What we did in the snow today

Today I took the children to Cranberry Lake Preserve for some Native American Games. There is still quite a lot of snow on the ground and it was minus 4 degrees I think, but the sun was out most of the day and there was no wind so it was ok. J and I had our ski pants on but the boys went without - not sure how they do it.

There were three games, when we arrived we joined a tug of war team, we won and the loosers were dragged through a wall of snow, certainly an incentive for the fellow at the front of the line to work hard and not give in. Then we learned about Snow Snake. Winter was the only time that Native American Children were allowed to play, for the rest of the year they had to work, so at the end of the winter their parents would throw their toys into the river, or burn them. They had to make their toys again each year. They would spend time in the Fall looking for the perfect stick to make a snake, then in the snow they would take a small child and drag them to make a track, then have competitions to see how far they could get their 'snake' to travel along the track. It takes some skill I must say, my first attempt was brilliant, I should have walked away after that because it all went down hill from there, lots of fun though.



M was the first to have a go.





W and his very good efforts.





Another game is using a small but sturdy wooden boat and sending it down a snow covered hill. W and M had a great time doing this for quite a while, I think they also enjoyed the climbing up and sliding down in the snow.







Finally we convinced J to have a go with the snow snakes and she did pretty well.





After playing in the snow we returned to the Nature Lodge where T showed the chn another Native American Game. Usually with buffalo ribs - but since he has been unable to hunt one recently, they used popsicle sticks, each has marking on it and depending on what side lands 'up' with what ever markings you get points, first to 12 wins.