I'm totally bummed that we will not be going to the fish hatchery today. I will try to reschedule for after spring break. The fish hatchery releases the big fish on April 1st. This would be a fun (FREE) spring break outing for you and your family. Thanks again to all the parents who were willing to join us.
Anyways back to the snow .... ummm what to do in the snow? Here are some ideas.....
SNOWMEN
It's a jungle out there
Why stop at making a snowman or woman? Why not make a snow cat, bird, dog, zebra, turtle, you name it. Animals like turtles or ladybugs are particularly easy because they don't stand up high off the ground. Turn your front or back yard into a zoo, aquarium, or other themed animal adventure. You could make snowy flowers too!
Color your snow
You can add a colorful touch to your snow sculptures with a little bit of food coloring mixed with water in a spray bottle. You don't want to pour colored water directly on your snow or it will melt it and create a big hole! But you can gently spray it or even dab some more concentrated colors on with a paintbrush for a really cool effect (no pun intended).
Accessorize, honey
Want to bring your snowman from snow to "whoa!"? Decorate him/her! If you have some old halloween costumes lying around, or even some clothes you've been thinking about getting rid of, put them on your snow person! You could make a funny, mismatched snowman, or a stylish haute couture snowman decked out with a scarf, sunglasses, maybe even an old handbag. Paris Hilton's got nothing on that! (ok maybe that was a bit of a stretch...)
Use your kitchen's ingredients
Who says you have to stick to coal and carrots? You can use all kinds of different foods and household items to give your snowman a boost. Maybe you want to give it some pepper slices for ears or a pear for a funny, bulbous nose. You could give it curly uncooked multicolored pasta for hair or grind up cookies for a 5 o'clock shadow. Give it face paint with ketchup and mustard. Give it an apron and have it hold a real ice cream cone! The options are virtually limitless.
Give it a family
A fun way to spruce up a snowman is to make more than one. You could try to recreate your own family, with smaller children snowmen and bigger parents, maybe even a snow pet. Take a picture of your family standing amidst your snow family and send it to friends.
Building a Snow Castle
Take your beach toys out of the sand and into the snow.
If you live near a beach or have been on vacation at a beach, chances are you have some sand toys around. Wet snow can work just like wet sand! Grab a sandcastle bucket and get building.If you don't have specific pails and shovels for sand, you can make your own snowy castle building tools out of a number of household objects. For bricks for an igloo, fort or the base of your castle, use a loaf pan from your kitchen.
For columns or towers, try stuffing a cardboard tube with snow until it's packed and then poke it out with your finger or a stick. An oat container is a great size for this.
For mounds or other structures, try a mixing bowl or cereal bowls.
Use square and round cake pans or stock pots for really cool shapes in all sizes.
Your castle is limited only by your imagination! If you want to make the traditional 'waffle style' borders on the tops of your castle shapes, try sticking some of your snow in an ice cube tray then place them around the border. Squirt some blue food coloring water around for a moat and you've got an icy medieval masterpiece.
More ideas ....
Catching snowflakes
Place a black sheet of paper into a freezer until cold. Take outdoors and use a magnifying glass to view snowflakes that land on the paper.
Snow insulation
Make some Jell-O following the directions on the box. Divide evenly into two plastic containers with lids. Place one on top of the snow and bury the other under the snow. Which one freezes first? Try activity again, wrapping containers with insulating materials like a scarf. Does it take longer for the Jell-O to freeze now?
And my favorite ....
SNOW ICE CREAM
Snow Ice Cream without Eating Snow
This first recipe uses snow and salt to freeze the ice cream (an example of freezing point depressions), but this recipe doesn't involve actually eating the snow (the rest of the recipes do). This is a great recipe if you want to play with the snow, but don't consider it clean enough to eat.- Fill a gallon freezer bag halfway full with snow or crushed ice.
- Add ~6 tablespoons of salt to the snow. This will lower the freezing point of the snow so you can freeze your ice cream.
- In a quart ziploc bag, mix:
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Zip up the quart bag, squeezing out any excees air, and put it inside the gallon bag.
- Close up the gallon bag, again removing any excess air since it makes mixing difficult.
- Wear gloves or else put a dry kitchen towel between your hands and the snow/salt bag. Squish the bags with your hands until the ice cream is frozen.
- Remove the smaller bag and enjoy your frozen treat!
Snow Ice Cream Recipe #1
This is a classic recipe that works really well because the sweetened condensed milk is thick and helps hold quickly melting snow together.- 1 gallon or big bowl of clean snow (if you like, you can put the bowl outdoors to collect it as it falls)
- 1 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Snow Ice Cream Recipe #2
- 1 gallon or big bowl full of snow
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup cream or milk
Chocolate Snow Ice Cream
- big bowl of snow
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup chocolate milk
Chocolate Snow Ice Cream Recipe #2
- big bowl of snow
- 1 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
- chocolate syrup or cocoa powder, to taste
