17 Exciting Ski Games For Kids

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If you want your kids to enjoy skiing, it’s important to remember that you keep things as fun as possible. Instead of thinking of skiing as a chore or a lesson, think of it as an exciting game played in the snow! Here are some of the best skiing games to keep kids excited, help them learn to ski better, and teach them ski safety. These games are all perfect for teaching your own kids to ski or just a family day on the slopes!

A lot of what kids learn in ski school is teaching by games and these are some of the best ski games to teach kids.

Follow The Leader Game to Teach Kids To Turn On Skis

Kids’ skis are going to go where they’re looking, so it’s important that they’re engaged and looking at the right things. Follow the leader games are a great way to teach kids how to turn since they simply need to follow the person in front of them. These games are especially helpful when skiing with toddlers. Here are some fun ways to spice up this kid’s ski game:

Race Car Driving:  Have your child hold an imaginary steering wheel in front of them and turn their wheel when they turn on their skis.  You can have kids who like the movie Cars, they can pretend to be their favorite character, or they could pick the color of their race car. This kids ski game is great for getting kids to ski faster and to help them get better at turning.

Barnyard Train: Everyone gets in a line and picks a farm animal to be.  Everyone skis down in the line and whenever they turn, they get to make their animal noise. This will get kids laughing, being silly, and practically forgetting that they’re learning something new because they’re having so much fun!

Airplane Flyers: have kids who love airplanes? This is the perfect kid’s ski game for them! Have kids stick their arms out to their sides and pretend to be airplanes as they follow your turns down the hill.

Simon Says:  This ski game for kids will require the leader to be a fast thinker on their feet AND to be a pretty good skier at the same time. This classic is perfect on skis and will really get your kids paying attention.  Play sections where you’re standing still on the hill and others while you’re skiing and making turns down the mountain.

Cone Obstacle Course: bring some small cones and set up 5-7 in a line, and let kids slalom down between them. Have them practice making big turns and short turns, as well as going fast and slow. To make this game more fun, have the kids tuck down like ski racers! We love these compact cones since they’re easy to throw in a backpack on the hill!

Copycat: In this game, your goal is to copy everything the leader is doing.It can be helpful to provide a distraction for your child so that they are not as focused on the process of turning and instead get their attention turned towards you.

Ski Games To Get Kids To Stop

Red Light Green Light: This classic game is one of the best at getting kids to learn to stop on skis. If you have a child who’s a beginner, change the game to Red light/yellow light/green light to practice going fast, slow, and stopping.  Once your child gets better at stopping, this can just be Red Light, Green Light.

Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox: This game is super fun to play on skis, and is another great game to get kids to practice stopping on skis. One player stands at the bottom as the Fox. The other players start at the top of the hill and ask “Mr. Fos, Mr. Fox, what time is it” Mr. Fox shouts back a number and turns around and counts to that while everyone skis closer to him. This goes on and on until everyone has passed Mr. Fox and Mr. Fox shouts out “Lunchtime” and tries to tag another skier. If you play this game, make sure that kids know to stay in control and watch for others when they start the tag portion of the game.

Ski Games That Teach Kids Balance

Smash The Bug: It’s really common for beginning skiers to get too far in the backseat and not have their weight far enough forward. The ideal body position is with the hips centered over the feet. To get kids to get their balance farther forward, have them practice smashing imaginary bugs in the front of their ski boots (on their skins).

Ski Games for Kids That Teach Edging

One Ski Challenge (intermediate skiers): To get kids learning how to use both edges of their skis, have them ski on only one ski while still making good S-Turns (they can just hold the other a few inches off the ground). Have the kids see how long they can ski like this and show them that in order to turn both ways, they need to use both edges of their skis.

Chairlift Games To Play With Kids

Keeping your kids entertained on the chairlift is one of the best ways to help them hold still and stay safe on the lift ride up.  We often give our kids a small treat on the chairlift to give them something to look forward to (an M&M or TicTac works great). Even our teens look forward to that tiny piece of candy on the chairlift and it’s an instant way to boost morale after a hard run.

Here are some fun games to play with kids on a chairlift:

I Spy With My Little Eye: One person picks something and everyone else has to guess what it is.

The Alphabet Game: Go through the alphabet and find something that starts with each letter. This game can get tricky and may require you to ride a few different lifts to make progress.

20 Questions: One person thinks of something and everyone else gets to ask 20 questions to try and figure it out what it is.

Two Truths And A Lie: Everyone takes turns telling two truths about themselves and one lie.  The

And Then: An ongoing story game.  One person starts the story and tells a bit, and says “and then” as they point to someone else.  That person has to continue the story until they say “and then” and pass the story to someone else.

Sing Songs: Pick your favorite silly songs and sing them together in funny voices on the chairlift.

Zap It Chairlift Game:

This is a super fun chairlift game to play with kids or with adults. Look below at the skiers and snowboarders, and watch them carefully.

• If someone’s about to fall, point your finger at them and say “ZAP” – if you do that before they hit the ground you get a point. (1 point)
• If you Zap someone and they don’t fall, you lose a point. (-1 points)
• If two people crash into each other, you get a point for each AND a get to double the points for a crash. (4 points)
• If you say Zap and someone loses a ski or a pole, you get an extra point for each piece of gear they lose + the fall.
• If you Sap someone and they have a full yardsale and lose both skis and poles, you get double points (1 for fall, 2 for skis, 2 for poles, X2 = 10 points)
• If you Zap a ski instructor that falls, you get 25 points. (25 points)
• If you Zap a ski patroller that falls, you get 50 points. (50 points)

Best Ski Jokes For Kids:

• What do you call a slow skier?  A slopepoke!
• How does a skier get to work?  By icicle.
• Why should you always invite a skier to Thanksgiving dinner? They’re great at carving.
• How do skiers correct their typing mistakes? White out!
• What do skiers like most about school? Snow and tell.
• What do skiers eat for lunch? Icebergers
• Where does a skier keep his money? In a snow bank.
• What do skiers eat for breakfast? Frosted Flakes.
• What kind of parties do skiers go to? Snowballs.

Have more ski games for children that have worked well for you? Leave them in the comments below!