Our Mini Project

Due to the recent very cold weather, we have embarked on a short project about winter weather. Here are some images, thoughts, and feelings from the last two weeks.

Last week we had record cold. As we were driving by the pond that is right across the street from our house, we noticed a strange line all the way across the water. We parked the car and went to investigate. Annabelle was the first to discover that it was ice covering roughly half the pond.

She immediately found a stick to touch, poke, prod, slap, and hit at the ice. She moved to the other half to splash her stick in the water. Max wanted a stick too, so a stick was found and he “touched,” poked, prodded, slapped, and hit the ice. Then he went to the water half and threw his stick in.

The next day we checked the pond again and almost the entire surface was iced over. More sticks were found and the ice investigated and manipulated.

We noticed our breath was “smoky” in the cold air. Back at home we built lots of fires and had fireside dinners in the living room.

Then the snow! We found a new world to explore and experience. When we first went out it was snowing hard. We felt it on our faces and caught it with our tongues. We heard the crunch of the snow under our boots, felt the cold wetness on our skin as we fell, and tasted big chunks of snow with our mouths. Annabelle climbed up snowy rocks and tossed snow in the air. Max learned to walk in the snow, being unsure of his balance in this new terrain. Max needed time to get used to the snow, at first nervous and anxious, then warming up to the snow and especially loving the ice.

Annabelle gathered a huge bowl of snow to be made into snow cream. We read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, took lots of photographs, and drew a picture of the snow. We built snow men and Annabelle saved a bowlful of snow in the freezer. She filled a wheelbarrow full, carrying it around the yard.

Back at the pond, the ice prompted snowballs to be hurled. Snowballs thrown down hard created holes in the ice. Snowballs tossed gently slid far out into the center.

We saw icicles for the first time, dripping over the edge of a neighbor’s house. We got used to the cold and spent hours outside until our toes hurt and our fingers were bright red.

At home, we dried soaked mittens and wiped up snow melting from the floor.

As the snow melted, we noticed where it stayed and where the grass poked through. The ice on the pond grew smaller and was easier in places to break. We broke up ice and pulled chunks out of the water. We noticed how thick some pieces were; how thin others. The ice was clear and shiny and we wished to take it home. The ice was hard to hold for long; it was so cold. When it was tossed back onto the ice the pieces would break and skid almost all the way across to the other side.

Lots of water is dripping off our house now with the snow almost gone. Yesterday, a bucket was filled from the drips and left overnight. It is frozen this morning and is discovered by Max. He whacks it with a shovel, breaking the top layer of ice, and stirs the ice soup up. Annabelle dunks her whole boot into the bucket. The drips from the roof .land on Max’s head, like a shower as he plays. He is startled and sad at the wet cold drips. Drying off, we go inside to nap.

Now the trees have no more snow in their branches. The deck still holds a layer of snow, being in shadow. We might get almost 60 degree weather and still there is a bowl of snow waiting in the freezer.