Snowball fights, a snowman or two.
My nose will get cold and my toes will too.
But I love winter, you know.
The song above was written by a second grade class with co-writing credit to Fritz Davis. When you ask kids about things you can do during a snowy winter day, the answers come quick and simple no matter where they live.
Here are some things that you can do when the snow in Red River New Mexico is deep enough to invite kids of all ages to have some fun.
Clearly in a town with two ski areas, skiing is an obvious choice for spending a day. Snowmobiles are fun, too, but there are some more traditional ways to create memories on a snowy day.
Walkin’ In A Winter Wonderland
A nice slow stroll through new-fallen powder has special magical properties, especially when snowflakes are dancing and drifting slowly all around you. A walk by the river can put a bit of romance into the day.
Call It “Snow Fort Day”
It requires a simple design and only a bit of thought to structural engineering, but building a snow fort is a great venture for youngsters with warm gloves and boots. A fort can be elaborate or basic, a castle or just a small wall, depending on how they intend to use it and how much snow is available.
Now You Need Snowballs
Snowballs in flight are a grassroots activity, even though the grass is buried by the snow. Impulsive, and usually spur-of-the-moment events, they are a great way to expend energy. Creating a snowball, as opposed to just tossing a hand full of snow at someone, is as basic as clapping your hands together. A word about safety: it is against the Geneva Convention to use a rock as the center of your snowball. Keep it safe, keep it fun.
Frosty Or Parson Brown?
Speaking of snowballs… that is the first step in making a snowman and you can still call them snowmen, but they can also be snowwomen if you so desire. If you build them, you claim naming rights.
You can build them nearly anywhere and they may last for days or until some scamp knocks them down.
The term snowpeople hasn’t caught on yet, but Snow Art, not to be confused with Ice Sculpture, has been around for a long time. Even the great Michelangelo built snowpeople, with the patronage of the House of Medici, rulers of Florence, Italy. In the modern world, Morinville in Alberta, Canada, Potsdam in New York, and Kazan in the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia host Snowman Festivals. There are a few in Japan also and snow art is frequently part of the competitive festivities for winter carnivals.
