Celebrating Winter Solstice with Kids

Living in Wisconsin, celebrating winter solstice – the shortest day of the year – doesn’t always feel like cause for celebration. Fewer daylight hours doesn’t get me in a festive mood. ;) But we like to take the positive outlook on things whenever we can, so we can turn just about anything into a party! It takes the short day and turns it into something fun and memorable. Here are some fun ways that you and your kids can learn about and celebrate the winter solstice together!

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Celebrating winter solstice with kids

Now I want to give a quick disclaimer, because I know that some people attach a spiritual significance to the winter solstice and approach it from a mother earth/rebirth of the sun outlook… but we don’t do that. As a Christian family, we see this as one of the ways God created our earth and how He created the seasons. And we love to learn about His creation and the to spend time enjoy it! So just as we would learn about the trees He created and enjoy them when we go on hikes, nature journal, learn about their medicinal properties, etc., we learn about the seasons and how they change throughout the year!

Take a winter hike

This is one of my favorite ways to celebrate the winter solstice – getting outside and actually experiencing winter! It’s especially fun to take candles or lanterns and hike in the evening when it’s dark.

Go on a winter scavenger hunt

While you’re on your hike, go on a winter scavenger hunt!

Throw a first day of winter party

When my kids were small, we loved to throw a “first snow party” – but you could easily do this as a first day of winter party instead! Bring out your holiday mug, make hot chocolate and cookies, have some egg nog and ice cream, and you can celebrate the shortest day of the year in such a fun way!

Read books celebrating winter solstice

These are a few of our favorite picture books about the winter solstice:

• The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper
• Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter by Kenard Pak
• The Shortest Day by Wendy Pfeffer
• Winter Poems by Barbara Rogasky – this book has some great poems to read about winter; they can be used for copywork, part of your nature journaling, or just read them together! You’ll definitely want to buy it used, though.

Make a winter craft

• Make beeswax candles! Celebrate the shortest day of the year by creating your own light! We love these beeswax candle kits.
• Make a snowman with embroidery hoops
• Sew a winter hat from a sweater
• Sew a wintery pillow

Watch a video

Watch one of these videos about the winter solstice:

Discuss meteorological vs astronomical seasons

Sometimes it’s confusing for kids when the “first day of winter” is in the middle of December, but the weather might have been winter-like for awhile! This is a great time to talk about the difference between meteorological and astronomical seasons – especially with older kids!

This article is a great description of the differences between meteorological and astronomical seasons.

Nature journaling

Pull out your nature journals and write/draw about the solstice and what’s happening outside on the solstice! Observe what animals are doing, etc. You can also track the sunlight and take note of when the sun rises/sets to see just how many hours of sunlight there are on the shortest day of the year.

I love the book Sketching Outdoors in Winter for winter nature journaling.

Does your family have any traditions for celebrating winter solstice? Share them in the comments!