A few years ago our smoke alarm inexplicably went off at 3am then 5am revealing that the raging wind, which had possibly triggered the alarm, had turned into a blizzard.
The Beast from the East gave no such warning this year! And given there are only three rows of 4-foot garden fences between us and the Siberian icy blasts from the North Sea, the snow has been pretty intense. It’s given everyone some great opportunities for outdoor winter activities and memorable family adventures too.
For me there are only 3 things to do when it snows: –
- Check on the neighbours
- Consider wildlife
- HAVE FUN OUTDOORS!!!!!!
Think Community
Kids of the Wild love snow of any kind, depth and temperature but many people don’t enjoy it. Vulnerable and elderly neighbours might need help getting in supplies and clearing paths etc. Pop and ring the doorbell to check on them.
Consider Wildlife
Dogs will get colder more quickly so remember an outdoor pet coat.
There’s not much we can do for wildlife in severe snow. Many animals are hibernating and those that aren’t hunker down to ride out the storm in as much shelter as they can find. We saw our little wood mouse yesterday, scrabbling in the snow for seeds we’d put out for the birds. We left out straw in case he needed extra warmth overnight!
In prolonged heavy snow it’s a good idea to knock the snow off branches to avoid breakage.
Feed the Birds
Apart from the usual Kids of the Wild response to a snowfall – up at dawn, layers of waterproofs and sledging before breakfast – it also means changes to our bird feeding regime. No longer just food in hanging feeders, the birds now need extra intense fat-building sustenance to survive the bitter nights. Here’s how to help garden birds: –
Clear a patch of snow for ground feeders to access.
Feed little and often so food isn’t covered before it’s eaten.
Put down water as birds struggle for this when everything is frozen.
Feed high-fat foods: –
- Mealworm and raisins both soaked in warm water to maximise moisture
- Crushed fat ball – the ground feeders can’t reach these in hanging feeders
- Apple chunks
- Grated cheese
- Sunflower seeds and bird seed
- Any low-salt leftovers like chicken fat, bacon rind etc
- Hanging fat feeders
For more bird feeding advice read Year-round Bird Feeding and How to Make a Hanging Coconut Feeder
Feed the ducks, but don’t give them bread. Read why in my Responsible Duck Feeding Guide.
How to HAVE FUN in the Snow!!!!
Just get out there!
Wear layers (waterproof top layers where possible especially gloves, to avoid snowball fight-induced chilblains)
Take sledges!?
Take a hot drink in a backpack
And yesterday, as Caroline’s energy fluctuates due to her cancer recovery, I took a hot water bottle in the backpack in case she got cold and needed to be brought home on the sledge!!
Of course she didn’t, she was a non-stop tornado of snow-happy energy. She simply crashed later in a hibernation of blankets, hot chocolate and Star Wars!
Things to do in the Snow
Read about our mini adventure sledging in the dark with a night time camp fire; Snow Fires and Night Sledging.
Here are a few other ideas to try: –
- Sledging
- Snow Angels
- Freeze black paper & collect snowflakes to quickly view with a magnifier
- Snowball fights
- Build a Snowman
- Build an igloo/snow hole
- ‘Skeleton bobbing’
- Snowboard on your sledge
- Freeze water balloons containing food colouring
- Jump in a snowdrift
- Night sledging
- Snow fires
But if it’s all too much, stay indoors!
Keep dry, warm up afterwards and why not post your snow-fun photos to the Kids of the Wild Facebook page, or comment your ideas below.
Wild wishes for lots of family fun in the snow!
#CountryKids
Fabulous post, as always, so full of infectious energy and love of the outdoors, whatever the weather.I might send you a pic or two of our encounter with the Beast From The East. It’s fair to say we didn’t get anywhere near as much snow as you by the Irish Sea.
#CountryKids
Thank you for your encouraging comments, they help to keep me writing! I’d love to see some of your pics, the levels of snow were pretty exceptional everywhere. Pop them on the Facebook page. What a few days it’s been!!
Brilliant tips and ideas, we checked in on our neighbour to make sure she was OK. There was SO much snow wasn’t there.
Well done you! I’ve never seen so much snow in my life, crazy drifts. Perfect childhood memories for the kids. Thanks for reading
Wonderful post and well done Caroline keeping going and making the most of the Beast from the East, I think she deserved to collapse later. We actually did night sledging as our snow was limited and at it’s best just as darkness came. Thankfully there was enough left for the following day and we packed in as much as we could from your lovely list here, we haven’t seen snow for 10 years so there was a lot to catch up on! I’d do it all again tomorrow but sadly we are back to rain now.
Thank you for sharing your tips for snow fun on #CountryKids
So glad you got to do night sledging, that’s fantastic! We’ve got mist and rain now too, and green amongst the white!
Great post. I adore your enthusiasm and compassion, which shine brightly throughout your writing. And I have never even CONSIDERED night time sledging before… how did that escape me?? Looking forward to the next snow day(s) so that I can give that a try!
#CountryKids
Thank you for your lovely comments! We’d never done night sledging before but it’s really worth the effort. Thanks for reading
I learned so much from reading this. See I am from a tropical country and where I live here in the UK doesnt snow that much so I am so clueless on snowy stuff! Thanks very much for sharing these thoughts of snowy wisdom! #countrykids
Good to hear it was helpful, thanks for reading. Where are you from? It’s definitely not been tropical here recently!!!
Some great ideas there and it looks like you guys had loads of big snowdrifts and winter landscapes to explore. Love the snow angels and we used a tray to sledge on! #CountryKids
Someone here was sledging on a heavy duty sack and we also saw some circular sledges that spin as you slide – they looked great fun. Thanks for reading
That is so much love for the snow there! It often fills me with dread. I think cos my little people are too little to really enjoy it. What a lot of snow!! We got none so I guess that’s why I’m like nope, it’s rubbish 😂… I had not considered the wildlife at all, what great tips on feeding and what. Now feeling sorry for it all. I’m loving the hot water bottle idea! #countrykids
Snow isn’t for everyone that’s for sure and even snow lovers get a little stir crazy if the kids don’t want to go out. I bet it’ll change when yours are old enough to sledge without getting cold, it’s so hard to toddlers to stay warm as they are often half-immersed int he snow (poor little things!) and don’t move as quickly as the rest of us. Thanks for reading and glad it got you thinking about the wildlife 🙂
What a fantastic list. It’s so easy to get caught up having fun in the snow that we forget about those who might be more vulnerable in cold weather. #CountryKids
Indeed. Thanks for stopping by
Another lovely snow post! x #AdventureCalling
I know, lots of them last week!!
We have lots of snow here! We just got 14 inches. Time to dig out the sled! #adventurecalling
Great post. I love your tips on looking out for your community and keeping in mind that dogs feel the cold too. It can be easy to forget with the excitement of fresh snow. Thanks for linking up to #adventurecalling. I hope you can again when we open for more posts tomorrow morning.
Thanks, I’ll link up in the morning.