Hosting a birthday party for a kid in the winter has its challenges. What do we do? Where do we take the kids? In this article I’ll highlight 15 winter birthday party ideas for kids that will hopefully help you come up with a good plan.
Where did I get these ideas?
I have two daughters and a niece and nephew born in the winter. βοΈ
So I’ve put on – and attended – my fair share of kids parties in the winter.
In this article I look at some of the parties we’ve done, and some of them I came across during researching.
But really, any indoor kids activity can be made into playful birthday party: so don’t be discouraged.
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Table of Contents
Winter Birthday Party Ideas for Kids
Let’s have a look at list of ideas.
1. Go Sledding
Embrace the chilly temperature by grabbing a toboggan and some hot chocolate and head to a local sledding hill.
Make sure the hill you choose is clear of rocks, sticks or other bodily hazards.
There is a great grassy hill near our house that is perfect for sledding.
Do you have something similar in your area?
Depending on how large the hill is, and the speed the kids will get up to, you may need them to wear helmets.
Then when you get back home have a nice warm meal ready for the kids. They’ll be hungry after walking up the hill.
Sledding can be a fun and physically active winter birthday party idea for kids.
Plus, since it requires little skill, it is an outdoor winter birthday party idea suitable for most kids.
My Hot Tip: Do you have an elementary school near you that is on a hill? If so, they’ve likely cleared the rocks from the hill to protect the little kids that attend the school.
2. Go to an Indoor Swimming Pool
Does your local community swimming pool have pool party packages? (Say that fast three times!)
If your local community pool doesn’t, ask local hotels with swimming pools.
One year we booked a hotel swimming pool that had an indoor water slide. We had to share the pool with hotel guests, but there wasn’t many guests because it was the off-season.
Swimming can be a great way for kids to have some fun and burn off the energy from the cake.
And swimming parties are a great unisex birthday party idea: most boys and girls love swimming.
Check with your local pools to see if you can host a winter birthday party for your kid.
My Personal Tip: hotels may not have lifeguards on duty so – depending on the age of the kids – either hire some lifeguards or ask the parents to stay for the party and look after their kids in the pool.
3. Book an Indoor Play Area
Most indoor play areas and playgrounds have birthday party packages.
They usually offer a reduced rate and a dedicated room for the party guests.
I know my local indoor play area has two dedicated party rooms: one for girls parties and one for boys parties.
And they are already decorated ready to go.
You May Also Like: Birthday Party Ideas for a 5 year old
4. Have a Skating Party
For me, nothing says a winter birthday party like a skating party!
I still remember attending a friends’ skating party when I was about 8 years old.
If you have a small number of kids attending the party then you can probably pay for them individually and go a public skating time slot.
But if you have lots of kids coming you may want to look into renting the skating rink for an hour or so.
This is especially appropriate if your kids plan on playing hockey.
5. Kids Take over the Kitchen Party
Kids love to show some independence and do “big kid” stuff.
This one can be pretty easy to set up, but requires vigilance: there are a lot of sharp things in a kitchen. πͺ
You’ll need to judge for yourself whether your child is responsible enough to safely enjoy this.
And don’t forget about their friends.
Does your child have a close friend that you wouldn’t trust with a spoon? Then this isn’t right for them.
Want some activities for your child’s birthday party? I’ve discovered Etsy is good for this.
6. Rent a Gymnasium for an Active Party
Many communities have gymnasiums that you can rent.
Try having a fun badminton tournament, or dodgeball, or whatever game your child loves best.
7. Floor Hockey Birthday Party π
If your little boy or girl loves hockey, and renting a hockey rink is not an option then perhaps an indoor hockey party is doable.
As mentioned above, communities often have gymnasiums you can rent.
Or maybe even a community hall (just use a soft ball).
Heck, Sidney Crosby used to shoot pucks at his parent’s dryer. Maybe you have an appliance you’re willing to sacrifice? π
If you want to add a little hockey decoration to the birthday cake, I found this cake decoration set on Amazon.
8. Dinner, Movie and a Sleepover
A fun idea for a birthday party in the winter is a dinner, movie and sleepover party.
One year for my daughter’s birthday we took her and a couple friends to dinner and then the movies.
After the movies the girls had a sleepover.
It didn’t take much planning: no need to have activity stations, make treats or anything like that.
Of course, this works best when they get a little older.
I think it was for my daughter’s 11th birthday, but after awhile they seem to blend together.
9. Host a Skiing and Snowboarding Party πΏπ
If you’re fortunate enough to live near a ski hill then a skiing party could be a fun option.
What’s more wintry than a skiing party?
But it could be cost prohibitive.
