The 10 Silliest Snow Day Superstitions You Believed as a Kid

Remember when a snow day meant sledding followed by hot chocolate and a cartoon binge? No wonder we would try anything—and we do mean anything!—to get it to snow.

Ah, snow. That magical, often unpredictable (depending on your weather source) and ambiguous present from Mother Nature that every child wishes for during the winter months. If only Mother Nature would comply so school could be canceled and replaced with sledding, snowmen, and hot cocoa. It’s not surprising that over the years countless children have experimented with different rituals they swear will invoke the white stuff. Here are some of the silliest, snow-inducing superstitions:

PJ party

For more than 50 years, kids have been wearing their pajamas inside out and backwards in the hopes Mother Nature will reward them with a snowstorm.

Sweet dreams

Sleep with a spoon under your pillow with the hope Mother Nature will pay a visit instead of the Tooth Fairy. For extra insurance, put the spoon in the freezer for an hour first.

Break the ice

Flush an ice cube down the toilet for every inch of snow wanted. (We suspect this may have been Mom or Dad’s solution to avoid having ice cubes melt all over their floor.) Schools might not close for just a dusting, but here’s why a light snow is just as dangerous as a snowstorm.

True colors

Place a white crayon on the windowsill. Of course, that begs the question, what happens if you put a purple crayon on the windowsill?

Sock hop

Wear plastic bags (like newspapers come in) over your socks and in your shoes the day before. Sort of like saying “If you build it, they will come.” If this works and you get a snow day, you’ll want to know these snow day activities to keep the kids busy.

Topsy turvy

Sleep backward with your feet at the top of your bed and your head at the bottom.

Sweet deal

Eat ice cream. That’s a win-win either way.

Just dance

Perform a snow dance next to the freezer. Perhaps because of the proximity to the ice cream?

Backwards day

Brush your teeth with your opposite hand and sleep with one sock on.

Divine intervention

When in doubt, pray. Hey, it’s old school, but there’s no harm in tacking it on to the end of your nightly prayers

Even though today’s kids can use algorithms with a Snow Day Calculator, which determines the odds of a snow day happening, flushing ice cubes down the toilet while wearing your pajamas on backward is still a lot more fun. Once it’s time to start shoveling and clearing the yard, learn about the safest (and fastest) way to remove snow from your car.