Just last week, Erik, Cora and I built ourselves a quinzee (a type of snow cave) and a snowman.  We felt that adding a snow shelter outside, with a friend to protect its entrance would definitely be a good addition to our front lawn.

I must admit that Erik did all the work.  Cora and I played around in the sunshine while Erik shoveled and rolled snow.  The results are beautiful.  Cora can be found playing outside by herself, talking with the snowman, and playing in the quinzee.  She even built herself an outdoor toilet.

I am used to bitterly cold Canadian winters that go on and on, where you never see the sun and your body has to be completely covered to play outside.  We often place a sun hat, sunglasses and sunscreen on Cora before she heads outside in her regular clothing.

Building a snowman and quinzee is a fun winter activity that sure adds more outdoor entertainment value for the weeks to come.

How to build a great snowman:

Wear mitts or gloves.

Roll sticky snow into three separate balls.  Each ball should be slightly smaller than the preceding ball.

Pile them together.

Decorate with whatever your child wishes.

We happened to be given a snowman decoration kit by a friend. It is quite fun but not necessary. We ended up adding a scarf to the snowman because Cora said he was cold.  When I look over my shoulder at night sometimes I get frightened because I think some man is in the yard looking at me with large glasses.

How to build a Quinzee:

Shovel snow in a big large circular pile. Make it as big as you want your shelter to be. We made a very small one that only fits Cora and one adult rolled up in a ball. This takes about one hour.

Let the pile stand for one hour.

Carve out the snow from the side where you want your front entrance to be. Make sure not to pierce the walls.  This takes one hour. Never carve out a quinzee on your own. If it should collapse on you, you need to make sure that there is someone there to dig you out.

Let the quinzee stand for one hour before you let your kids use it. You can bring candles inside which glaze the ceiling. This keeps the quinzee walls from flaking off on you.

After 24 hours your quinzee should be strong enough for you to walk on.

Go and have fun in the snow with your family and build yourself some fun snow toys.  Your kids will love it, you will get a workout and you will spend some quality time together.  On top of it, your children will continue to play outside with these constructions for weeks to come.

Heidi