Here’s a fun way to make a winter playset for kids, especially on days when it’s too cold to really go outside and play.

The first step is to paint toilet paper tubes white; the more tubes you have, the bigger your town will be! I considered having Veronika join in for this step of the project, but then decided to paint the night before so she wouldn’t have to wait for it to dry in the morning. I covered 4 tubes with white paint but then ran out and had to use sparkly silver on a few instead.

In the morning, the kids helped set up the rest of this little town. First we decorated the tubes with marker to make windows and doors. Veronika loved proudly scribbling.

Big brother Travis was very deliberate with his architectural features.

He was particularly proud of this triangular window!

For rooftops, we glued on white coffee filters (which I  had to trim slightly to fit). White cupcakes liners would work for this step, too.

For snowy streets, I showed the kids how to pull cotton balls apart slightly so they were light and fluffy, just like snow on the ground. You might even consider piling a few cotton balls together to make “snowmen”!

It was time to make our town sparkle with snow. Veronika wanted to use glitter glue and I only had purple, which spoiled the look slightly. But then we sprinkled over it with white glitter!

Now it was a sparkly, snowy scene!

Veronika loved adding play figures to wander in the streets of town. We included some seasonally-appropriate toys from her advent calendar, like a small Christmas tree and snowman.

She loved the way the soft cotton balls felt, and also enjoyed putting her toy people inside the tube houses. I guess they were staying cozy and warm!

What will go in your winter town? Please share in the comments!