Snow Day Play Memories

Museum staff shared some of their favorite childhood (and grown-up!) memories of snow days and the imaginative - and sometimes risky - play they inspired.

Robin, Exhibits Director: 

My brother and I worked with all our neighborhood kids to build a huge (really huge) snow fort at the end of our dead-end street, where the plows dumped lots of snow. Ages 5 to 16 worked together to create walls and tunnels (probably not the safest, but fun). And then we split into teams and had WWIII, snowball style!

Olga, Early Childhood Learning Programs Developer:

I always loved and still love sledding. Especially at night. During nighttime sledding, I feel as I am sliding through an unpredictable and magical place, such as C.S. Lewis's Narnia.

Janice, Executive Director: 

After a huge snowstorm when I was 6, our dad helped us make a snow fort. We piled snow into a mound the size of a garden shed at least and hollowed it out and then poured water on the inside and over the top so it froze solid. We played in that snow cave for weeks.

Young Janice and sister atop their snow fort.

Cathy, Education Director: 

Cross country skiing! • Creating showers of snow by shaking the trees • Playing board games by the wood stove for hours

Jennifer, Development Director: 

Shoveling off the nearby "Hockey Pond" seemed as much fun as the skating that followed!

To include the 6-month-old baby in our winter walks, I tied a low sturdy box onto a sled, put the bundled baby in the box so he could sit happily and see out, and off we'd go for snowy adventures.

Sarah, AmeriCorps Museum Educator: 

My favorite snow day activity was building snowmen with my little brother and finding different materials to make the face and accessories.

Megan, Communications Director: 

I spent most of my childhood in the nearly snow-less South, so I have few memories of playing in the snow. However, last winter, I LOVED watching kids of all ages sledding at India Point Park. They took a lot of carefully calculated risks, building jumps and soaring over them; there were quite a few spills along the way!

Those without sleds innovated, using materials like cafeteria trays, or reclaiming broken and abandoned plastic disks. Some especially daring sledders soared down three flights of snow-covered steps, which made for a fast but bumpy ride. I tried to “ski” down the steps in my boots and took a few spills of my own!

Happy Snow Day!