11 things to do outside with your kids outside during the winter.

Climb something.

Find a tree. Or a mountain. Or a hill. Or something else that is fairly legal and fairly safe.

Read a book.

You can get wet. But your book can’t. Find somewhere underneath something to cozy up with a book and a hot drink. Get lost in a story, and enjoy it even more being a little chilly.

Go for a picnic.

You can get wet. Your food can even get a bit wet. Wet is better than sandy. Take some food outside. If it’s super-wet and you don’t have much cover, you might not want to sit down. But there’s no law that says you have to sit down when eating. Sometimes the memory is great not because it’s comfortable, but because it’s a little different.

In fact, that’s how most great memories work. They stick because they’re different.

Make a fire, cook something.

It might require a little prep and probably the right place. But if you can, and it’s safe and legal and not too windy, then do it. Pull out some marshmallows, wrap up some potatoes in tinfoil, and enjoy the beautiful misery of outdoor eating in the winter.

Build a shelter.

Building a shelter outdoors is a little like building a shelter indoors: you find stuff, like you did when you were a kid, and you imagine something into existence with the materials you have. Branches, sticks, leaves, sure, a tarp if you have one.