Creative Snow Play / Winter Sun Catchers

CREATIVE SNOW PLAY
by Lois Breneman, © 2002, Revised 2008, Heart to Heart 

Growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania was great fun -- and work, of course, but in the winter we loved ice skating on our pond, sometimes having the church youth group or friends from Youth for Christ there for "crack-the whip," hot chocolate, snacks and a good time.  Once when the ice was thick enough, we even had a bonfire at the edge of the pond!
            

My brother, Carl, and I had great fun building a snow fort once in the cow pasture when we were quite young, with walls about two feet tall to divide the rooms -- no roof.  Our older sister preferred the indoors and our baby brother was too young at the time to join in the fun.  We built a kitchen (even a kitchen sink) in our snow fort where we made "snow hamburgers," as we played "house."  Later Carl went outside our fort and speared a pretend walrus for another meal!  

Another day we decided that making a snowman was too ordinary, so we made a huge snow lion!   We built igloos too, but if your children try this, be sure there is an adult with them, (outside the igloo), in case of a cave-in!  We also had fun writing in the snow and making angels. 

Since our frozen pond was at the bottom of a big hill in the cow pasture, sometimes we'd go sledding down the hill, up over the bank of the pond, slide across the pond and fly up over the other bank and down to the other side of the pasture!   We also made snow speed bumps and ramps for a more exciting sled ride.  No wonder we have aches and pains today, but I suppose the fun we had back then makes the aches and pains serve as good memories of our childhood!

After I was married and our three children were still at home, we had fun making a snow bear in our front yard, with two faces -- one facing our house and one facing the road, so we could enjoy it from inside our house as well as the people driving by.  Then we went over to a neighbor's house and helped them make four more bears -- one for each of their family members.  Another fun and easy idea would be to make a  snow turtle.  We've done this with sand at the beach, and snow would work well too.  Be sure to draw a design on his back with a stick, then paint it in with water and different colors using food coloring or tempera paints. 

Your children could also paint pictures in the snow using watercolors.  Spray painting the snow is fun as well.   As the snow melts, the colors will run together and that's fun to watch too.   

If you want to build a unique snow man, snow lady or snow baby, trim them in a special way for a one-of-a-kind, out-of-the-ordinary snow person!  For *eyes*, use large dark buttons attached with toothpicks, radishes attached with toothpicks, chunks of grilling charcoal or dark-colored stones.  Nothing beats a carrot *nose*, unless you want to use a red radish to depict a very cold nose.  The *mouth* could be made by bending a red, pink or orange pipe cleaner into a smile.  Several cranberries or holly berries would also work for a mouth.  For *ears*, cut a lemon or orange in half, scoop out the fruit to eat later, and attach each half with a few toothpicks around the edges of the rind.  For *arms*, sticks will do, but you can also add extra snow close to the body for arms that come to the front in a handclasp.  But since the *hands* are difficult to make, attach mittens in the front with toothpicks.  Or have the snow lady or child hold something like a bouquet of silk or plastic flowers or a bouquet of fresh holly. 

The man might hold a dish of birdseed (stick an unbreakable plate into the snowman's stomach -- ouch! -- just above his hands and fill with birdseed) or he might be a plumber, holding a plunger.  The baby could hold a toy.  The *scarf* should be of a bright, cheerful color.  Even a piece of unfinished fabric will do fine.  Or a substitute for a scarf might be a ribbon tied into a bow.  The snow people's *hats* could be almost anything -- a stocking cap, a straw hat, a piece of fabric or a winter headband. Use strands of yarn or pine needles for *hair* sticking out from under the hats and for a snow baby, just a pipe cleaner curl sticking straight up!   *Buttons* can be raisins, real buttons, cranberries or holly berries, all attached with a toothpick or they can be pieces of charcoal.  Mom might even look good in an apron!      

Or try building a snowmobile!  The February, 2002 issue of the Family Fun Magazine told how to do this, and I added a few extra instructions.  Since winter forts and snowmen are so common, why not upgrade to a fantastic snowmobile?  A little extra "snow-how" (see directions below) and some household supplies make this baby purr.  Once done, the kids can name their car (maybe Blizzard?) and go for a pretend joyride!  It would be a good idea to gather the necessary supplies now for a snowmobile and other possible snow activities, so you have them handy when the snows come.  Here are the directions:    

1. The Body: Using a shovel, mound snow up to form the sides of the car.  Fill in the hood and trunk areas.  Pack it firmly and trim away excess snow with your shovel or an old cookie sheet.  Once you've got the basic shape, it's a matter of customizing.  Using a garden trowel or spackling knife, kids can add tail fins, extend the back to create a pickup-truck bed for carrying passengers or hauling snowballs.  Or build a sporty design or a copy of your own car.     

2.  Engineering Factory Features:  You can make a radio antenna with a willow twig, a stick for a stick shift, and dashboard indicators made from colorful laundry detergent caps or toy box odds and ends.  The headlights can be two yellow or orange plastic cereal bowls or two halves of grapefruit rinds.  The tail lights could be rubber balls or plastic cups.  The wheels can be Frisbees or fancy wheels drawn on posterboard. Use a safe metal lid for the side mirrors or stick the handle of a hand mirror right into the snow.  For a steering wheel, use a disposable plastic plate, cut in the center and mounted on a bottomless plastic bottle.  Push that into the dash panel.  Several twigs pressed vertically into the front of the car can be the grille.  If your children have a bike horn, this would be a great addition!  A plastic toy lion would work as the hood ornament.  This snowmobile, of course, is a convertible, because you wouldn't want the roof to cave in!     

3.  Be sure to get several pictures with your children driving!  Smaller children can be lifted into the car by a teen or adult, so it doesn't get ruined.  Ladies, please be sure to send me a picture of the snow creations that you and your children make!  Or at least tell me about them.  I just wish Carl and I would have had these snowmobile directions back in our childhood years!

WINTER SUN CATCHERS

by Julie Druck, Editor of "A Heart for Home," a monthly e-mail newsletter for families.

To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to:  aheartforhome-subscribe@welovegod.org

My sister-in-law, Amy, threw an impromptu ice skating party last year when their pond froze over.  She and I helped each of our sons make these lovely sun catchers to hang in the branches of one of her trees.  They looked magical! 

Here’s how:  Place a sturdy disposable foil pan (or better yet, two inside of each other) on a cookie sheet.  Arrange orange rounds, cranberries, small pinecones and small pieces of pine branches in the pan and add enough water to cover them.  To hang them, cut sturdy twine into 2 lengths for each sun catcher (about 2 ft. each).  Lay one end of each piece of twine in the pan, submerging it at least several inches.  Place the pan in the freezer and store overnight or until frozen.  Remove the ice block from the pan (run a bit of warm water over the back if needed) and tie it to a tree with the ends of the twine.  It’s best to do this when the weather is very cold, so that the sun catchers don’t melt too quickly.  You could put them back in the freezer for another time if you want.