When you’re immunocompromised, you may be tempted–and told–to just “stay home,” during the winter months. But for those with delicate immune systems, like kids with cancer, it’s not a viable (or wise) solution.
Kids need fresh air, social connection, and the simple joy of experiencing winter, even when their bodies need extra protection.
Safety comes first, but isolation isn’t the answer. There are ways immunocompromised kids can participate in winter fun with thoughtful precautions.
Winter brings increased viral activity, but hiding away indoors for months isn’t sustainable for the family’s mental health. Not only that, but staying indoors constantly creates its own health risks:
The key is to understand which risks are worth taking and how to minimize them, whether indoors or outdoors.
Timing is everything. Outdoor activities during off-peak hours mean fewer people and lower exposure risks. Sledding at 10 AM on a Tuesday will be less crowded (and safer) than on a Saturday afternoon.
Cold air isn’t the enemy. Crowds are the real issue. Many families find that their immunocompromised kids thrive in crisp winter air when properly dressed! The outdoors offers some of the safest entertainment available, with natural ventilation that indoor spaces could never match.
Pick less popular trails that provide exercise without the crowds. Pack up a thermos of hot chocolate and take a hidden neighborhood path or a lesser-known park trail for an adventure. Just be mindful of how long or strenuous the path may be. Lower energy leaves mean you’ll want to avoid extreme inclines or rough terrain.
If you talk with anyone who enjoys camping, they’ll tell you that nothing beats a cozy night under the stars. Set up a tent in the backyard, get a (safe and supervised) fire pit going, and make s’mores and other campfire treats. Even if you don’t sleep outside, the experience of dinner around the fire is a memorable one.
A pleasant drive means staying warm while also getting out and about. Drive through holiday light displays, take scenic routes, or create scavenger hunts. Pick up some hot cocoa at the local coffee shop to make the experience extra special.
Build snowmen in the backyard, create snow art with spray bottles of colored water, have snowball fights with just your household. Fresh snow is nature's clean canvas. Just bundle up appropriately.
When the weather gets too nasty or outside simply isn’t an option, there are still ways to have winter fun with your immunocompromised kids.
Create an "ice skating rink" with sock skating on hardwood floors. Build blanket fort "igloos." Have indoor snowball fights with white socks or foam balls. The imagination matters more than authenticity.
Set up a cozy window seat for storm watching. Hang bird feeders outside windows to create your own nature show. Open windows briefly (while bundled up) to feel winter air without leaving home.
Pack fresh, clean snow in bins for indoor play at the kitchen table. Snow melts, but the memory of building mini snowmen inside lasts. Just lay down towels and cookie sheets and embrace the mess.
The exhaustion of constant risk calculation is real. Every invitation becomes a complex equation of exposure versus experience. Give yourself grace when you decline activities, but also when you say yes to calculated risks.
Create non-negotiable safety rules to reduce decision fatigue:
Some weeks, protecting physical health means staying home more. Other weeks, mental health needs the boost of a carefully planned adventure. Both choices are valid. You're not failing if you're stricter than other families, nor are you reckless if you allow calculated risks others wouldn't take.
This winter, you'll continue performing the impossible dance of keeping your child safe while letting them be a kid. There's no perfect formula, only the daily calculation of what works for your family today. And that's enough.
Because winter wellness for kids with cancer isn't about avoiding all risks—it's about choosing which risks are worth taking to maintain the joy, wonder, and connection that make childhood worth protecting in the first place.