Snow day superstitions and rituals

The short answer

None of them changes the weather, and every one of them is a winter tradition worth keeping. Snow day rituals are part of the fun of the night before a storm, passed down from older siblings and classmates. What actually decides a snow day is the forecast, the roads at bus time and your district's own call.

The classic snow day rituals

1. Wear your pajamas inside out. Some kids also wear them backwards, or one sock inside out. Bonus points for the whole family joining in.
2. Sleep with a spoon under your pillow. Some use one spoon for each person in the house, and some put it on the windowsill instead.
3. Flush ice cubes down the toilet. Some kids flush one cube for each inch of snow they're hoping for.
4. Put a white crayon in the freezer. White for snow, and the freezer for cold. Some kids leave it there all winter.
5. Do a snow dance. Anything goes. Some insist it only counts if you dance outside.
6. Run around the kitchen table. Some do a set number of laps, or chant their school's name while they run.
7. Throw ice at the street. A handful of ice cubes tossed toward the road, as a hint to the weather.

Many families stack several of these on the same night. If school closes, the rituals get the credit. If it doesn't, someone obviously did one wrong.

Why kids keep doing them

The night before a possible snow day is full of waiting: checking the forecast, refreshing the district's website, hoping for a call at 6 AM. A ritual gives that waiting something to do. It's also a shared joke between friends, siblings and sometimes teachers, which is a big part of why the same rituals turn up in so many towns.

What really decides a snow day

• How much snow falls overnight, compared with what your area normally handles. Two inches can close schools where snow is rare and barely matter in the snowbelt. How much snow cancels school.
• Ice. A thin glaze of freezing rain closes schools faster than several inches of snow. Ice storms and school closings.
• Timing. Snow still falling at bus time matters more than snow that ended at midnight.
• Bitter cold. Some districts close or delay when the wind chill at the bus stop gets dangerous. Wind chill and school closings.
• The district. Superintendents check the roads early in the morning and make the call. How districts decide.

The forecast signs that really predict a snow day.

Turn it into an experiment

Here's a way to settle the argument. Before each storm this winter, write down which rituals your family did, the chance the snow day calculator showed the night before, and what your district decided. After a few storms, compare: did the nights with the most rituals beat the forecast? It works as a classroom activity too, with real data instead of guesses.

Sources

1. Snow Day Calculator, signs of a snow day
2. Snow Day Calculator, how school districts decide snow days
3. Snow Day Calculator, how much snow cancels school

Related guides

• Does NYC have snow days?
• Snow day vs. delay vs. early dismissal
• Virtual snow days: is a remote day the new snow day?