Thursday, January 15, 2015

Building a Snow Fort


The weather finally warmed up enough for the children to head outside.  I passed by the kitchen window on my way to fold the endless pile of laundry, and saw them marching around in a circle.  It was a little strange, but I thought - well you know, they've been stuck inside for a while.

A little while later, when I glanced back out to check on them, I realized there was a method to their madness - they were marking out the outline of a snow fort.


They didn't quite manage an igloo, which is what it looked to me like they were going for...


...but by the time they came in for a hot chocolate warm up, I had found this fun, old, Canadian documentary to show them how close they had come to being on the right track.



They got a pretty big kick out of watching Tupak and Attik Utak build their temporary structure.  In fact, they picked up so many useful pointers, they're hoping for another arctic blast, and looking around for a good Inuit style snow knife, or two.

Of course, the forecast for today is for sunshine, and a high 42°F, not exactly Igloo building weather.  I wonder what Inuits used to build in the summer...


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting the video on the igloo building! We LOVED it! My kid try to make one every time it snows! Maybe this year they will be successful now. :)

Ticia said...

Snow forts, snowball fights, and snowmen are the only reason for having snow. Not that we ever really get any down here. It's been in the mid-30s and I'm quite done with cold weather and gray days. Quite done.

Die fantastischen 5 said...

I´m sorry for my kids, there is no snow in our garden...
Thanks for the video "How to build an igloo", we love it!

MaryAnne said...

The Alaskan Natives my grandpa knew growing up used to hunt for mammouth tusks in the summer, and then they would make things out of the ivory during the winter. My grandpa built small play igloos for my mom growing up - they lived in Alaska.

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Maryanne - That is very neat. We could have used his know how!

Phyllis said...

If it is going to be cold, it might as well snow, is what I always say. My kids would never stay outside long enough to make an igloo, even if we had enough snow. Perhaps it has something to do with keeping shoes on.

claireshomeeducation said...

I want to move in!!
We never get snow that deep. We might get enough to build a snowman but never enough to build an igloo for him to live in!

Sue Elvis said...

Warm enough for your children to head outside? Oh my! It still looks very cold out there to me! It looks like your children had a lot of fun while learning lots. I do like the sound of hot chocolate!