Creative snow activities; 10-20 more inches expected

A massive snowball fight at Dupont Circle Saturday
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Snowmageddon 2010 isn't over yet.

The latest NOAA/National Weather Service Alert calls for 10-20 additional inches of snow to fall on Washington and Baltimore, beginning mid-afternoon today and continuing until 7:00 PM Wednesday.

If you've been putting off that grocery shopping since Friday's blizzard, today might be your best opportunity to get to the stores before "Snowpocalypse 2" hits.

But what to do once you've watched all of the movies in your Netflix queue and gone sledding so many times it's not fun anymore? If there's one thing we have lots of, it's snow. Here are some creative ways to use this cold abundance.

Build a snow fort: With strong, packed snow, these are ideal conditions for snow construction. wikiHow has step-by-step instructions for building a sturdy fort, either for kids or kids at heart.

Have a snowball fight: It doesn't have to be 5,000-person strong like Saturday's Dupont Circle extravaganza. Girls versus boys, parents versus kids, neighbors versus neighbors. Exercise and fun combined into one!

Create snow art: Mix water with a few drops of food coloring and create abstract art in your own front yard thanks to the beautiful blank canvas of white snow.

Construct snowman look-alikes: Go a step beyond Frosty and his carrot nose. Instead, model your snowman on someone you know. "Mom the Snowman"? Now, that's one worth taking pictures of!

Make snow ice cream: Step one: be sure that you're using clean snow. This simple recipe calls for one cup of milk, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, 1/2 cup of sugar and 4-5 cups of snow. Mix together the milk, vanilla and sugar until the sugar is dissolved, then slowly add snow, stirring until it has the consistency of ice cream. Bon appetit!

Make snow candy: What's better for kids on a snow day than even more sugar?! This is a recipe I remember from the "Little House" books and Quaker Hill Farm has detailed instructions for this simple, old-fashioned treat. All you need is maple syrup and snow.

Feed the birds: Winter is a hard time of year for birds, so be friendly to our feathered neighbors with a pine cone bird feeder. Coat a pine cone in smooth peanut butter, then roll it in a birdseed mixture. Hang outside and it's a birdie lunch!

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