Snowball fights are a tradition in New England. There are plenty of activities involving snow, but nothing quite like a snowball fight. There are a lot of ways to define the term “snowball fight." One simple definition is: two or more people attempting to hit each other with balls of snow. This is essentially the foundation of a snowball fight. Wherever you are, gloves or not, you can scoop up a wad of snow and form it into a ball.

A more advanced snowball fight involves tools to assist in the creation of snowballs, snow forts, and launching snowballs. In addition to these tools, add teams, sleds, and an objective, like an object that needs to be captured (like a flag), and the snowball fight is even more complicated. Now you’re slinging snow across a battlefield, camping out in elaborate snow forts, and supporting your team while you try to capture the flag by sliding about on sleds or inner tubes.

The rules are simple. Each team is allowed the same amount of tools and sleds. The tools include snowball clippers, snowball cases, snowball throwing sticks, snow brick makers, and shovels. Each team captain indicates where their flag will be placed before the match starts. There are two bases, and a neutral ground where the fighting takes place, much like capture the flag.

Each team has a creator, fighter, builder, and captain. The creator is tasked with snowball production. They use the sled to travel from fort to fort, and use the snowball clippers and cases to ensure each fort is stocked with plenty of snowballs. The fighter does exactly what their name implies. They're the main offense of the team, and charge in to try and capture the flag. The builder is tasked with repairing and building snow forts using the snow brick makers, shovels, or even their bare hands. Typically the builder and creator play more defensively, since they're always in the snow forts and near the flag. The captain manages the team and determines plans of attack and defense for the team, in addition to assisting any other team member with their job. The captain and the fighter are typically more offensive, because they're constantly on the move.

A snowball case (above).

A snow brick maker with two snowball clippers.

When a player is hit with a snowball in the neutral zone, they must drop to the ground, make a snow angel, and then return to their base. If a player is hit with a snowball in their base they must do the same thing, which gives the attackers just enough time to grab the flag and leave. If a player is hit while riding a sled, they must intentionally flip the sled over and return to their base without the sled. The abandoned sled can then be used by either team. The same rule applies for shovels, but not the smaller snowball tools. The basic fight is four versus four, because there are four roles, but snowball fights can be on a much larger scale, as long as the players and equipment are divided evenly among the two teams. Snowball fights get really interesting when there are multiple teams contesting for multiple flags.

While snowball fights are such a simple concept, they can become quite exciting with a little bit of structure. Of course, these rules don’t have to be strictly followed because of potential equipment limitations.

It seems ridiculous to actually arrange something of this complexity, but it makes for a lot of fun on a snow day when classes are canceled, or you’re sick of Netflix!