Here are a few ideas for enjoying the white stuff indoors:

Make Snow Cream

Ingredients:

8 cups fresh snow

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. In large bowl, pour sweetened condensed milk over snow.

2. Add vanilla extract and mix thoroughly.

3. Serve immediately or, place in freezer for 10 minutes, then serve.

Source: wikiHow

Store snow balls or icicles in the freezer

Make snow balls outside and then bring them indoors to store in the freezer. Alternatively, collect a variety of different sized icicles.   Inspecting them later when the novelty of outdoor fun has worn off can keep them busy for awhile!  Get the magnifying glass out, compare snow density from different snowfalls, measure the snow balls or icicles, or document their melting times outside the freezer.  And if you have a deep freeze freezer or can spare the space in your freezer, these frozen artifacts of winter are especially fun to bring out on a hot summer day!

Snow Bath Fun

Use the bathtub to create a mega sensory tub.  No, I am not suggesting the kids take a bath in the snow, but if you can put down some floor protection, think of all the ways kids can bring snow into the bathtub!  Snow shovels, or even a “snow brigade” of kids handing each other buckets of snow from outside requires teamwork and again, takes up a chunk of time!  This activity requires a little extra planning to avoid falls from any spilled/melted snow and ensuring it is only your bathtub that is packed with snow. Dump your ice tray into the tub before adding snow to pre-cool the tub so that snow doesn’t melt so rapidly.  Add paint or food coloring to paint with the snow, or use dump trucks and excavators to move snow.

Have you tried any of these ideas? Please share other suggestions of warm snow activities.

photo source: gatineaujoe, Flickr

*On the very last snow day in RVA a few weeks ago, we went to an empty parking lot that had been plowed and let our boys “climb every mountain” – the snow that had been pushed from the plow.  They are the only mountains of snow we will ever see here, but it served as a way to run, move and explore after cabin fever set in.

Great Wolf Lodge has teamed up with candy maker Just Born to create a gingerbread house to put all others to shame!! Over 5,000 candies decorate the life-sized house and 1,320 pounds of sugar was used – wow, talk about a sugar rush.  
No, you can’t take a bite of it (delicious as it may look and smell) but you can enjoy breakfast, lunch, or dinner inside the cottage. There is a $10 entry fee to dine inside the gingerbread house, and the proceeds from your meal go to Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

Of course, Great Wolf Lodge hasn’t stopped there. For those of you dreaming of a white Christmas, look no further than the Great Wolf Lobby where the forecast brings daily snowfall (where else can you play in the “snow” and ride a water slide in the same place?).

Kids can get crafty at the North Pole University and earn a “Snowpoloma” and a special surprise gift. Send that last-minute Christmas letter to Santa or sit down with the big man himself when you visit with Mr. & Mrs. Claus.

Once again, Great Wolf Lodge packs so much to do in one weekend, you’ll have to remind yourself to visit the waterpark!  If you don’t have much planned for your holiday break, try to squeeze a getaway to Williamsburg in, don’t forget, you can use your Richmondmom.com Savvy Saver Card for 20% off the best available rate.

Great Wolf Lodge is a sponsor of Richmondmom.com