Snow day games entertainment, while it is still snowing in Ukraine, you will need this weekend! For the ninth year in a row, on the third Sunday in January, at the International Ski Federation (FIS) initiative, an unusual holiday is celebrated, dedicated to the weather phenomenon – World Snow Day. This year the holiday falls on January 17.
Snow Day or International Winter Sports Day was officially established to promote winter sports among young people. It was first celebrated in the winter of 2012 when more than 20 countries took part in the celebration, and a year later, this figure doubled.
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Winter fun – what to do on Snow Day
Usually, on World Snow Day, all kinds of sporting events are snow day games organized: competitions in cross-country skiing, hockey matches, mass sledding, ice skating, dog sledding, presentations of snow and ice sculptures, and various fun competitions.
By the way, the most significant snow and ice festival are held annually in Harbin, China. The tradition began in 1963; this year, the festival lasts from January 4 to February 28. Dozens of artists and sculptors create the most incredible sculptures and buildings there – so in Harbin, there is a whole separate city – a city of ice and snow.
The World Snow Festival’s primary purpose is to show winter in all its beauty and involve children and adults in an active lifestyle with winter sports.
Downhill skiing, snowboarding, bobsleigh, skating, curling, biathlon, hockey – these are the most popular of them. And many new incredible winter sports have appeared in the world.
. Ice skating – ice racing or snowkiting – sliding on water skis following a kite, which plays a tractor’s role. In this case, you ride on the snow – skiing or snowboarding.
. Snow tubing – when you can go down the mountain on an inflatable pillow that looks like a giant doughnut
. Brumble- is a team game very similar to hockey. Helmet and protective elements are also present here. The difference is that in from bola instead of skates, players have special shoes; the ball is “chased” with brooms, not sticks. This sport was invented in Canada a hundred years ago. It is now common in the United States, Australia, and Japan.
And what snow games can you play just in your yard?
Many Ukrainians will greet this year’s Snow Day with snow – so let’s not miss the opportunity to use it properly!
. Shooting at the target
This is a great snow day games option that is suitable for children and adults. On the house wall, draw a target with colored chalk, sculpt it with snow on a snowdrift or make it out of plywood. After that, stock up on snowballs! Such mobile games train accuracy.
. Snow fortress
It is a classic of all time – constructing an “unbreakable” citadel to fight a terrible enemy! Or just holding a party fight in snowballs; In general, playing with snow on a walk of this plan can have many options.
. Blow soap balls on the snow
It is an incredible pleasure to watch soap bubbles turn into works of art in a few minutes!
. Modeling of colored snow
To do this, add dye to the water, spray it on the snow and sculpt bright masterpieces!
. Snow figures
Snowmen are something that no winter can do. However, traditional figures can be diversified! Watch YouTube videos, get inspired, and get inspired! By the way, the device for sculpting snowballs can also be used to create snow figures and decorations:
. Tracker
This option is suitable for kids. Get your baby interested in deciphering the tracks! See the Internet what traces of your area’s most common birds and animals look like and go for a walk in the park or forest.
. Traces of a snowman
The game outside with snow includes not only deciphering the existing traces but also their creation! Cut “traces of yeti” out of cardboard, attach them to the child’s shoes and enjoy the joy!
. Snow lantern
Having made enough snowballs, you can make an actual lamp out of them! Just put a candle or flashlight inside.
Dynamics of snowfall in Ukraine
Recently, Ukrainians see less and less snow in winter. Although today the snow lies almost everywhere in Ukraine, we already know that it will soon melt. I must say, more than half of the world’s inhabitants have never encountered snow in their lives. Judging by the current weather forecasts, we have every chance to join them.
Last December, Kyiv meteorologists called the warmest in the XXI century. He set 9 temperature records and entered the “book of weather records” with a maximum temperature that exceeded + 15 ° C. climatologists say that this is due to climate change. It is possible that in the future, not only winter but also other seasons will become warmer.
Global warming is seven miles away, and now we are approaching an average temperature of 5 ° C in 100 years. This is not the first year that climatologists and environmentalists worldwide have been concerned about this breakneck pace.
