Remember when you were a kid and you didn’t care if a cold winter snowstorm made booger icicles hang from the end of your nose, because you had just one job to do and it was all you could focus on; PLAY OUTSIDE.

Whether it was a desperately appreciated snow day, the hours after school before homework time, or a glorious weekend; you grabbed the time whenever you could to get out there with friends and siblings and go sledding, pummel each other with the fifty snowballs you made ahead of time, make snow forts using a handy-dandy igloo brick maker, and make classic snowmen; carrot nose, rocks for eyes, and sticks for arms.

When my oldest was three years-old, we were out in the front yard doing our best to make a snowman, top hat and all. A photographer for a local newspaper was driving by and asked to take our picture. That photo reminds that even as an adult, I loved sculpting snow, but even more, it shows me that I took the time to do artistic things with my kids, and boy did I have a ball!

When my daughter was around ten years-old, she proudly posed with Santa and Mrs. Clause on the front lawn; one of many sculptures crafted to greet passersby. In later years, Snow White, ‘insidious apple’ in hand, would make an appearance, as well as a pointy backed dragon that seemed to slither its way across the snow- covered grass.

Living in New England, snow was a given in the winter, but when the cool temperatures gave way to the outstretched rays of the sun, the sand provided an entirely new arena for sculpting. Our creatures did not stand, but we did our best to make them 2-dimensional. The kids and I would scavenge the beach for seaweed, rocks, shells, claws, etc.; anything that was natural to the shoreline to use as decoration. Again, I had a ball!

I’m pretty sure my kids loved our sculpting projects as much as I did, and I’d like to think it stimulated those artistic juices in them, but I know for sure, those times made me grow artistically as well. Now my kids are all twenty-somethings and I don’t tend to go out looking for the perfect sculpting snow anymore. Sad, isn’t it that we let our age dictate the kind of fun we can have.

It’s one thing to take the time with your kids when they’re young to be creative and silly, it’s another to take the time for yourself to be a kid again. There are no age restrictions for snow or sand sculpting, and you don’t need a child to make sense of it.  Just do it if you want, or find that thing that makes you feel like a kid again, just because it’s fun.