Polar Vortex Activities

It's now Day 3 being house-bound due to blizzard / snow / icy roads and the Polar Vortex which has pushed arctic, sub-zero temperatures into our mid west region of the US. The temperature as I write this has risen above zero (it's 3 degF) and we are rejoicing!

With the sub zero temperatures, you are greeted by the simple crunching sound of snow underfoot when walking out to the mail box (yeah, a fruitless activity since mail service has been halted). The snow doesn't melt and there is no unsightly, dirty slush to step through or look look at. I have to say, the scenery is quite peaceful.



The sub zero temperatures have also spawned several new cold weather activities - because it's too cold to go outside and make a snowman.

The first one, Snow Ice Cream - gather a large container of clean snow. Mix together 1 cup of milk, 1/4-1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 tsp of vanilla until the sugar dissolves. Mix in the snow, stirring constantly until the desired consistency.
(We didn't do this activity, but my friends did and it looked like fun).

The second sub-zero temperature activity - make your own snow! Boil a cup of water, transfer it to wide open container with a handle.
Go outside and throw the hot water into the air - away from you or anyone else. If it is windy outside, throw it with the wind. Voila! Watch the water turn to ice / snow / mist:

OK, so my son wasn't too excited about the whole thing, but I thought it was pretty cool and I did it three times. Even my daughter thought it was cool.

You can find numerous videos on this activity. Seems as if everyone was doing it yesterday!

Shared with Wednesdays Around the World.