A Snow Day at School

Yesterday it snowed and snowed until about noon.  It was perfect packing snow and the students made the most amazing snowforts.  Some of the snowballs they rolled were as big as them and it took two or three kids to maneuver them.  What impressed me most was how everyone was fully engaged.  Some were working so hard they had to take their coats off.  There was lots of conversation, group problem-solving and distributed leadership.  There were a few conflicts, but they were sorted out with minimal adult support.  It exemplified what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls a "state of flow" - in which work feels like play and time seems to pass unnoticed.  In snowfort building I think, there is just enough ease, just enough challenge, and much room for creativity. I could not help wondering:  what if we could more often create the conditions for flow in the building?  We glimpse it sometimes, and treasure those occasions.  These are the times that I think children will remember, too, when they look back on their years at school.