In December 2015, an international climate agreement was adopted, the so-called Paris Agreement, signed by 175 countries, including Ukraine. Thus, the participating countries agreed to keep the level of global warming below 2 рівніC from the middle of the twentieth century. – it was then that the time of active industrial development began in the world. The signatories also undertook to make an effort to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 ° C end of the century. Quite a bold goal, because the rate of warming is growing every year;
The Paris Climate Agreement stipulates that all states, regardless of their economic development level, undertake to reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere. The Paris Agreement’s main feature is that it does not force the country to do anything specific. The signatories recognized the threat of climate change and agreed to counter it. How exactly to counteract – each country determines independently; There are no mechanisms that would force the parties to adhere to it; the fulfillment of obligations depends on the political will and conscience of the countries’ leaders. Scientists have calculated that the turning point will come very soon – in 2030. If the countries cannot halve their emissions by that time, it will be impossible to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement by the end of the century. As a result of global climate change, the world will face worse and worse consequences of climate change: more frequent weather disasters, water and food shortages, abnormal heat, disease, flooding of large areas due to rising sea levels, and, as a result, millions of climate refugees.
Unfortunately, economic interests nullify all the arguments of climatologists. In November last year, the United States abandoned its climate agreement and became the first country to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. The reason for this decision, according to President Trump, was “unfair economic restrictions” and lobbying of American mining companies. The progressive world believes that this exit is temporary; the newly elected US President Biden promises to return the country to the Paris Agreement.
Ukrainian policy on combating climate change is quite contradictory and inconsistent. At the diplomatic and public levels, the authorities constantly declare a course for a “green” economy, carbon neutrality, and emission reductions. Signed decrees and laws develop concepts and strategies, but these documents are only legally fixed good causes rather than give specific mechanisms to achieve them. Also, support for renewable energy was curtailed in the spring, subsidies to the extractive industry continued and increased, and the government’s Economic Stimulus Program to overcome the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic provides for a further increase in fossil fuel production and disregard for environmental issues in the transport, agricultural and energy sectors, which is by no means conducive to reducing emissions and climate neutrality. Sometimes it seems that much more is being done at the local level to preserve the climate – several Ukrainian cities in Ukraine: Zhytomyr (which has already received the results of the modeling of the transition scenario and estimates), Trostyanets, Chortkiv, Lviv, Kamyanets-Podilsky and others for energy from renewable sources by 2050. However, the implementation of these initiatives again requires favorable conditions on the part of the state, as political will and the ability to change local government also have their limits.
However, every Ukrainian can help prevent global warming. How exactly? To demand from deputies a more ambitious environmental policy, take into account their program and consider how they see the development of Ukraine about climate policy. Change your lifestyle: get to work nearby, bike or on foot, instead of using a car, give up disposable bags and utensils that need both production and recycling, use water and electricity sparingly at home and work, save gas and fuel.
What is snow like?
Weather forecasters note that the coldest and snowiest period is usually from late January to mid-February, so Ukrainians should not lose hope for a long snowy winter and appropriate snow day games and entertainment.
Visitors to snow resorts are the luckiest; they have long learned to generate artificial snow day games for ski slopes with snow cannons.
The northern countries’ people do not understand our suffering despite all the climatic problems; the snow day games are not transferred to the day. Moreover, there are dozens of unique names for each type of snow in northern peoples’ languages. For example, in Swedish – 25 words; Here are some of them:
. Kramsnö – snow from which it is easy to sculpt snowballs;
. Lappvante – heavy snowfall;
. Åsksnö – literally “storm snow,” i.e., snow that goes during a thunderstorm.
. Mjöll – snow that has just fallen;
. Hard – snow covered with ice.
. Kafsnjór / kafaldi / kafald is a deep snowdrift.
. Krap / slab – melting snow in half with water. The British joke that the first version of the word was born in honor because they scream when they step into such snow.
