Winter Break Fun: 5 Ideas to Keep Your Family Active

Ah, the holiday season: a busy time of celebrations and festivities…of baking and wrapping presents…of spending time with family and friends…of cookies and fudge and cheese plates and crackers and chocolate-covered pretzels…

Well…you get the idea.

The holiday season can mean a whole lot of fun (and food), but it also tends to involve a whole lot of sitting. Sitting on the couch, watching Christmas movies. Sitting at a restaurant or in someone’s dining room, enjoying a glass of wine with friends. Sitting by the fireplace while the kids open their presents. Sitting quietly in the living room, enjoying that precious moment of peace while the kids play with their new toys.

And then there’s that whole strange week between Christmas and New Year’s, when time moves at its own strange uneven pace, and no one can remember what they did.

Whatever the case, during those couple of weeks of winter break, we tend to lose track of our regular routines. We forget about things like morning walks and step goals and, well, pretty much any kind of physical activity. And when it’s all over, we just end up feeling…blah.

So, this year, it’s time to change up the tradition just a little bit and make an effort to keep the family active during this festive time of year. Here are some family-friendly ideas for adding a little more movement to the holiday season.

Head to the Mall

Admittedly, the mall can get a little crazy during the holiday season, as people tackle their last-minute holiday shopping—or, after presents have been opened, do their post-Christmas returns and (my personal favorite) spend those Christmas gift cards while taking advantage of after-Christmas sales. That means that going for a walk around the mall might not give you a great workout, since you’ll find yourself bobbing and weaving through other shoppers. But there’s just something about the mall during the holidays that’s fun and festive—and you’ll at least be up and moving and getting some steps in while you take it all in.

Go Ice Skating

Now that indoor ice rinks are pretty common in most areas, ice skating isn’t the seasonal activity that it once was. As a hockey mom, I know this all too well—and you’ll often find me donning a winter coat and sitting in the stands in the middle of summer. But there’s just something about ice skating during the winter—and finishing up with hot chocolate and cookies—that feels right. It’s also a fun way to get the family out of the house and doing something active. Granted, it isn’t an easy activity. It requires some coordination and balance. But if you can pull it off, it makes for a fun and festive winter break adventure.

Or, if you’re not up for strapping blades to your feet, maybe try another fun winter activity, like sledding. If you’ve got the snow for it, you’ll definitely work up a sweat while climbing the sledding hills—and you’ll have a whole lot of fun racing back down (just watch out for the trees!)

Go on a Winter Hike

A number of the metro parks in our area host winter hikes, taking hikers of various ages and abilities through the trails to explore nature during the winter. Do a little bit of research to see if any parks near you offer family-friendly winter hikes. Not only will you have fun exploring nature together, but you might make some friends in the process.

If you can’t find any organized hikes in your area, plan your own! Pick one of your favorite parks—or check out a new one—and explore the wintery wonderland together.

See the Lights

Wandering through Christmas lights at night can be such a magical experience. In our area, we have a number of different options for enjoying holiday light displays. In our downtown area, there’s a special lights exhibit that people can come and explore for free—and our zoo has Wildlights, allowing visitors to see the animals at night while wandering through stunning displays of lights (and drinking hot chocolate, of course). But if you don’t have any organized events near you, you can create your own! Online searches and local social media groups can help you find information about the best light displays in the area. Instead of driving around to explore them from the car, bundle up and wander down the streets to get a better look—while getting a little bit of exercise at the same time.

Meet Up with Friends

Winter break may be fun and exciting, but it also reaches a point where the kids start to miss their friends. While it’s fun to meet up at places like a trampoline park or other activity center—where the kids can run and the parents can sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and a chat—you could also opt for someplace where everyone can stay active. Try meeting someplace like a rec center, where the kids can swim in the pool with the parents walk around the track and chat.

After all those weeks of planning and shopping and baking and organizing everything for another busy holiday season, it can be so easy to spend the rest of this festive time of year just…doing nothing. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with giving yourself some recovery time. You’ve definitely earned it. But with just a little bit of extra effort, you can balance the downtime with some fun activities to keep you from straying too far from your regular goals.

Do you have any fun, active activities planned for your winter break? We’d love to hear them!