21 Exciting Ski Games For Kids (That Are Actually Fun)
Skiing with kids can be a blast, but sometimes kids need that little extra motivation to keep learning. The best way to keep kids engaged is to introduce play and fun into their skiing experience. That's exactly what these fun kids' ski games are for.
Here are 18 fun ski games that are perfect for kids of all ages and abilities. From simple races to skill-building challenges, these games will have your kids excited and challenge them to develop their skiing skills. Read on for some silly jokes.
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Best Ski Games For Kids
Here's a list of all the games, click the game or scroll down to read more about each one.
| Game | Difficulty | Skills Developed | Quick Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Light, Green Light | Easy | Stopping, speed control | Classic game where kids stop and go on command. |
| Ski Freeze Tag | Easy | Stopping, edge control | Tag where players freeze when tagged and need to be unfrozen. |
| Smash the Bug | Easy | Balance, weight distribution | Practice smashing imaginary bugs on their ski boots to improve balance. |
| One Ski Challenge | Easy to Moderate | Edging, balance | Try to make smooth turns on one ski while holding the other ski off the snow. |
| Ski Limbo | Moderate | Edging, balance | Ski under a limbo stick, progressively lowering it to challenge their edging skills. |
| Follow the Ski Tracks | Moderate | Edging, precision | Follow tracks on a groomed slope to improve edge consistency and control. |
| I Spy | Easy | Observation, focus | Take turns spotting objects and announce them while riding the chairlift. |
| The Alphabet Game | Easy | Observation, creativity | Find objects starting with each letter of the alphabet during the chairlift ride. |
| Follow the Leader | Easy | Reaction, coordination | Mimic the moves of the leader, encouraging reaction to terrain and other skiers. |
| Obstacle Course | Moderate | Agility, control | Navigate through a course, slaloming around obstacles to improve control and speed. |
| Ski Bowling | Easy | Aiming, control | Knock over pins with spare gloves or snowballs, practicing aiming and control. |
| Snowball Target Practice | Moderate | Aiming, coordination | Throw snowballs at targets like trees and bushes to improve aiming and coordination. |
| Ski Relay Race | Moderate | Speed, coordination | Teams race down a section of slope and hand off to the next teammate. |
| Slopestyle Course Race | Difficult | Control, terrain park skills | Racers compete for fastest time on a makeshift slopestyle course. |
| Ski Jumping | Difficult | Takeoff, landing | Build kickers to catch air and stick the landing. |
| Ski Leapfrog | Moderate | Timing, coordination | Skiers take turns passing each other down the hill. |
| Hockey Stop Challenge | Moderate | Edging, stopping | Practice abrupt hockey stops, judging distance and speed. |
| Jump 180s | Difficult | Jumping, air awareness | Work on 180 degree jumps, landing fakie. |
| Backwards Skiing | Moderate | Balance, new muscles | Ski down the bunny hill backwards, spotting landings. |
Ski Games To Get Kids To Stop
1. Red Light, Green Light
This classic game is skiing gold for beginning shredders. When Coach yells “Green light!” the hype crew skis forward in best ski boogie form. "Red light!" means slam on the brakes and stop with pizza power. We like to start on flatter terrain with this one before graduating to steeper slopes as skills progress. For extra spice, let the kiddos pick favorite cartoon characters and move like them on the greens then freeze like statues on the reds. Laughs for days!
2. Ski Freeze Tag
Pick one kid as “It” and let ‘em take off zig-zagging to tag the other animals in this play zone. If tagged, players must drop into a wedge to freeze on the spot. The only cure for their frozen feets is getting tagged back to life by another player. This game gets kids comfy with stopping quick and changing edges like champs. Play until everyone’s tagged then pick a new It to take off sprinting and slicing. Frozen fun for all!
Ski Games That Teach Kids Balance
3. Smash the Bug
Time to squish some “bugs”! Have the tikes practice smashing imaginary creepy crawlers on the front of their ski boots to get their weight centered perfectly over their feet. No more backseat drivin’ here! This engages their cores and helps them feel that ideal aligned position from head to toes. Once they get the motion down, you can progress to calling out uphill or downhill bugs to work on directional balance. Squash those bugs!
4. One Ski Challenge
Our intermediate little hot dogs can try making smooth turns down the slope on just one ski while holding the other ski a few inches off the snow. Switcheroo to the other leg once halfway down. This improves edging skills and lateral balance all while looking steezy. Challenge kids to see how long they can stay up on each leg before touching down. One-ski style points!
Ski Games for Kids That Teach Edging
5. Ski Limbo
How low can you go? Set up a limbo stick with two pole-wielding coaches at the top of the run. Skiers take turns skiing underneath, leaning way back as they pass through to sneak under the bar. Start high then lower that stick inch by inch each round until only the best low limbo leaners remain. This gets the kids engaging knees and ankles to roll those edges over and keep their tips up like champs. Chaotic kid limbo at its finest!
6. Follow the Ski Tracks
Pick a nice groomer and have the kids follow directly inside a random set of tracks down the corduroy. Keeping those skis precisely in the premade tracks improves edge consistency and control. For added fun, pretend to be animals walking perfectly inside the tracks. Any derailments into other tracks means you got eaten by the Snow Beast. This game keeps those skis on track. Just follow that leader!
Chairlift Games To Play With Kids
7. I Spy
A classic for keeping boredom at bay on long lift rides. Take turns picking random objects you spot off the lift and announcing “I spy with my little eye something ______!” The first to correctly guess the spy object wins! This keeps kids scanning the terrain and engaged instead of asking “Are we done yet?” 500 times.
