While students gear up to carry a heavier bundle of stress as the end of the year creeps around the corner, the prayer for a snow day simply to escape the cycle is a common wish. If the students and teachers alike get lucky, they will be blessed with heavenly fluffy precipitation sometime this winter. As the stress factor has been snowed in, there is a most wonderful time of the year when high school students can let their inner child play in the snow, assuming Missouri gets more this winter. 

Outside, a snowy winter wonderland offers a multitude of classic exhilarating activities, such as building snowmen, sledding, snowball fights and snow angels. But these classic activities have many twists waiting to be explored.

Who says you need a wave to surf? (Safely) stand on your sled and glide down the hill, trying to keep your balance- it’s very difficult, and it may be a good idea to wear protective clothing if the snow isn’t super cushiony. Or sled like a penguin to play it a little safer, just make sure you know how to roll off in the event of a potential collision. 

Another alternative to a smooth sledding down a hill is a bumpy one- which can be achieved by packing snow into small ramps that will lift the sled off the ground for a moment. If that isn’t enough thrill for you, make the ramps bigger, but be careful to avoid getting too much air, or the impact may be less forgiving. 

If you have access to a fourwheeler, a large open area, and strong rope, go tubing throughout the snowy fields by tying the rope to the back of the vehicle and the other end 

Playing in the snow can be exhausting, being all bundled up doesn’t give a lot of ventilation to the body. If the snow is soft, take a break and lay down in it if the weather isn’t bad. It’s oddly relaxing.

If you’re an aspiring architect or over-achiever, and there is plenty of snow to go around, construct an igloo by packing snow into bricks and stacking them into a dome big enough to fit inside of. Use tupperware containers for brick forms if desired. Perhaps loose twigs would rather become a forbidding fence to a frosty fortress than the appendages of a snowman.

Finally, for a refreshment deserved after all that toiling and exercise, treat-yo-self to a slushie from your backyard. Scoop a cup full of clean snow and pour your favorite soda on top of the snow. Or, if experienced with a blender and have powdered lemonade mix, combine snow, water and lemonade mix and blend for nicely textured frozen lemonade.