As we kick off 2025, Philadelphia winter weather is already keeping us on our toes. Whether you’re in Center City, Upper Dublin, Cheltenham, or anywhere in between, a day stuck at home doesn’t have to mean cabin fever. With a little preparation and the right mindset, you can turn an unexpected break from routine into a day of family fun and memory-making.

The secret? Channel that childhood excitement you felt listening for school closings on the radio as a kid. Get your family involved the night before by creating a list of activities and gathering supplies. Here are some tried-and-true ideas to not just survive – but actually enjoy – your snow day at home.

Epic Board Game Tournament

Channel the competitive spirit of our sports teams with a family tournament! Take advantage of the unstructured time to tackle longer board games. You could even create your own Philadelphia-themed Monopoly challenges or trivia games about the city. Don’t worry if you need breaks – leave the game set up and return to it throughout the day.

DIY Bathroom Art Studio & Spa Experience

Transform your bathroom into a mini Philadelphia Museum of Art! Secure paper to bathtub walls with painter’s tape and let kids create their own masterpieces – maybe even their version of the LOVE statue or the Liberty Bell. For added fun, provide spray bottles with diluted paint or colored water. Try shaving cream marble prints by swirling paint into a layer of shaving cream in a baking dish, then pressing paper on top to create unique patterns.

Afterward, convert the space into a home spa worthy of Rittenhouse Square. Run a bubble bath, make simple DIY face masks, use cucumber slices for eye covers, or create a gentle scrub from brown sugar, olive oil, and honey.

Indoor Obstacle Course Challenge

Create your own Rocky training montage with an indoor obstacle course! Have kids design their own using household items. Include challenges like “running up the Art Museum steps” (using the bottom few steps of your staircase), or “dribbling like Joel Embiid” (with a soft ball). Time each attempt and challenge family members to complete the course forward and backward.

Creative Kitchen Adventures

Make food preparation part of the entertainment. Create Reading Terminal Market-inspired grazing boards with local favorites like soft pretzels, Laughing Fox cheese, and Italian Market treats. Try making your own “water ice” with snow (if it’s clean!), or set up a pretzel-making station to create your own “street vendor” snacks.

Creative Cardboard Mummers

Channel the spirit of New Year’s Day all winter long by creating your own Mummers costumes from cardboard boxes! Start with a basic cardboard structure – this could be a wearable “suit” made from a large box, or simply a dramatic backpiece that stretches up behind the shoulders. Let kids decorate with whatever craft supplies you have on hand: aluminum foil makes great sparkly accents, tissue paper creates beautiful ruffles, and old wrapping paper adds color and shine. Add streamers, ribbons, or strips of fabric for movement. Don’t forget the most important part – a fabulous homemade headpiece! Once everyone is dressed up, turn on some string band music and strut around the living room in true Mummers fashion.

Kitchen Science Experiments

Turn your kitchen into a mini Franklin Institute! If your big kids are feeling ambitious, celebrate science with these scientist snowflake patterns to decorate your windows. In the mood for more of a sensory experience? Create artificial snow using common household items, or set up a “potion lab” using baking soda, shaving cream, cornstarch, and lotion to make fake snowy substances. Try them all and tell us which worked best in the comments below:

1. Mix one 2-pound box of baking soda with 1-2 cans of shaving cream in a large container. Knead the mixture together, gradually adding more shaving cream until you achieve a light, powdery snow-like consistency that doesn’t stick to your hands. The result is amazingly realistic – it’s even cold to the touch! Best of all, you probably already have these ingredients in your bathroom cabinet.
2. Mix equal parts cornstarch and shaving cream to make a dense, moldable snow. 
3. Mix equal parts cornstarch and lotion to make a crumbly, powdery snow.
4. Pour one cup of baking soda into a bowl and gradually add water, stirring until it’s light and powdery.
5. Mix baking soda with Mod Podge and a little white paint to create a paste for winter village displays. The paint seals in particles to prevent the snow from looking messy.

A potion-making station can entertain kids for a good long time. Give kids baking soda, a small pitcher of vinegar, shaving cream, food coloring and glitter — if you dare — along with some small jars with lids. Tell them to put baking soda in the bottom, and then any combination of other ingredients, and then pour vinegar on top to see it fizz. Once each mixture fizzes, the fun isn’t over! Shake up the container and add more ingredients, then make it fizz again. Find more kid-friendly science recipes from The Franklin Institute here.

Philly Parents: Find Your Community

Join local parent Facebook groups like the “Philly Family Community,” or “Fishtown Mamas,” for real-time updates and activity sharing (do you have a favorite group? Comment below to share it!)

Remember to document your snow day adventures – share your creative activities and successful experiments on social media with #PhillyFamily and #PhillySnowDay. And remember – even if the snow doesn’t amount to much (as often happens in Philly!), these activities work just as well on any cold winter day when you’re stuck inside.

Note: Always supervise children during activities and adjust suggestions based on your children’s ages and abilities. For families in apartments or homes without easy snow access, focus on the indoor activities – there’s plenty of fun to be had without stepping outside!