Create a Snow Labyrinth!

Create a snow labyrinth in your church parking lot or yard, a family’s yard or a farmer’s field.

You can choose from a few different designs. Ariadne’s Thread is likely the easiest for snow construction. Or, try any of The Labyrinth Society‘s, though they are not specifically for snow. Building the trail rather than the walls makes snow labyrinth building a bit more challenging, but the rewards are great.

Once you have your instructions and materials (snow shoes are really helpful), invite all generations to help build. Elders can supply moral support, even if they can’t plow through the snow. Tweens and Teens will have the energy and physical ability, but will likely need Adult supervision to keep them on task and away from crashing through the walls (so tempting!). Young Ones can be the follow-up crew, helping to make the trail cleaner and more solid.

Be sure to make the paths wide for user safety and ease of maintenance. Make the walls thick so the labyrinth can last a while and so you can add decorative elements to change through the season. Add pine boughs through Christmas, ice sculptures for New Years, stars for Epiphany, etc.

Let different groups of the congregation rotate responsibility to keep the path usable: someone will need to walk it after every snow fall or it will disappear!

When your snow labyrinth is in place, invite your whole community to use it any time. Offer guidance on the intention and meaning of labyrinth walking with a link to Walking a Labyrinth as Spiritual Exercise.

Your snow labyrinth would make a fantastic Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve or New Years Day community gathering or worship event. Line the walls with luminaria for beautiful evening-time walks.

Offer hot cider or cocoa (following all essential safety protocols), or invite others to bring their own. Add a bonfire at a safe distance so folks can gather for conversation following their labyrinth walk.

Turn the bonfire into a “burning off the old” – throwing in notes or symbols of what folks want to say good-bye to from 2020 – to make a full New Years celebration or other special event.