8. The Alphabet Game
Challenge the crew to find something starting with each letter of the alphabet before the lift ride ends. Signs, clothing brands, trail names and features are all fair game. You can even find natural objects if you get stuck on X or Z. Getting through all 26 letters takes teamwork, focus and serious creativity. If you succeed, celebrate with a cheesy alphabet cheer at the top!
Ski Games for Fun & Silliness
9. Follow the Leader
The name says it all in this classic. Take turns as the front of the pack making creative swooping turns, jumps and moves for everyone else to copy. Add themes like animals or cars for bonus silliness. Kids work on reacting to the terrain and other skiers while you enjoy the hilarious show. Crazier moves equal more laughs!
10. Obstacle Course
Set up a quickie obstacle course with cones, sticks or whatever you’ve got and you’ve instantly got yourself some fun. Have the kiddos take turns slaloming through the gates in control and call out their times. A little friendly family competition brings out everyone's try-hard. See who can nail the fastest time. Set up multiple courses and get creative with the layout.
11. Ski Bowling
Spare gloves or hats work great as impromptu “pins” for this classic snow game. Set them up at the base of a mellow slope then take turns using spare gloves as bowling balls. Small kids can simply push a snowball and get creative with where you place the pins each round. Knock over a pin on the move? That’s some serious bowling skill! Sled bumpers as ramps for the pins? We like the way you think!
12. Snowball Target Practice
Gather snow ammo at the top of a run then take turns practicing that overhand throw to hit targets on the edges like trees and bushes. Young marksman at work! Remember to stay clear of other skiers with your throws and pack tightly for ultimate air time. Up the ante by awarding crazy points for targets: 100 for a tree, 200 for a bush, and so on. Bullseye!
Racing Games
14. Ski Relay Race
Split into teams and take turns racing down a short section of the slope. High five the next teammate to go when you finish. First team to have all players complete the race wins! You can make it more challenging by using gates or including tricks and jumps on the relay section.
15. Slopestyle Course Race
Set up a informal slopestyle course with bumps, banks, rails, and kickers. Race through the features head-to-head competing for the fastest time. Get creative with the features you use and vary up the course layout each race!
Fun with Friends
17. Ski Jumping
Build a kicker and see how much air you can catch off the lip. Land softly like a pro. Focus on speed control, take-off and landing technique for big air.
18. Ski Leapfrog
Take turns passing each other as you leapfrog down the slope. Time your passes carefully to avoid collisions! Make it a competition to see who can complete the most clean passes.
Skill Builders
19. Hockey Stop Challenge
Start side-slipping then come to an abrupt hockey stop. See how quickly you can stop or how little distance it takes you. Work on weight transfer and edging skills for quickest stops.
20. Jump 180s
Work on 180 degree jumps by taking off and landing fakie. Build up to 360s for the advanced shredders! Use small kickers and focus on air awareness and smooth landings.
21. Backwards Skiing
Look slick skiing down the bunny hill backwards! Spot your landing and work on new muscles. Build confidence before trying more difficult terrain backwards.
Bonus Game: Snow Wipeout Chairlift Contest
This chairlift game is super fun for kids and grownups. Watch the skiers and snowboarders below carefully as you ride up.
- If you call out "SNOW!" before someone falls, you get 5 points if they do.
- But falsely predicting a wipeout loses you 5 points.
- Correctly calling two people crashing into each other is 20 points - 5 for each fall plus 10 bonus points for the collision.
- Predicting lost gear - a ski or binding in a fall - gets you 3 extra points per item plus the 5 for the fall.
- Calling a full yard sale with skis and bindings lost is the big one - double points for the two skis, two bindings, and fall equals 50 points!
- Instructor falls are worth 125 points.
- Patroller wipeouts score 250 huge points.
Get ready to shout those SNOW calls and rack up the points in this chairlift game!
Best Ski Jokes for Kids
Kids love to laugh and so I put together 20 of the best ski jokes for kids:
- What do you call a snowman in July? A puddle!
- What did one snowman say to the other snowman? Do you smell carrots?
- Why was the snowman looking through the carrots? He was picking his nose!
- What do snowmen eat for breakfast? Frosted Flakes!
- Why don't you see penguins in Britain? Because they're scared of Wales!
- What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite!
- What do snowmen wear on their heads? Ice caps!
- Why don't mountains get cold in the winter? They wear snowcaps!
- What do you call a snowman party? A snowball!
- What do snowmen call their offspring? Chill-dren!
- Where do snowmen keep their money? In a snowbank!
- How do you know if there's a snowman in your bed? You wake up wet!
- What do you get if you cross a bear and a snowman? Frost bite!
- Why don't you call a snowman Bob? Because that's his name-anol!
- How do you know when you have a good snowman? They're 'snow' good!
- What does a ghost see on a ski slope? A mummy!
- What's a snowman's favorite breakfast? Ice crispies!
- Why was the snowman sad? He had a meltdown!
- How do you know if a snowman has been in your garden? There's snow prints!
- Why don't snowmen take vacations? They melt!
More great games here.
Here is a nice quote from the CSIA Teaching Children resource about fun games for kids ski lessons:
"Use games and imagination. Play copy cat, do not teach just by talking and telling! Stand beside students for demos, not in front. Pairing, cat and mouse, follow the leader. Use themes and imagination like 'Spread peanut butter' or 'squish a strawberry' with the outside ski."
The source is the Canadian Ski Instructors' Alliance Teaching Children guide, available here.
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