SNOW FORT

A 'snow fort' or 'snow castle' is a usually open-topped temporary structure made of snow walls that is used for recreational purposes. Snow forts are generally built by children as a playground game or winter pastime and are used as defensive structures in snowball fights. They are also built and used for make-pretend games such as "house" or "store".
Along with the snowman, it is one of the two structures commonly built by children out of snow.
Snow structures made for sleeping are called igloos when made from snow blocks and quinzhees when made by hollowing out a pile of snow.

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Variations

In Popular Culture

External links

Variations

Snow forts consist of walls of piled and compacted snow. They may be "open" or "closed", that is, a person in the snow fort may be completely surrounded by the walls on all sides, there may be a "door", or the person may be completely exposed except in one direction. The last variation is used for snowball fights where opponents have forts facing each other and attack exclusively from their own fort. Existing structures such as the walls or concave corners of a building can be used as part of the snow fort, allowing for faster and easier construction. A snow fort can also be a tunneled-out burrow built in a large snow drift.
Snow forts are usually at least knee-height and one-roomed. Forts built for snowball fights may be higher, and ones built for "house" may have lower walls and multiple rooms. When used for snowball fights, snow forts often have sections where the wall is lower, through which the occupants throw snowballs.

In Popular Culture

''The Backyardigans'' episode "The Snow Fort" has Mounties defending an elaborate version of such a fort while members of the ski patrol try to get in.

External links

★ How To: Build a Snow Fort

★ Snow Fort Instructions