Top 5 Snow Toys for kids
Did Helena dump a blanket of snow on you or did you find it to be much ado about nothing? Where we live, we got the winter wonderland of 6-8 inches. For us, it was the perfect storm. A weekend snowstorm. The perfect time to dig out our favorite snow toys.
One of this year’s top-selling snow toys appears to be a grenade-like launcher of snowballs. Sounds like fun but also seems like a disaster waiting to happen. While we do include a quick snowball-making toy in our list of top 5 snow toys, we’ll leave it to you to provide the velocity behind your snowballs. Our list is designed to provide hours of safe outdoor play in the snow. And, we’ve even got an idea on how to make a wintery keepsake to remember the fun you had together.
1- Snow Castle Kit
Building snow forts and snow castles by pushing snow around is so old school. Heck, we didn’t do it that way either. We used shovels and even garbage can lids to build up the walls to protect us from incoming rounds of snowballs. Mom was not happy when we broke her garbage can lid. This is a much better idea, trust me.
Part of what makes this kit one of our favorite snow toys for kids is that it comes with three forms. That allows multiple family members to make blocks at the same time. The larger sized block 20 x 5.75 is also great for building your own sledding hill.
2 – Snow Ball Maker
What good is a snowball fort or snow castle without snowballs? We’ve talked about this clever gadget before, but it is still one of our top 5 snow toys and one of our favorite snowball toys. The Flexible Flyer Snowball Maker is one of the best on the market. No big surprise. It’s from the folks at Flexible Flyer who have been making quality children’s outdoor toys since 1889.
3 – Snowman Decorating Kit
Bring on the cute! This snow man kit has everything to have the cutest snowman on the block. Did the kids use your cashmere scarf on your snowman last year? Or maybe they used your favorite Easter hat? Protect your finery and ensure everyone will have loads of fun. The kit comes with a top hat, coal-shaped eyes and mouth, a carrot nose, buttons, a tobacco pipe and bright red scarf. The top hat is made of felt, the scarf is polar fleece and everything else is made of wood. What a nice change to see such a great snow toy for kids at this price point and made from wood.
4 – Make Your Own Snow Globe
Yeah, I know this isn’t an outdoor toy or even technically a snow toy. But, how cool would it be to immortalize your snowman or create a keepsake to remember a day of fun in the snow? This kit comes with Sculpy-like clay and two globes. Yes, parents may need to help condition the clay and oversee the baking; but, that just makes it perfect for family fun.
5 – Leaf Scoops
Leaf scoops? Stay with me here. You’ll see the genius in this non-traditional snow toy in a moment.
We all know that leaf scoops do a great job of scooping fall leaves. But, they also make a great tool for building snow forts and sledding hills. Move snow around quickly and easily with these big scoops. The ones we are featuring here are one of the slightly pricier models but I’ll tell you why it made our top 5 snow toys list.
The scoops don’t have teeth which makes them safer. No sharp edges to fall on or catch mittens and scarves. The handles are on the outside and designed to be easy on fingers and wrists. The weight gets distributed between the fingers, wrist and arms – most models put all of the strain on the fingers. The design is for leaves but we think it makes the the best ergonomic choice for moving snow too.
We love anything that can do double duty. When the snow is melted and the time for snowball fights and sledding is over, you’ll still have a great gardening tool.
Our Favorite Snow Toys for kids
No sleds here? For the most part, our favorite snow toys for kids of all ages are all of the great sleds and toboggans that slide and glide across the snow. We have several articles about sleds and sledding on Cool Outdoor Toys. The Hammerhead Sled is one of our favorites. We like the Zipfy Freestyle and the Flexible Flyer PT Blaster too.
The idea behind our top 5 snow toys list was to look at some smaller-scale snow toys. Perhaps you don’t have access to a great sledding hill. (Oh, you poor thing.) Or maybe, you’re all sledded out – does that really happen? Or you are looking for a backyard activity the whole family can enjoy.
For us, it’s all about variety and having fun. We hope we have given you some new ideas for having fun when it snows. Just be sure to be safe and bundle up. It’s cold out there.
