Snowman Building – The Best Way

Last year when we were in New Zealand, we went down to Mt Ruapehu and had a ball in the snow. My husband lived in Minnesota in America as a child and had plenty of experience making snowman. Most people I observe in the snow tend to scrape together snow to make a snowman, and it’s very hard to get a big round snowman that way. In the video below my husband demonstrates how to make a big round snowman and it’s quite easy! Our snowman ended up being a bit of a feature on the day, with many tourists coming to get their own picture taken with it. So much fun and so many great memories. If you’re looking to do a trip to the snow in Australia, I’ve written a post for Expedia about it, and you can find it here: The Guide to Australian Ski Fields with Kids.

1 Minute Video

Step 1

Find an area of fresh snow, about 15 cm or so is best. This is where you will be rolling the snow ball to make the snowman.  Moist snow works best. Much like building a sand castle, it needs to be moist, but not too dry or too wet.

Step 2

Compact a snowball, about the size of a large grapefruit, with your hands.

Step 3

Start rolling the snowball over the fresh snow. It’s amazing how fast it picks up the snow, and grows in size.  You need to make sure, that every so often, you change the direction you are rolling, or it will start looking like a big hale bale rather than a ball.

Step 4

When you’re happy with the size of your first ball, roll it to the site where you want to build the rest of your snowman.

Step 5

Do the same for the other snowballs, making each one a little smaller than the last.  Place gently on top of each other.  A stack of three snowballs is a timeless classic.

Step 6

Smooth around the edges to refine the shape.

Step 7

Now, all that is left to do is decorate the snowman. We used branches for the arms, stones for the eyes, carrot nose (that has a bite out of it – children!) and a beanie and scarf.

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