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When I was a kid, at the first hint of snow we were outside building snow forts.  Do kids do that any more?  It sure was fun.  Actually, I built more of a "snow house" and had several rooms. I always had a kitchen and a bedroom.  I would pull stuff from the garage to "furnish" my house.  One year I got in a little bit of trouble for taking the floor mats out of my dad's truck to put down proper flooring in my snow mansion.

I was thinking that parents today need to show kids how to build a decent snow fort. 

Now I will admit, in my memory, my snow forts used to look like this:

Of course, it didn't look anything like that.  Here is what a real world snow fort looks like:

  Here are my quick tips for building the BEST snow fort/snow house:

1. Use a shovel to trace out the fort’s perimeter.
2. The traced perimeter should be large enough to accomodate 3 or 4 kids.  Or, 2 kids and one adult.  You can plan on 3 walls with an open back, but I prefer four walls with a door personally.
3. Start making snow bricks.  Get a bucket or plastic plant container and fill with snow to form bricks. Just turn it upside down, give it a little smack and the brick should drop right out.  Just make sure you pack it tightt enough that the snow doesnt fall apart.You will want a few of these going at one time and don't worry if they aren't the same size. 
4. Team work really pays off here.  While one makes the snow bricks, another stacks them up to form the walls.
5. A four foot wall is an ideal height.
6. For a professional finish, fill in the gaps with snow. 
7. To create an even more professional finish, smooth the snow out completely to look like it is just one big giant "brick." 
8. If you want a "roof", I find that tarps work great. But you can also use a blanket.  Open air forts are also ok.

Happy snow fort building!  Send photos of your finished forts to icontribute@kfdi.com and we will post them on the website.