As toddlers, children begin to understand how to play games. A simple one that they are ready for is finding a hidden object. Mark off a circle of snow with a stick and bury a brightly colored toy in the snow. Let toddlers dig in the snow with their hands or with small shovels to see if they can find the hidden toy.
Toddlers also are beginning to learn how to draw simple pictures, and with a little help they can make a face in the snow. Use a stick to make a big circle, and then see if they can add the eyes, nose, mouth, ears and hair to make a funny face in the snow.
Toddlers love taking a blank canvas and using color to brighten it up. To make spray chalk, combine a 1/2 cup of water, 4 tablespoons of cornstarch and food coloring in a spray bottle, Twins List suggests. Children can spray the snow to make it different colors. On a day too cold to go outside, bring some basins of snow inside for the toddlers to spray. Then they can watch the snow melt.
As toddlers gain some small motor coordination, they are ready to create some art to decorate the classroom or home. Family Play and Learn suggests creating a mixture of half Epsom salts and half water, and providing paintbrushes so the children can apply the mixture on large pieces of paper. Once the project dries, toddlers will find a crystallized winter scene that they created.
To create another snow masterpiece, give each child a piece of paper with a picture of a house on it. Let toddlers use brushes to paint white glue on the roof and ground, and then cover the glue with cotton puffs to make a soft, snowy scene.
Parents can create a simple matching file folder game for toddlers that will teach colors using the snow theme, Preschool Rainbow recommends. Cut out 20 snowmen with a scarf, and color the scarves in 10 different colors, with two of each color. Laminate 10 snowmen (or use clear contact paper) on an open file folder, and put the remaining snowmen in an envelope. Toddlers can take the snowmen out of the envelope and then try to match each snowman to its partner on the file folder.
Another simple craft that toddlers can do with a little help involves using a recycled liquid coffee creamer bottle. With the label removed, the white bottle becomes the snowman. Most bottles have colored lids that look like a hat. Glue on some googly eyes, a paper nose and mouth and some buttons, and toddlers will have their own Frosty to help celebrate winter.