Has covid ruined the excitement and thrill of snow days for young children?

 

The Covid Pandemic has had various negative impacts upon the lives of people all around the world, however some aspects have been positive such as taking time to relax and destress at home instead of being overwhelmed by work. But have advancements in technology interrupted the joys and thrills of past excitement such as snow days. Part of the joy of snow days are the memories made. It could be argued that the fun and adventure young children experience during a snow day, have various positive impacts upon their mental and physical health. 

 

Although we are now back at school, what happens if a snow day suddenly occurs? Now that we can easily access technology at home and have previously when the nation was both working and attending online school. If school children have iPads and computers available to them, what happens when snow days unexpectedly arrive. Will children have to wake up early and go onto Zoom or Microsoft Teams to sign into registration? Spending a whole ‘snow day’ doing online school work, whilst the snow lays untouched and a snowman is purely imaginative. 

 

Will the aspects of online/home school still haunt children after the covid pandemic has slowly dissipated and become a common cold, will future generations never experience the thrill of a snow day? The excitement of waking up ready for school, then opening your curtains to discover a winter wonderland has transformed your neighbourhood into an icy dream. Possibly sleeping in a little, then waking up with a hot chocolate eager to wrap up warm and explore the winter wonderland outside. Soft crunches of snow under your boots, whilst other children rush out with sledges as snow balls are launched over your head. Will little children ever experience the joys of snow days which we experienced when we were little? Or in the future when we are parents and have children, will we ever take them out to build a snowman or go sledging? Or will the norm be to have an online day of school at home? Waiting till 4pm eager to finally go outside, if the snow hasn’t melted. 

 

Will teachers be prepared for sudden snow days, will they have the available resources at home or will they be at school where they are unable to access them? However, now that many people have laptops could work be adapted to what resources we currently have online? 

 

Some comments about snow days:

“I like lying deep within the snow.” (Oscar Dicker - Age 10)

"Snow days are great because I like the noise of the crunch of the snow, the way the snow lights up the sky in the evening." (Mia Hurley - Age 12). 

 

Overall, will future generations ever experience the joys of snow days due to the changes which the covid pandemic has brought to our world? Hopefully, future generations of children will discover the simple joy of missing one day of school to experience the dreams of a winter wonderland surrounding them. Ultimately, the most significant aspect of a snow day is the delight of missing school, a forbidden pleasure.