A winter to do list – 30 slow living activities from the Instagram community

Winter days getting you down? I asked my insta friends to share their favourite winter activity, and have put them together to make a failsafe winter to do list.

In fact, truth be told – I struggled to choose just 30 for this list! Many of the comments also made me lament the fact that I don’t live in a Scandinavian winter wonderland. Ice bowls! Snow shoeing! Sleigh rides! Bring it all on.

30 slow living activities for winter

1. “When winter mornings are frosted, the rooftops and nature is dusted with frost and everything seems to quietly shimmer in that low winter sun (probably my favourite sort of sunshine there is) and I can sit on my back step with a cup of tea, not for long because even with a hot drink it’s too cold out, but for those few quiet moments you feel peaceful within yourself.” -@acornandauger

2. “Make a pot of borscht for weekend lunch. Dicing up raw beetroot great fun – feel like lady Macbeth by the time I’ve finished. (Serve with sour cream and sourdough bread.)” – @anatolypatrickarchitecture

3. “Plan one fun, interesting thing a month you’d like to do over the coming year so that next winter you can look back at all the nice times you had.” – @capturebykaye

4. “Braving the cold and rain, bundled up against the wind to go to a dance class where I strip down to dance gear and let my body feel free, then grabbing a few treats in the 15 mins I have to wait for the bus back to the village and then eating them completely guilt free.” – @misslizabrown

5. “A car picnic, somewhere wonderfully scenic and take a hot water bottle!” – @grainandfeather

6. “Standing in my open kitchen door looking out, feeling the cold crisp air, holding my hot tea while watching the morning sun, and the steam rising from the houses.” -@kindredwild

7. “Giving your feet a soak with some foot salts and your favourite essential oils. My kids love it before bed when it’s chilly too.” – @tanyafelt

8. “Being blasted by the heater as you walk into M&S” – @hayleighsanderson (?)

9. “Going to the beach! It’s so quiet in winter and so long as we all wrap up warm it’s just as good as going in the summer.” – @life_with_anniebobs

10. “Foraging wild mushrooms brought out by the rain; making hearty soups and stews; making herbal decoctions like Elderberry cordial.” – @terroiraquea

11. “I make blueberry compote with vanilla, star anise and cinnamon, which we eat with spelt pancakes and coconut yoghurt.” – @lewesmap

12. “Walking outside, after a fresh fallen snow, in search of critter footprints. With a local wildlife guide in hand, it’s fun to identify the critters that live around you and learn about the patterns of their lives.” – @mypetiteniche

13. “Definitely eating warm comforting foods! Having a stew simmering away in the slow cooker all day, with a gorgeous smell drifting through the house and making crispy dumplings to go with it. Really nice to return home to after a lovely winters walk.” – @eversewdainty

14. “I’ve only just learned to love winter this year after realising I had the wrong mentality to it my whole life! For the last couple of months, our weekends have mostly involved getting up early, donning big coats and wellies and heading off to a different park/field/open space every Saturday or Sunday morning then being home in time for a pre-lunch mug of hot chocolate to get warm again. The best bit is looking at google maps on a Friday night and deciding which undiscovered patch we’re going to head to, it’s made winter not only bearable but wonderful!” – @seppicino

15. “I like to fill up my bird feeders, watch the birds from my kitchen nook, drink something hot and chill.” – @cmoore2455

16. “I love coming home from work and being cocooned in my home. I lock the doors, close curtains, light candles and just live a simple life until I need to go to work again.” – @indigoandmac

17. Mulled cider. It’s so much more drinkable than mulled wine, and I’m starting the campaign right now for it to be considered an all-winter drink, and not just for Christmas.

18. “Candle-lit breakfast! I never would have believed how calm it makes breakfast time with two wild boys until I tried it” – @darlingbudsofme

19. “I also rearrange the furniture a lot during the winter, put new pictures in our photo frames, and start my spring cleaning early! Doing projects like this INSIDE keeps me busy and happy when it’s too darn cold to go out! Plus, it’s so fun to have a fresh look on the interior every year, and by rearranging your furniture and pictures it all looks brand new to you without having to spend an arm and leg!” – @thehyggewife

20. “Skating on an outside rink. The sound of the ice, stiffness of my frozen cheeks. Then going inside for hot chocolate.” – @adventuresinhappiness

21. “Deep sleep is best in winter. Fresh bedlinen, blankets and hotties if needed, plus no cares – this is the formula to recharge after all those months of running too fast. Bliss!??” – @llanjessica

22. “In the winter, I have a tradition with my daughter, I buy tickets to the nutcracker ballet, and the night of the performance we get dressed up with fancy dresses and hair and watch the ballet and then we go to one of the fanciest restaurants in our city (Tucson) and we order whatever we want. I let her pick one friend to bring and we just have a fantastic time! She’s 14 years old now, and she still looks forward to it every year. And I love it! Because it’s a real night off and we just enjoy each others company and have great talks, and act like we don’t have a care in the world.” – @shinshanigan

23. Fairylights, everywhere.

24. “Cracking the ice on puddles with my little girl – brings back happy memories of my own childhood.” – @christinagolian

25. “Taking a chess board to a local coffee shop and playing a few rounds with my husband while we warm up with some coffee and snacks” – @merrimentandmirth

26. “Taking a camp cooker out to the forest to make fresh hot chocolate to drink the sun goes down. The last sips can be drunk while gazing at the stars” – @juliarkendal

27. If the greyness is feeling oppressive, I like to head to my nearest IKEA and spend a whole afternoon wandering around. The absence of windows, climate control and bright white lighting make the season completely irrelevant, helping me shake that winter fog. Plus, you get to come home with 200 tea lights and a new set of spoons, which makes any day better!

28. “Get some hyacinth bulbs to enjoy as they grow in my sitting room” – @cosysexycool

29. “In January I always buy myself cut daffodils because I’m too impatient to wait for them popping up in garden.  Super cheap and easy but cheers me up from winter blues knowing spring will come around eventually.” -@countryorcoast

3o. Stacking a log pile. We get ours delivered in bulk twice in winter, and though I loathe the carrying-it-all-in, there’s something infinitely satisfying about crafting the loosely tessellating jigsaw of a wood stack.

A video posted by Sara Tasker (@me_and_orla) on Jan 19, 2017 at 12:01am PST

If you’re feeling inspired, do head over to the full post to see more suggestions.

Living in the Southern hemisphere? Get ready for Autumn with the list I made in October.

What are your favourite ways to weather the winter? Anything I’ve missed off this list?