Snow day superstitions
The night before a big storm, lots of kids try the same strange rituals to "make" a snow day. Here are the classic ones, why people do them, and what actually decides whether school closes.
By Muhammad Shakeel. Published 29 October 2026. Updated 31 October 2026.
10 snow day rituals kids swear by
- Sleep with a spoon under your pillow. The most famous one. Some families say the spoon has to face up, others say it must be a big serving spoon. Nobody agrees, which is part of the fun.
- Wear your pajamas inside out. Often done together with the spoon. The extra-serious version is inside out and backwards.
- Flush ice cubes down the toilet. Usually one cube for each inch of snow you want. Some say you need exactly the number of snow days you are hoping for.
- Put a white crayon in the freezer. White for snow, cold for winter. A spoon in the freezer is the other common choice.
- Do a snow dance. Any dance counts, as long as everyone does it together, ideally outside right before bed.
- Throw ice cubes into the yard. A "gift" to the weather, so it sends more back.
- Brush your teeth with the other hand. Doing an everyday thing "backwards" shows up in many versions of the tradition.
- Sleep the wrong way round. Head at the foot of the bed. It goes well with the inside-out pajamas.
- Shout "snow day!" into the freezer. Open the freezer, say it loud, close the door. The cold is supposed to pass the message on.
- Leave your homework undone. The riskiest one on the list. If school opens, the homework is still due.
Every family seems to have its own version. The first three are the classics that news stories mention again and again (News 5 Cleveland), and most of the rest appear in Mental Floss’s round-up of snow day superstitions (January 2026). Skipping homework is our own addition, as a warning.
Do snow day superstitions work?
No. A spoon cannot move a storm, and there is no study showing that any of these rituals changes the weather. What they do give you is something fun to do while you wait, and a story to tell if the snow does come.
There is one small truth inside them: people usually start the rituals when snow is already in the forecast. So "it worked" quite often, simply because the storm was coming anyway.
Where do these superstitions come from?
No one has traced them to a single source. They spread from kid to kid, and between parents and teachers, and now through social media. Most follow two simple ideas: do something "backwards" or "inside out" to flip your luck, or put something cold somewhere (the freezer, the toilet, the yard) to "ask" for cold weather.
How to get a snow day (the real way)
You cannot make it snow, but you can know early. A school district usually decides around 5 to 6 am, after checking the roads. These are the things that matter most:
- Snow overnight and before buses leave. Snow falling between 4 and 8 am is the hardest to clear.
- Ice. A thin layer of freezing rain can close schools faster than several inches of snow.
- Extreme cold. In cold states, very low wind chill can close schools on its own (how cold is too cold).
- How used to snow your area is. Two inches can close schools in the South, while snow belt districts stay open through much more (how much snow it takes).
So the best "ritual" is to check the forecast the evening before. Our free snow day calculator turns the National Weather Service forecast into a closure chance and a delay chance for your ZIP code, and our method page explains exactly how.
A fair warning
Rituals are fun; skipped homework and late nights are not. Do the spoon, wear the pajamas, and still get your bag ready. Only your school district can call a snow day, so check its announcements in the morning.