MOOD: LET’S PLAY OUTSIDE

Bundle up for some fresh-air fun. Best of all? Everything listed here is free.

• Who says you have to have a dog to go to the dog park? Watch yours or someone else’s playful pup frolic in the snow at the Scioto Audubon Dog Park (347 Maier Pl.). This park features a 2.5-acre agility course and separate spaces for big and little dogs.

• Plenty of beautiful birds call central Ohio home when it’s cold outside. Find out more about them at the nature center at Grange Insurance Audubon Center (505 W Whittier St) or go on one of the scheduled guided bird hikes.

• For some good, old-fashioned sledding, BYOS to the sledding hill located near the obstacle course at Scioto Audubon Metro Park (305 W Whittier St).

• See Georges Seurat’s famed painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” re-created in larger-than-life sculpted evergreens at Topiary Park (480 E Town St).

MOOD: LET’S DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Since snow days are out of the ordinary, they call for doing something out of the ordinary, too – like visiting places on your “someday” list just like these.

• From firetrucks to life in the firehouse, there’s sure to be something that’ll spark your firefighter fascination at the Central Ohio Fire Museum (260 N 4th St).

• Get up close and personal with our nation’s heroes through the freedom-fighting stories found at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum (300 W Broad St).

• Visit a 100-year-old warehouse and discover modern art creatively housed among the many art studios at 400 W Rich.

MOOD: LET’S EAT

Comfort food is the well-known elixir for the snowbound. Fortunately, Downtown Columbus has plenty of delicious remedies.

• If a hungry bunch plus cold, snowy weather equals hangry indecision, head over to the North Market (59 Spruce St) in the Convention District. Dozens of choices. None of them wrong.

• For smoked wings, BBQ, and southern-style sides and sweets, hit up Pecan Penny’s (113 E Main St.). The mid-century modern vibe is just part of its charm.

• For the ultimate warmer-upper – fresh-ground, fresh-brewed coffee – stop by Hemingway's Coffee Nook inside 175 on the Park (175 S Third St.).