You could ask the other parents to pay for their child’s ski lift ticket…but you’ll obviously have to gauge this based on your finances and on the child’s parents.
And you’d have to set up and let the kids know your expectations.
- Where will you meet for the cake and presents?
- Do you want all the kids to stick together?
If you are wondering how to decorate a cake or cupcakes for a skiing-themed birthday party, check out this set below. I came across it on Amazon while researching this article. Looks pretty cool.
Our local ski hill has a snow tube run.
It’s basically like a half-pipe that you slide down on giant inflatable tubes. It is lots of fun and requires no skills.
This “no skills” activity helps level the playing field and doesn’t exclude friends that don’t ski or snowboard (or don’t have the equipment). It is a fun thing to do on a winter day.
10. Host an Eco-friendly Zero Waste Kids birthday Party at Home
If you’re trying to reduce the amount of waste you produce then you don’t have to give up your principles just for a birthday party.
There are ways to do a zero waste kids birthday party.
If you’re interested in this eco-friendly option click here to check out the article I wrote on this topic.
11. Host an Indoor Dinosaur Birthday Party
If your little girl or boy loves dinosaurs you could host an indoor dinosaur birthday party.
Dinosaurs are a great unisex birthday party idea and the tropical foliage will help “warm up” the winter birthday party.
In the Instagram photo below you’ll see a couple clever ideas: lots of house plants, dinosaur toys set up and a cool volcano craft (or is it a cake?).
You have dinosaur-themed scavenger hunts, name that dinosaur, pin the tail on the dinosaur, and other games.
If you want a cool dinosaur birthday party decoration I saw this 3D Happy Birthday banner on Amazon.
And if your child does love dinosaurs and you need some gift ideas, check out these gifts for kids who dinosaurs.
12. Paw Patrol Themed Party
My youngest daughter and her friends love Paw Patrol.
She is still young, but if you have young kids too then this could be a fun party option. Lord knows it isn’t hard to find Paw Patrol stuff.
Check out this birthday cake that I came across on Instagram. Pretty cool!
There were over 3,400 pictures with the hashtag #pawpatrolbirthdayparty. So you’ll find tons of inspiration there.
You could play games such as best Marshall impression (just be careful your kids don’t hurt themselves because Marshall is the “clumsy” one).
Click here to see details of this Paw Patrol Party Pack on Amazon.
Paw Patrol themed birthdays are a great unisex birthday party idea and it can be another fun idea for a birthday party in the winter.
13. Winter Wonderland Birthday Party βοΈ
Embrace the winter birth!
You could do a Winter Wonderland Ball type theme complete with white clothes, snow flakes and snowmen.
This lends itself well to a FROZEN birthday party if your kids like the FROZEN movies.
The activities could include building snowmen out of marshmallows, baking cookies shaped like snowflakes, and tag where “it” is the abominable snowman.
14. Lasertag Birthday Party
Speaking of tag, how about laser tag? Most girls and boys enjoy laser tag.
Check if you a have laser tag location in your area, then call to see if you can host birthday parties there.
Laser tag is a great unisex birthday party idea and since its indoors it makes for a fun, active idea for a birthday party in the winter.
15. Virtual Reality Birthday Party
Many cities now have a virtual reality gaming site. In our relatively small city we have a virtual reality place that has HTC Vive virtual reality headsets.
The kids may have to take turns depending on the number of headsets are available, but VR can be really fun.
When I first tried it with a real VR headset (and not just some goggles you slide your phone into), I was amazed by how cool it was.
It can be a year-round birthday party idea, but it is a particularly good party idea for the winter because it is inside (where its nice and warm).
16. Wood-chopping Party (joking)
Great fun, and great way to get firewood for the cold winter nights. You don’t need much, just an axe or a mallet and a pile of wood.
Just kidding. π Wanted to see if you made it this far down. (Thank you for reading. )
Decorate a Wooden Snowman (a fun bonus idea)
A fun indoor activity for kids attending a winter birthday party is to create a wooden snowman craft.
An adult would have to cut the snowman shape out of wood, and sand it too, but then the kids can paint and decorate the snowman. Have strips of fabric as scarves for their wooden snowmen, and some buttons, pipe cleaners, etc… to decorate them.
My daughters and I have had fun making these over the years.
Check out my article on wooden snowman crafts for more information.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this list of ideas. I’ll sure your kid will love whatever you come up with.
And don’t stress out over it. If you’re in a foul, stressed-out mood that is what your child will remember.
Just have some fun with it.
Thank you.
Up Next:
Birthday Party Ideas for a 5 Year Old
If your child loves sports, check out these Sports Birthday Party Ideas. (Good way to exercise and have fun!)
How to get into the Christmas spirit [19 fun ideas]
#16 is very clever…