Valentine Snow Cupcakes and Cookies

Getting ready for Valentine's Day was especially fun in our chicken coop clubhouse. Despite the snow sneaking in through the cracks we were so busy it never really bothered us. We'd swipe it off the desks; push it aside with our boots and play-honest to goodness, pure imagination full-steam ahead play as we made valentine cards and valentine chains kept together by a pastey sort of glue made ahead of time by mixing flour and water. Valentine decorations were created and put in the windows which were allowing the snow inside.

We'd instruct our two rows of pretend students to follow us as we drew designs on the chalkboard; then drew them on paper much of which had become wet by the snow and then cut them out with an old pair of scissors our grandmother gave us. We helped our pretend students make cards to take to their pretend families living in pretend homes nearby. Each student had a name taped to their desk. Of course, as is usually the case, we had our favorites! Those who didn't behave didn't get the pretend snacks at snack time which was snow piled on top of cardboard plates.

Snacks varied-everything from pretend valentine snow cupcakes to pretend valentine snow cookies with little stones-serving as pretend chocolate chips-which had been found under the snow and dug up by little frozen fingers. Whatever we were serving was quite delicious. After our pretend students left to go back to their pretend homes we'd stay to finish the snacks they'd left behind. Those valentine snow cookies were our favorites although the chocolate chips were just too hard to chew even when we were pretending!

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