Have Fun on a Snow Day

It’s one of the best feelings ever to wake up, look out your window to a blanket of snow, and hear on the TV or radio that school is canceled! But how do you make the most of your snow day? There are several ways to have fun both indoors and outdoors.

Steps

Playing Snow Sports and Games

1. Go sledding. Grab a plastic sled or toboggan and go sledding down the nearest hill If you don’t have a sled, you can use a plastic inner tube, a cardboard or plastic box lid, or a cookie sheet or cafeteria tray.
   • You can also try snowshoeing or cross country skiing if you have the equipment!
2. Have a snowball fight. Get together with friends or family and divide into two teams. Post up on either side of your yard and throw snowballs at each other. You can build walls or forts to help protect yourself from the other side. When you’re tired, fall down in the snow and make a snow angel!
   • Make the Perfect Snowball by packing snow when the weather is close to freezing. Slushy, icy, or powdery snow will not work as well for making good snowballs.
3. Build a snow fort or igloo. Build a snow fort by creating one big circular wall of snow, to hide behind and store snow balls during a snowball fight or just to relax in. For an igloo, grab a friend or family member to help cut and stack snow blocks to create a dome shape.
   • You can also create blocks and shapes for a fort or igloo by packing snow into sand buckets, empty milk cartons, or cake and bread pans.
4. Do a scavenger hunt. Make a list of some things you’d only see after a snowstorm, like a carrot nose on a snowman or a red sled, and have your friends try to find them all in your neighborhood. First one back to the house wins!
5. Shovel driveways and sidewalks. You can make clearing your driveway and sidewalk into a game by seeing how quickly you can get the whole thing done, racing someone else to finish a section, or by using all the snow you shovel to make a big snow hill or snow fort. You could also earn a little extra money by knocking on neighbors’ doors to see if they need their driveway shoveled!

Doing Outside Activities

1. Make a snowman or other creatures. Build a snowman, a snow family, or snow animals like a cat, dog, bird, or caterpillar! Use sticks, pine cones, rocks, and anything else you can find in nature to make faces for your snow creatures, or grab some buttons, hats, and scarves from inside to dress them up.
2. Make snow slushies or ice cream. Gather some snow into a cup and drizzle on maple syrup, fruit juice, or soda for a snow slushie. Or add milk, sugar, and vanilla extract to snow to make snow ice cream.
   • You should only eat snow in small quantities and only if it is clean and clear of pollutants and pesticides. You may not want to eat snow if you live in an area with heavy smog or other local pollutants, and you should always steer clear of snow that is colored yellow, brown, pink, or any other color than pure white.
3. Color the snow. Fill spray bottles with water and food coloring to write or draw with colors in the snow. Spell your name, make a tic-tac-toe board, or just create beautiful designs.
4. Go for a walk. Check out your favorite park or trail—or just your own block—to see how different it looks in the snow, spot all the footprints and animal tracks you can see, and find the best snowman in the neighborhood.
5. Put out birdseed. Line the railing of a deck or patio with birdseed, or coat pinecones in peanut butter and then roll them in birdseed. Place them somewhere you can see easily from a window, and have fun watching and trying to identify all the birds that show up for a snack.

Staying Inside

1. Make hot cocoa and cookies. Stir some hot cocoa mix into hot milk or hot water and top with marshmallows. Make your favorite cookie recipe, or try some super-easy peanut butter cookies using 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 egg.
2. Do some crafts. Make paper snowflakes by folding a square piece of paper into smaller and smaller triangles, then cutting shapes into it and unfolding to see your design. Color in a coloring book, or make your own playdough or silly putty.
3. Make a blanket fort. Use chairs, couches, and tables as the sides of your fort to drape blankets over. Then stuff the inside of the fort with plenty of pillows, flashlights, games, and snacks. You could also go “indoor camping” by bringing sleeping bags into your blanket fort or a tent set up inside, and make s’mores over the kitchen stove or fireplace.
4. Read and write. Curl up and get into a new book or reread one of your favorites. Write in a journal or write a story or poem about snow.
5. Watch movies or play video games. Have a movie marathon of all the movies in a series or movies by your favorite director. Or invite friends over and have a video game tournament.
6. Play games and do puzzles. Get together with family or friends to play board games, card games, crosswords, or a jigsaw puzzle.
7. Have a spa day. Stay in your pajamas and pamper yourself by painting your nails, putting on a face mask, and soaking in the bath.

Tips

• Wear lots of warm layers when going out in the snow. It’s best to wear comfortable warm layers of shirts and pants topped with a waterproof coat and snow pants. Don’t forget to cover your ears and as much of your face as possible with a hat and scarf.
• If roads are bad, you don’t need to travel anywhere to have fun. Invite friends your age in the neighborhood to play in the snow in your yard, or find the best hill close by for sledding.

Warnings

• Don’t assume that the next day will be a snow day! Don’t count on a snow day until you’ve heard official news from your school via the radio, TV, or internet. Get all your homework done and be prepared to go to class like any other day. It’s no fun to be late to school without your homework because the snow day you were expecting didn’t happen.
• Be careful about being out in the snow for too long, because this may cause frostbite or hypothermia in extreme cases. Check the temperature and weather recommendations for how long it’s safe to stay outside.

Related Articles

• Make the Best of a Bad Weather No School Day
• Play in the Snow
• Make a Snow Angel
• Build a Snow Fort
• Have a Great Day in the Snow

Sources and Citations

See also

• Make a Snow Angel
• Ride a Bike in the Snow
• Get Started Dog Mushing
• Exercise Outdoors in Winter Weather
• Keep Running During Snow Season
• Make Snowshoes and Use Them

What links here

• Find Out if School Is Cancelled for Bad Weather
• Predict a Snow Day