Skip to main content
FamilyEducation
FamilyEducation
Family Education

FE-Menu

  • Pregnancy
    • <blank>
      • Pregnancy Tracker
      • Trying to Conceive
      • Signs & Symptoms
      • Pregnancy Health
    • <blank>
      • Baby Names
      • High Risk Pregnancies
      • Preparing for Baby
    • <blank>
      • Concerns & Complications
      • Labor & Delivery
      • Postpartum
  • Baby Names
    • <blank>
      • Browse All Baby Names (A-Z)
      • Top Names for Boys
      • Top Names for Girls
      • Baby Name Generator
    • <blank>
      • Baby Name Lists & Ideas
      • First Names By Origin
      • Browse All Last Names (A-Z)
      • Last Names by Origin
  • Babies
    • <blank>
      • Caring For Your Baby
      • Baby's Health
      • Feeding Your Baby
    • <blank>
      • Your Baby and Sleep
      • Baby's Growth & Development
      • Baby Hygiene
    • <blank>
      • Baby Safety
      • Baby Products
    • <blank>
  • Toddlers
    • <blank>
      • Toddler Growth and Development
    • <blank>
      • Toddler Behavior and Discipline
    • <blank>
      • Your Toddler and Sleep
  • Kids
    • <blank>
      • Health
      • Childhood Development
      • Fitness & Nutrition
      • Childhood Safety
    • <blank>
      • Communicating with Your Kids
      • Childhood Behavior and Discipline
      • Fostering Responsibility
      • Instilling Values & Manners
    • <blank>
      • Childcare
      • Neurodiversity in Kids
      • Adopting Children
  • Teens
    • <blank>
      • Teen Health
      • Teen Puberty & Sex
    • <blank>
      • Behavior & Discipline
      • Teen Social Development
    • <blank>
      • Values & Responsibilities
  • Activities
    • <blank>
      • Printables
      • Indoor Activities
      • Learning Activities
      • Arts and Crafts
      • Performing Arts
      • Food Activities
      • Outdoor Activities
    • <blank>
      • Books
      • TV
      • Movies
      • Online
      • Quizzes
      • Games
      • Celebrities
    • <blank>
      • Parties
      • Travel
      • Toys
      • Holidays
      • Gifts
  • Learning
    • <blank>
      • By Grade
      • By Subject
      • College
      • Preschool
    • <blank>
      • Back to School
      • Study Skills
      • Learning Styles
    • <blank>
      • Homeschooling
      • Parental Involvement
      • Your Child's School
  • Family Life
    • <blank>
      • Mom Life
      • Dad Life
      • Family Relationships
      • Having a Healthy Marriage
      • Divorce
    • <blank>
      • Health & Fitness
      • COVID Resources
      • Managing Your Home
      • Moving Your Family
      • Pets
    • <blank>
      • Family Finances
      • Work
      • Families and Food
  • NewslettersNewsletters
    Newsletters

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Entertainment and Activities
  3. Outoor Activities
  4. Snow Sculptures

Snow Sculptures

Get some fresh air and have some fun. Turn your snowman into a sculpture with this outdoor winter activity.
familyeducation logo
FamilyEducation Staff
Updated: December 1, 2022
  • facebook share icon
  • pin
  • twitter share icon
  • email share icon
  • Print page icon

Snow Sculptures

Age: Preschool and up
Time: 1 hour or more
Type of Activity: Back yard fun

Materials needed:

  1. A pile of well packed snow*
  2. Warm dry clothes
  3. Warm dry boots
  4. Regular snow shovel (to cut large shapes)
  5. Smaller beach shovel (for detail work)
  6. Spoon (for fine details)
  7. Spray bottle of water (optional)

* Professional snow sculpture contests often start with teams working large cubes of well packed snow. If you want to keep your sculpture on the smaller scale, you can start with a smaller cylinder. Just pack a clean plastic trash can with snow, flip it over, and you'll be sculpting away.

Playing in the snow

When it comes to playing in the snow, kids love it and we adults often get cold feet. Literally. This doesn't have to be the case. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. Use the next snowfall as an excuse to get creative with your kids.

Snow sculpture and ice castles are the winter equivalent of sand castles. Sand and snow can be used to produce stunning works of art.

To create a snow sculpture, all you need is a pile of well packed snow, an idea, and a few simple tools.

As a sculpting material, snow is cheaper and easier to work with than marble and with its better adhesion qualities, has big advantages over sand.

Hacking away

Use your snow shovel to roughly block out the basic shape of your creation. Next, use the beach shovel to further refine the shapes and, finally, use the spoon or some other shaping tool to scrape out the fine details. At this point you might want to try using the spray bottle to lightly mist the surface. The mist will melt a thin layer of snow and should quickly refreeze to a sheen of ice. This will make it easier for you to sculpt the finer details.The trick is not to use too much water. You want to be working with snow, not a slush puppy.

Project ideas to get you started

You are probably better off by starting small and working your way up toward larger structures. You don't want your enthusiasm to become victim to an overly ambitious project.

  • The basic snow turtle: A mound of snow with legs, head, and shell pattern -- very easy to make and ideal for younger kids.
  • Snow castle: Pretend that you are at the beach and the snow is sand. More complex but still easy to make.
  • Simple geometric shapes like blocks, cubes, pyramids, and spheres

Just remember, your only limitation is your endurance to cold. Let your imagination run free and enjoy yourself!

Did you know?
The greatest North American snow storm in history occurred on Feb. 13-19, 1959 when 15 feet, 8 inches of snow fell in a single snow storm at Mt. Shasta Ski Bowl, Calif.

Was this article helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.
familyeducation logo
About the author
FamilyEducation Staff

This writer is a part of the FamilyEducation editorial team. Our team is comprised of parents, experts, and content professionals dedicated to bringing you the most accurate and relevant information in the parenting space.

View more articles from this author

What's hot

  • mom giving kids valentines day gifts Entertainment and Activities6 Last-Minute Valentine'…
  • 14 Fun Activities for Winter Break Entertainment and Activities14 Fun Activities for Winter…
  • Valentine's Games_Featured Entertainment and Activities14 Valentine's Day Games…
  • 15 Fun Water Games Entertainment and Activities20 Fun Water Games to Play…
NewslettersNewsletters
Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.
Family Education
FamilyEducation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Your use of the site indicates your agreement to be bound by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Information on our advertising guidelines can be found here.

FE Footer

  • Newsletter Center
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Policy
  • Editorial Team
  • Expert Panel
  • Cookie Policy
  • Site Map
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Terms of Use
  • Do Not Sell My Info (for CA Residents)
sandbox learning logo
Family Education is part of the Sandbox Learning family of educational reference sites for parents, teachers, and students. 

factmonster logoinfoplease logoTeacherVision logo

sandbbox logo
©2022 Sandbox Networks Inc. All rights reserved. Sandbox Learning is part of Sandbox & Co., a digital learning company.