Today was a snow day, and happily, the kid slept until almost ten, which gave me time to get my work done before she started proclaiming boredom—which commenced around 10:30. I set her up with crafts, then she played school, then Minecraft. Thankfully, her BFF from two houses down came over to keep her busy after that. But soon, cabin fever commenced, and they were itching to get outside and play in the snow.

Now, I know the drill all too well. They wanna go outside so badly, so they put on hats and hats and scarves and scarves, and they layer on the socks and mittens. Bundled up to the hilt, they step outside, make a couple of snow angels, stomp around a bit, and then clamor at the door like cold, lost puppies five minutes later, tracking in clumps of snow on their boots and their person. Later, I'll step in little puddles of water in my socks, and I'll say the S-word. 

So to keep them engaged outside for more time than it takes for me to heat up my coffee, I got out the Dollar Store spray bottles (they come in really handy for all manner of projects!) and the food coloring.

I put, oh, around 10 ounces of water in each bottle and had them add 20 drops of food coloring to each. That kept 'em busy for a while.

They took the bottles outside and commenced painting the snow. They stayed outside for a good 45 minutes, until their little fingers were freezing their balls off and the bottles were pretty much empty.

The color showed up better in real life than on camera—you can't even see the brilliant yellow in these photos—but still, next time I think we'll add 30 drops of food coloring to each bottle to make 'em pop a bit more. I'm also going to pick up more spray bottles so they can mix more colors next time.

All told, the girls had a great time, and the monochromatic landscape out back is now broken up by splashes and splotches of cheerful color. Next week, the snow will melt, and the next snowfall, if there is one, will be a new blank canvas for another round of snow-painting..

For more backyard winter activities to keep them outside having fun longer, check out Five Engaging Backyard Activities to Get 'Em Outside When It's Cold.