When Did Your Kids Start Liking Playing in the Snow

About 5 years old.
Right about when he realized he could get a snow day off of school, he started really LOVING snow!

Younger than that and he cried when we tried to play with him in the snow.
He just thought it was cold and wet and he couldn't understand what was fun about it when he could be warm with his toys inside the house.
Making angels in the snow is easy.
Building a snow man can be fun if the snow is sticky enough to build with.
Sledding is fun if you pull him around - he might not like it if he slides down a hill and falls off.

Hi BP~

Here's a suggestion that might work: Gather some snow from outside and bring it INDOORS. Place the snow in a small kiddie pool or something. (I got snow and placed it in my kids' plastic toddler bathtub. I placed a blanket underneath the little tub. They would sit near the edge of the tub and scoop snow into containers and explore snow. (Kind of like playing in the sand, but with snow instead. Yay!! Let's build snowcastles!) My kids weren't afraid of snow but sometimes I just brought some inside and they could play and not be cold while I watched them, I could clean the kitchen. A little food dye in a water spray bottle is always fun too! They loved spraying two different colors on the snow and would investigate the change of snow color.

He still may want to wear mittens inside because his hands might get cold if he continues to touch the snow with bare hands. Or if you want to go along with his idea that the snow is dirty...... then give him a water spray bottle filled with colored water and tell him that he can go have fun and CLEAN the snow!! My kids were good about keeping the snow in the plastic tub, but if he does have a problem with this, give him a warning and tell him if he wants to play with it, it HAS to STAY in the pool/tub. If snow gets tossed out again, then the fun of bringing it inside is over for the day. If he enjoys my idea, maybe after awhile he'll venture into playing outdoors in the snow.

Hope this helps!

My son was a little touch-and-go about the whole thing at 3 1/2. By 4 1/2 he couldn't get enough of it. Two ideas, to get him started:

* See if you can get him sledding down a gentle hill. In other words, look for a fun-in-the -snow activity that doesn't involve immediately touching snow.

* And, do a "science experiment" where you take something plastic with a little dirt on it and "wash" it with snow. Just make sure you build up the results: "Wow! Snow is clean!" My son was deathly afraid of wind until 3 1/2; it all got resolved when I blew at him as hard as I could, and we demonstrated that paper could blow away, but small children couldn't. Some kids just have to see it to believe it.

I grew up in northern New Jersey; I don't have one bad memory of playing in the snow (though getting bundled up was a pain!)... so you can imagine my disappointment when my daughters quickly decided they HATE the snow and didn't want to have anything to do with it!! Bummer :(

Last winter they were 5 and 7, and it was the first year they really got into it. I contribute their older FRIENDS loving the snow to their newfound love of the white stuff. Maybe get a group of kiddos together to go sledding, with promises of hot chocolate with marshmallows afterwards, that's what helped us!!

Between 2 and 3. My older son loved it last year and would stay outside until he froze. He was 4.5 then. My younger son, who was 2 last winter, was always the first to want to come in, would cry when snow got in his sleeves. He improved as the winter wore on. They both loved to go sledding, so you might try that. Of course, not every kid likes the same thing, and I'll bet yours will have more fun this year.

DD has always loved snow. And she doesn't care if it it freezing out, she wants to stay out there forever - she will cry when I finally have to drag her back in but the pay-off is a cup of hot cocoa :). There could be barely a dusting on the cars and she wants to build a snowman and go sledding and everything. She's 4 and is already asking about going skiing this winter! Maybe if you get him involved in doing something and being active, the snow won't bother him that much. I like the idea of bringing some snow inside for him to play with in a tub while wearing gloves. Show him that it's not dirty, it just turns into water as it melts. Getting spray bottles and filling them with colored water that he can spray on the snow is fun too. One thing I want to try this year is to bring some snow inside and try to make maple syrup candy with it!

My kids have always loved snow and sledding but couldn't handle it for too long (maybe 30 minutes) and then wanted to come in. Last year (5 and 3) they started wanting to sled longer but I was ready to go in :) We just received about 8 inches and my kids were both in it playing with the neighbors from about 4-630 I had to drag them inside and they kept asking to go back out. They are 6 and 4. Im just glad that they are getting old enough to carry that sled up the hill theirselves!!!!

BP:

My boys have loved the snow since they could crawl.

if it snows, even a DUSTING here, they want out and to play in it - doesn't matter that there's not enough to put a snow ball together - they will run and catch the flakes on their tongues!!

My boys have always liked the snow. My little one was 2.5 last winter and couldn't get enough of the down hill sledding :) The year before he loved to walk around in it and have me pull him around in his sled and really enjoyed throwing snowballs at the dog. My 7 y/o has always liked the snow. He was 7 months when he experienced his first snow and we tied his little sled up to the dog :) (she was stronger and healthier back then) and she pulled him all over the property. They both loved it!

Around 3 years old. You know, B.P., he may just not like it. I don't. I hate it in fact. It's pretty to look at when it's snowing, but after that it gets dirty, it's cold, it's wet, it's slippery. Sledding is fun. If I could just figure out how to get to the top of the hill without going through the snow to get there I'd be all set.

Gosh, I really don't have probably any good advice for you as both my kids came into the world loving snow. They both started playing in the snow, sledding, etc before they were a year old.

Maybe just play in it yourselves, act like you are having the time of your life and he will want to join in? Build a snowman, do snow angels, etc and he will likely see that it can be fun!