It’s snowing - hooray - well I hope it is as I am writing this from sunny (but cold) Wednesday. (update: hurrah it is snowing. Well hurrah because it looks pretty, boo because it means we all spent far too long getting to work today and The Laundry vans are battling the elements picking up bags!)

I’ve collected some tips for you for lunchtime snowman building activity

The very best snow for building is the sort that squeaks when you walk on it. This packs together readily, without soaking your gloves in the process. Large snowflakes falling through air which is a few degrees below freezing tend to give these sort of conditions. When you squeeze the snow together to make a snowball or snowman the edges of the snow crystals melt briefly, then freeze again quickly when the pressure is released. This locks the crystals together to hold the shape.

In the United Kingdom, snowmen commonly are built with two balls of snow, whereas in the United States the ‘three-ball method,’ is much more popular.

In Lithuania, a snowman is called “a man without brains.” As a sign of protest against their government, in the winter of 2005, Lithuanians made 141 snowmen near their parliament—one for each member of Parliament. Japanese snowmen, or yukidaruma usually consist of two, instead of three, snowballs. Twigs are used for arms, pieces of charcoal are used for facial features, and a bucket is used for a hat.

The favourite of course is The Snowman, the Raymond Briggs classic - here are some facts about said film:

• Although the boy and the Snowman appear to fly north, towards the North Pole, they pass a group of penguins, which are native to the southern hemisphere.
• Though the boy in the book is unnamed, in the film we discover he is named “James.” This is clear on the tag for the present he receives from Santa/Father Christmas, added by one of the animators who decided to use her own son’s name.
• In the film, the boy’s home seems to be in the South Downs of England, near to Brighton; he and Snowman fly over what appears to be Brighton; the Royal Pavilion and Palace Pier are clearly depicted. Later in the film, the tag on his present confirms this.
• Rachel used to fancy Aled Jones - forgot to mention that last week

When I was little I made a snowman called Snoopy the Snowdog - he lasted four days and destroyed my bobble hat which never looked the same again. He was not made of balls of snow but a tower (the James technique) and had coal for a nose.

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