Thorndyke’s Portal to Igloo Construction

Hey Kids,

When it’s cold outside, most bears hibernate. I am no exception. This year, while getting ready, I started wondering what people do when it gets cold out. People don’t have any fur, and not very much fat, so they must get pretty chilly.

It turns out that people have all kinds of tricks! There are coats, hats and things that I am familiar with from the fall. There are also heaters, fireplaces (Fire inside! Who would have guessed!), and blankets, obviously. Houses have something called “insulation,” which I think, after a little research, is like my fat layer that keeps me warm.

There are also people who make houses out of snow. Even though snow is cold, it is a great insulator, so these houses can be 40-60 degrees warmer than outside without a fire or anything. They are called igloos. This book has more information about how they work.

Here is an article I found through Hobbies & Crafts Source about how to build one (you'll need your library card number to access it!). Hobbies & Crafts Source is one of our databases. It has lots of articles and ideas that you can download as PDFs or look at online. Have you ever tried to use a database? They’re great. You can find all the ones we have on the Research & Learn page or by searching the catalog.

I need to sleep this winter, and it’s not that cold yet, but I still wanted to try out what making an igloo would be like, so I looked up some ideas for making an igloo inside. Here’s what I found:

Igloos are made of packed snow, but at home, you can make one out of ice cubes. Here is a blog and video showing how.
If that sounds too cold, you can also make one out of a milk jug (or tissue box) and cotton balls. If you want to get fancy, you can even put a light in it!
Do you want an igloo you can go inside? Here’s how to make a giant one out of milk jugs.

Wow! That looks like fun. What else do people do in the winter to stay warm?

Hmmmm…

Bear Hugs,

Thorndyke

P.S. Here are some books about snow and staying warm.