With Colorado temperatures plunging to their lowest of the season so far, it’s a good idea to have snow-day activities on hand. Here are just a few ideas.
Play with nature
Author Sarah Olmsted taps creativity in myriad ways with her new book, “Imagine Childhood: 25 Projects That Spark Curiosity and Adventure” (Roost Books, 2012). In a passage about making seasonal children’s capes out of muslin and fabric scraps — essentially wearable sacks covered in dark leaf cutouts for fall, pastel petals for spring, vivid green leaves for summer and big snowflakes for winter — Olmsted shares these ideas for exploring nature during the winter:
• With your favorite winter books in hand, learn about how snow is formed and what types of crystalline structures make snowflakes.
• Go on a walk or hike and look for shapes to include in your winter cape.
• Build a structure out of snow.
• Look for animal tracks in the snow and make up stories about where the animals were going and what you think they might have been doing.
• On really cold days, bring winter inside and write your own play. Use your cape as a costume for one of the players.
Playful upcycling
In “Fun Factory: Games and Toys From Household Junk” (Reader’s Digest, 1996), author Lyndsay Milne stacks up ideas for repurposing paper, cardboard, plastics, class, metal, textile, wood and other common household materials.
Activities in the book include making shoebox dioramas, cardboard animals, masks and costumes, and much more. Here are her instructions for crafting a Buffalo Bill Hat.
You will need
• Pieces of corrugated cardboard or a box
• Aluminum foil or buttons
• Paper or thin cardboard for decorations
Instructions
1. If using a cardboard box, open it out flat.
2. Draw and cut out your hat.
3. Make a headband by measuring your head with a tape measure or piece of string.
4. Cut a wide, right-sized strip of cardboard for your headband.
5. Paint the headband and decorate it with buttons or aluminum foil “stones.” Glue the headband to the flat hat and let it dry.
Snow-day classics
Reader’s Digest magazine (rd.com) also consulted a handful of experts to glean The idea of cutting paper snowflakes out of coffee filters is especially inventive.
Online More winter activities and tips blogs.denverpost.com/ coloradoathome/
