How to Build a Snow Fort

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By christianmom
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Snow Fort

Even in wintertime, children need to get outside and get some fresh air. If hills are around, they can go sledding but if not, building a snow fort is a great activity to do. There are several different types of snow forts children can build and it depends on the snow conditions, how much snow there is and what type of snow is out there. Whenever children are building a snow fort, adults should be inspecting the fort for safety as snow can be an unstable medium and children have been trapped beneath collapsed snow forts. Let's look at a couple of types of snow forts and how to build them.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Snow
Shovels
Tarp or plywood
Flag to decorate, optional

Step 1

Igloo-type snow forts are built with blocks of snow interconnected and stacked one upon the other. Begin by cutting out blocks of snow or forming balls of snow about 12 inches in diameter. Make a circle of these blocks of snow the size of the igloo, leaving a 24 inch opening for the door of the igloo. Stack another row of blocks atop the first row and put them offset from the first row. Continue with increasing stacks of snow blocks and gradually move the block rows inward so that they eventually reach the middle of the igloo and close off the roof of the igloo. The end result should be a dome-shaped fort with a door on one end. Climb in and enjoy.
Step 2

In a wall type snow fort, the children only need to build the walls of the snow fort. Children clean off an area for the floor of the square-shaped fort and use the cleaned-off snow to begin to build a wall about one foot thick. Make sure you leave room for a door to get through. Use other snow to add more height to the snow fort until it is about four feet high. Use a tarp or a piece of plywood to cover the snow fort. Climb inside the snow fort and enjoy.
Step 3

A cave type fort depends on having a large pile of snow such as would be collected when a plow comes through and dumps a large collection of the stuff on a street corner or in a parking lot. Find a good spot for a door. It should be about a third of the way up the mound of snow and be free of difficult blocks of ice. Begin carving out the snow, going deeper into the mound until a cave is made that is of the right size. Don't go too high in carving out the cave or the cave will collapse and have no roof.