• Group games for winter weather embrace the cooler seasons.winter image by Marek Kosmal from Fotolia.com
  
  Cold weather and winds don't necessarily mean the end of group and team games. Outdoor winter games that embrace the changes that winter brings and indoor games for small groups promote team building and creative play even when it gets a bit cooler outdoors. For any outdoor game in cold weather, be sure to dress all players appropriately to ward off frostbite and wind burn.
  
  

Challenge Games

• Winter games can promote continued physical activity even as inclement weather rolls in. Host a medley of outdoor challenge games to get kids outside. Conduct a snowshoe relay race in which teams of four players compete to run the race in the fastest time. The first player in each team straps on a pair of snowshoes and then runs to a designated location and back to the start where the next player in line is waiting to take the shoes and continue the race. The team with the fastest time wins a wintry prize, like hot chocolate.
  
  Build engineering skills with a snow fort-building competition. Instruct pairs of players to use any outdoor material to create a snow fort that can hold at least two people. Award prizes for the strongest fort, the most creative fort and the fort with the roomiest interior. Even without snow, a winter fort-building competition can utilize felled branches or other outdoor materials.
  
  

Nature Games

• The natural world can seem like a completely different environment in the winter. Explore the ways the earth changes in winter with nature-themed group games. Play a game of snow-angel pictionary. Prepare the game by writing the names of several animals or winter-themed objects, such as snow flakes and blizzards on slips of paper and placing the slips in a bag. Teams of three to four players take turns sending one representative to pull a slip from the bag; all the representatives view the paper and then proceed to use their bodies to draw the image in the snow. The first team to correctly identify the item wins a point.
  
  Host a winter-themed bingo game by supplying pairs of players with unique bingo cards with winter animals, plants or weather in each box. Guide players on a nature walk through the woods. When a team spots an item on their card, they mark the item off. The first team to mark five boxes in a row wins the round.
  
  

Indoor Group Games

• If the weather is simply too cold to endure, winter-themed indoor games for small groups can keep children entertained and active. Collect several items of winter clothing gear such as snow pants, sweaters, hats and mittens. Place the items in a pile and divide the group into at least two teams of at least three players. When the leader says go, one representative from each team runs to the pile and puts on each item of winter clothing as quickly as possible before removing them again. The first player then tags the next player on her team, who repeats the process. The winner of the winter clothes relay is the team that has each player change clothes in the shortest amount of time.
  
  Winter clothes can also be used to host a soft snowball fight. Clear a large indoor space and move any breakable objects. Two teams build forts from couch cushions or blankets. Socks, mittens or small towels serve as snow balls during the snow ball fight.