5 warm weather places where you can play in snow and ice

Kidspace offers one snowy play area for toddlers and one for bigger kids | Credit Kidspace Children’s Museum

Pasadena, CA: No need to head to the mountains to see snow in California. Just go to Kidspace Children’s Museum for the return of its annual Snow Days event featuring an arctic animal show, puppetry, Frozen singalong with Princess Elsa and plenty of actual, real snow. New this year is Storyteller Studio, a visual and performing arts space with wintertime activities.

A winter wonderland in the Big Easy? Must be some kind of miracle. | Credit Harrah’s New Orleans Casino & Hotel

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New Orleans, LA: Let the good times roll on Fulton Street, the pedestrian thoroughfare full of dining, shopping and entertainment just outside of Harrah’s New Orleans Casino & Hotel. During the winter holidays, Miracle on Fulton Street ushers guests through a giant ornament into a world of twinkling lights, “snow” fall, live entertainment and visits with Santa. New this year, be sure to swing through the hotel’s lobby to check out a replica of the city’s St. Louis Cathedral made from gingerbread.

The Snow Days slide is made from the same stuff that competitive skiers use to practice during the off-season. | Photo courtesy of the Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts.

Gadsden, AL: Snow minus the frostbite? Talk about Southern charm. The Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts hosts its annual Let It Snow event, which brings a nontoxic polymer material for kids to frolic in at this hotspot about 60 miles northeast of Birmingham. Kids can make faux snow angels, slide down a “snow” slide and “ice” skate in their socks, all without having to bundle up. Let It Snow coincides with Festival of Trees, an exhibit of 34 Christmas trees decorated by local schools and nonprofits.

Other than at Gaylord Palms, the only ice you’ll have to deal with on your Florida vacation is in a cocktail glass. | Credit Mommy Musings/Flickr Creative Commons.

Kissimmee, FL: Central Florida is the place where your kids’ dreams all come true, so of course there’s an ice palace just up the road from Disney World. The ginormous Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center is an indoor wonderland with four ice slides, live ice carving and countless ice sculptures, including a Nativity and, special this year, scenes from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Don’t let the Florida sunshine fool you; this ice is the real deal, and the place is kept at a chilly 9 degrees Fahrenheit.

Atlanta, GA: Even Hotlanta can’t resist getting in on the frosty fun. Stone Mountain Park transforms into Snow Mountain for a winter festival full of actual, fresh snow. Go tubing, ride a toboggan, build a snowman and then warm up by roasting marshmallows around the campfire.