Hilltown Families 
Let’s Play: Great Day for Snow Play!
Go Out in the Snow a Bit Each Day!
It’s a great day to get out into the snow! Just add kids and go! But before you head out, prepare so as to optimize the fun! Set up a healthy snack for the kids to energize and hydrate, then have them take a bathroom break BEFORE getting dressed in their winter gear. While they eat, gather up the warm clothes by the door. Layers. No cotton. Wool and other fibers are warmer. Long underwear. Turtlenecks. Sweaters. Snow pants. Snow jacket. Warm socks. Waterproof boots. Winter hats. Warm mittens you can tuck up into the jacket sleeves. And extra mittens to swap out when the first pair gets wet. When its really cold, add a neck warmer and leg warmers. Cover all the skin you can in layers. Then open the door and let ’em out… and the kids will just play!
Snow has a magic effect. There are the traditional snowy day activities. Sledding. Slipping and sliding on patches of ice. Climbing snow hills. Building a snow person. Walking through the drifts. A snowball fight. Constructing a snow fort or igloo. Making snow angels. For variety, as the winter lingers on, present some other options.
- Paint Snow: Fill spray or squirt bottles with water and food coloring to paint in the snow (Avoid spraying each other as food coloring can stain.).
- Build Winter Fairy Houses: Build mini houses with icicles for walls. They can be houses for snow fairies similar to summer time fairy stick houses.
- Make Mini Snow People: Use snowballs and tiny foods like raisins and nuts for faces and toothpicks for arms for mini snow people.
- Blow Bubbles: Blow bubbles on a cold, cold day. They freeze.
- Hula Hoop: Have a hula hoop contest dressed in all those layers.
- Flashlight Tag: It gets dark early, so consider a game of flashlight tag before dinner.
- Box Sled: Use a cardboard box or trash can lid for a sled.
- Tracking: Go on a hunt for animal tracks in the snow.
- Indoor Snow Bin: IF it gets too cold outside, bring a plastic bin of snow inside to play. Add a few action figures, toy trees and some ice cubes or sugar cubes for building and pretend to have a tiny winter landscape inside.
Enjoy the season!
January Collections
We are always collecting and saving items in bins and on shelves for creative projects. This month add a few things to enhance snow play:
- spray or squirt bottles
- food coloring
- flattened cardboard boxes and large trash can lids make great sleds
- traditional summer playthings like bubbles or a hula hoop
- large plastic bin to bring snow inside
Related Post: 9 Resources for Surviving & Thriving the Winter in Western Massachusetts
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carrie was born, raised and attended university in Michigan. As a child she rode bikes and explored her rural neighborhood freely with siblings and neighbor kids. Mom and Dad never worried. The kids always made it home after hours wading in the creek and climbing trees in the woods. After college she moved to Kyoto, Japan to study traditional Japanese woodblock printing. In 1995, she began a career at a small Chicago firm designing maps and information graphics. Life brought a move to Northampton in 2001. Carrie completed her MFA at UMass in 2004. Her little love, Sophia, was born in 2005. The two live in downtown Northampton where they constantly make things, look forward to morning walks to school and plan each spring for additions to their plot at the community garden. Carrie is a licensed family care provider and continues to do freelance work for clients in Chicago.
