Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Reading – Things to Do in the Snow!
It is unimaginable to me that there are people in this world who have never seen snow! I can’t imagine living without snow.
We have the best of both worlds in Canada. Summers in Canada are nice and warm, so we get to do fun stuff like swimming, hiking, spending time at the beach, camping, etc. Unlike many countries in the world, however, we get to do fun stuff in the winter too!
For those of you who have never had the opportunity to play in the snow, here is a list of fun things you can do in the snow!
Warning! Before you go out in the snow, be sure to put on your snowsuit (so your clothes don’t get wet and you stay warm), your hat (so your head doesn’t get cold) and your mittens or gloves (so your hands don’t get cold)!
1) Make snow angels
Lie down in the snow on your back with your legs together and arms at your side. Keep your arms straight and drag them through the snow until your hands are above your head. At the same time, keep your legs straight and open them as far as you can. Repeat until you get tired. When you get up, you’ll see the shape of an angel in the snow!
2) Throw a snowball and start a snowball fight!Pick up as much snow as possible in your hands (not your bare hands, that’s too cold – make sure you have gloves or mittens on!) and pack it into a tight ball. Throw the snowball at the closest person. Repeat.
3) Build a snowman
You actually need a lot of snow for this if you want a big snowman! Sometimes I ended up using all the snow on the front lawn. Gather as much snow as possible into a big ball. Roll it around in the snow to make it bigger and rounder. Repeat this two more times until you have 3 giant snowballs (2 will do if you don’t have enough snow), then stack them one on top of the other. The largest snowball should be on the bottom. You can use twigs for arms, a carrot for the nose and rocks (if you can find any) or something dark for the eyes.
3) Dig tunnels and make slides
If enough snow falls, you can actually dig tunnels in the snow! As well, after a big snowfall someone has to go out and shovel the snow off the driveway. When this is done, there are usually huge piles of snow on the front lawn which are perfect for digging more tunnels and making slides (be careful – you should slide onto the driveway, not the road)!
4) Go tobogganing
Grab your toboggan and head for the biggest hill you can find! Sliding down a hill as fast as you can on a toboggan is quite possibly the best part of winter. You don’t even need a toboggan, you can use anything as long as it is flat – even a flattened box!
5) Build a fort
This is an all-afternoon endeavor and requires a lot of snow. As you can see in the picture above, I was very serious about building my fort. I was devastated when some older kids knocked it down in the middle of the night. I should have built it in the backyard instead of in the front yard. Remember to leave an opening to your fort so you can get out!
6) Go ice skating
Build your own skating rink in your backyard! My old primary school used to build its own rink every winter. All you need is snow, water, and freezing temperatures. Make sure the snow is packed down and you have a flat surface. Turn the garden hose on (used in summer to water the lawn and the flowers) and cover the entire surface with water. Make sure you flood it! Then, leave it overnight to freeze. It’s great for figure skating and playing hockey! If you don’t have enough room in your backyard, every town (no matter how small) will have a public rink where you can go skating!
While there are many, many more winter sports (which we will see during the Winter Olympics in February), these are all things you can do on your own property!
Another great thing about winter is the snow day. If there is a bad snowstorm and there is so much snow that it becomes too dangerous to drive a car – you don’t have to go to school or work and you can spend all day playing in the snow!
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