The record holders of snow formations are the Sami, who live in the far north. Naturally, the northernmost people of Europe will have the most terms to denote snow and ice – as many as 180 words! The Sámi language has the following exciting words:
. Cake – dense solid snow; only sadists throw such in the game of snowballs.
. Golden – clouds of snow rising from the ground in severe frosts and strong winds.
. Skava is a skinny layer of frozen snow.
. Savvy is an icy crust on the snow that forms in the evening after the sun has melted the top layer of snow during the day.
. Vacha – loose or fresh snow;
. More – a surface on which ice or frozen snow crumbles and injures the feet of animals (horses or reindeer).
History knows cases when the snow fell not only white but also other colors. Black snow shocked Swiss people in 1969, and red snow regularly falls in California. It not only resembles watermelon in color but also has a watermelon scent. Many even claim that it tastes like watermelon ice cream. Snow has long surprised both climbers and scientists, but only recently have scientists unraveled the mystery of watermelon snow. It contains a lot of tiny algae, Chlamydomonas nivalis, which grow high in the mountains. Unlike their river algae counterparts, these snow species grow at cold temperatures. In winter, these unusual algae hide in the snow and, during intensive reproduction, paint it in different colors, often red.
Recently, Kyiv residents and residents of other cities in Ukraine have suffered from icy rain – unusual precipitation that falls at sub-zero temperatures from 0 to -15 ° C in the form of solid transparent ice balls with a diameter of 1-3 mm. inside the balls – unfrozen water. Icy rain is formed when a layer of warm air in the atmosphere falls between two cold air layers. Frozen in the upper rigid layer of moisture, falling into the generous layer, melts; Continuing to fall, raindrops near the ground are in a layer with a temperature below zero but do not turn into snow or ice in a particular state of water. Falling from a height, the balls break, the water flows out and forms an icy crust, which becomes a natural disaster for drivers, pedestrians, and utilities.
A rare meteorological phenomenon was recorded in Great Britain: snow rolls. Brian Bayliss, who lives in Wiltshire, has discovered strange snow rolls in his field. He thought that some jokers made these bizarre structures at first, but then he noticed no traces on the snow. Such registrations of snow occur when the snow covers the ice but does not stick to it. The snow should be fluffy and loose, and the air temperature should be slightly above zero.
There is snow, even on Mars. According to NASA experts, Martian snow is different from Earth’s. The substance is a compound of ice and carbon dioxide. In this regard, Martian snow is not wet, as on Earth, but completely dry. Scientists note that snowfall on Mars, as well as on Earth, occurs only in the winter months.
Almost every child dreams of bringing home a snowman who was blindfolded during long winter walks. To make this child’s dream come true, the masters of the Japanese brand Tsuchiya Kaban have created a unique leather bag for a snowman made of waterproof leather and polyester fiber. The masters of the brand also took into account possible leaks and installed a waterproof zipper to prevent water leakage. The case designers have not forgotten about an essential component of the main symbol of snow: there is a special pocket where you can put a nose carrot on the bag’s inside.
Ukrainian fun gift shops offer “Canned Snow from Lapland” as an original gift. Ingredients: “snow that was stored without a refrigerator.” That there, inside, we did not check, but sellers honestly warn that “due to the unstable temperature in Ukraine, the snow may melt.”
How to make snow day games yourself?
Stable artificial, though not cold, for entertainment with children can be done yourself:
Recipe 1
. 500 g of baking soda, shaving foam, 2 drops of lavender oil
. Mix baking soda with shaving foam in a deep bowl. After mixing, add a few drops of lavender oil.
Recipe 2
. 3-4 diapers, cold water
. Remove the soft part from the diapers (the one intended for absorbing moisture), pour it into a vessel, and add water to get snow, which will be very similar in consistency to natural. Snow from diapers is suitable not only for decoration but also for games; it can be made into a snowball or a tiny snowman.
Recipe 3
. 2 parts salt, 1 part starch, glitter, or sequins
. Thoroughly mix all the ingredients in a deep bowl, and the artificial snow day games will remind you again of the snowy winter!
