Saturday Science Sessions – How to Build an Igloo

An igloo is a traditional structure that takes advantage of the insulating properties of snow. It is engineered into a dome-shaped shelter that requires no additional structure, aside from the blocks of snow that lean on each other.
I have had opportunities to stay in igloos through my travels, but never to build my own – cutting and stacking the blocks of snow to make a temporary shelter for the night. And that task will remain on my list for now! But instead, I traded in my gingerbread house-making and pretzel log cabin-making skills to try my hand at a sugar cube igloo.
The main ingredients are a box of sugar cubes and icing for the glue (same type of icing that would be used in a gingerbread house).
– Start by lining a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
– Create the base of the igloo by laying a base of cubes around a 7 or 8 inch diameter circle.
– Don’t forget that the igloo needs an entrance!
– Use the icing sugar to build additional layers of the igoo, decreasing the circumference of each layer as the igloo is built up.
– Decorate as desired!