There is only so much time you can spend outside in the cold snow. So what can you do once your kids have exhausted the requisite outdoor snow activities, such as sledding, snowball fights, making snow angels and snowmen, and climbing those mega snow mountains here in RVA*? Sip some hot chocolate and bring the snow inside, where it is nice and warm!
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.
