come up with. Use household supplies to dress them up, or twigs and leaves; just have fun with it! Post pictures on your social media and invite friends to vote on the best, or let your kids post it on their social media to brag about how cool their family is.
- Plan an imaginary vacation: This may sound like a stretch, but my kids have all done this as a school project and LOVED it! Give them a generous budget and let them look up hotels, flights, activities, and more! I know, this is using those screens again, but it’s kind of a research project, so it’s better than scrolling YouTube shorts! And hey, if they do a good job, maybe you could actually go someday!
- Hide something: My daughter works in a small restaurant, and someone once left behind a tiny toy. No one ever came back to claim it, so now the staff take turns hiding it for each other every day. Try finding something small in your home – an action figure, long-forgotten Little Tykes farm animal, a LEGO piece, whatever – to hide somewhere around the house. Tell the kids about it when they wake up, and have a small prize on hand for whoever finds it first. (Maybe they just get an hour of uncontested control of the TV remote?) Then they’re in charge of hiding it again for the next winner. It’s like an all-day scavenger hunt that goes on in the background of everything else.
- Build a fire: Could my kids survive in the wilderness? Absolutely not. But could they at least build a fire? Honestly, still probably not. But maybe I can actually help with the latter. If you’ve got a wood-burning fireplace, here’s a chance to work on a life skill. And teenage boy bonus points: FIRE!!
- Digital scrapbook: Scrapbooking was all the rage when I was a teenager, but I never got into it because of all the little details; I just wanted to look at pictures! Well, thanks to Canva, Shutterfly, and other online platforms, digital scrapbooks let you design aesthetic ways to enjoy your memories without needing so many different types of scissors. (Seriously, how many ways can you scallop an edge????) Have the kids go through the photo reel on their phones or devices, and create a scrapbook page or entire book worth of images. They can just play around with free templates, but if they really like it, you can order those bad boys to decorate their room.
- Favorite childhood book read-aloud: If you’re like me and can’t bear to get rid of books, especially the ones you read so many times you have it memorized (“Make a street, make a street, workers in a row…”), then your kids will have plenty of old titles to sift through and read aloud to the family. Pretend you’re all kindergarteners and one person is a guest coming to read to your class. Pass out juice boxes and animal crackers for the full effect, but let everyone take turns reading their favorite children’s book to the “class.”
- Themed movie marathon: I mean watching movies is kind of a duh, but do it with a twist. Let everyone in the family pick one movie to watch, but give it a theme: maybe it’s a release date year (or decade!), features a particular actor, or something random: has to have a color in the title, has to feature a pet voiced by Alan Tudyk, the main character has to wear glasses, etc. The sillier the better!
- Board games with a twist: Board games can feel more like “bored” games to teenagers, so to make it more interesting, try making up new rules. It can be just one rule that you add to the existing game, or repurpose a game board for something completely different. Maybe try a new rule every round so everyone gets a chance to add their own!
- Family puzzle: Full disclosure: I hate jigsaw puzzles. They frustrate me to death, but my parents and brothers have always loved them! My grandmother used to always have a jigsaw puzzle in process on her dining room table, and anytime someone visited, they would add a few pieces here and there. For your family puzzle, try divvying up portions of it to make it easier/more challenging: each person finds pieces of a certain color, tackles a feature of the picture, or takes a corner.
- Pinterest craft contest: Everyone get on Pinterest and look up DIY crafts for kids. They can be simple or complex, but they have to use stuff you have in the house. Then give everyone an hour to complete their project. When everyone is finished, each person can show off their creation like a show-and-tell.
- Try “5 Minute Crafts” ideas: This channel is so absurd, but every so often they do something that’s actually kinda cool?! Let the kids watch a bunch of crazy videos and decide on a few “5 Minute Crafts” to try for yourself. Making a pair of shoes out of saran wrap and hot glue? Okay let’s see how that turns out.
- Duct tape wallet (or whatever): When my kids were younger, for some reason they got really into making things with duct tape. One year all the grandparents got duct tape wallets for Christmas, and no joke, my dad used that thing for YEARS! Check out some tutorials on YouTube and see what you can create!
- Card games/magic tricks: To be honest with you, my kids are painfully inept at playing card games because they just haven’t learned very many. Try introducing them to poker, slap jack, war, bridge, hearts, whatever else your grandparents played that your kids think is beneath them. If they aren’t into that, try busting out those cards and learning a few magic tricks. During COVID, my boys got really into sleight of hand magic tricks using playing cards, and they still make for great party tricks!
- Nature walk photo contest: My mom is one of those people who always has a camera in her hand, and lately my 10th grader has tried taking up her mantle. When we visited them last snow day for some sledding, my son forgot a change of clothes and opted to be the family photographer instead. He got some really amazing shots! Whether it’s action shots of the neighbors shoveling the driveway or nature pics of trees glistening with ice, have the kids play with the camera settings on their phone and see what kind of artistry they can create!
- TikTok dances together: Honestly I’m not entirely sure TikTok dances are still a thing because I am old and out of touch, but there are definitely trending sounds and templates circulating, because my kids talk about them with no context and laugh their heads off while my husband and I stare at them like they’ve lost their marbles. So get in on the action and make something together! Let the kids team up to make a video while the parents do their own, then laugh together when you watch each others’ results! Even if the kids are too embarrassed to post them on their own channels, you’ll always cherish the memory!
- Snowball fight with paper balls: Recently, my husband and I were talking about the snowball fight scene in “Elf” and how we don’t remember ever really having an experience like that. We both grew up in East Tennessee, so we hardly ever had enough snow to make more than a handful of snowballs. We’ve had a few motherloads in the last few years (thanks, global warming??), but even if it’s just a dusting outside, you can still plan an epic snowball fight inside with a ream of crumpled up paper. Will it be total mayhem? Only if you do it right, my friend.
- Design adult coloring sheets for each other: My daughter loves to color, and my son loves to doodle. Why have I never thought to put them both together and make each other some coloring sheets?? The great thing about adult coloring pages is that so many of them are geometric or abstract, so you don’t even need drawing ability to make them. Just draw some overlapping lines and squiggles and shapes, then trade with each other for customized coloring relaxation!
