The authentic and hand-made igloos

Igloos were introduced by an unknown Inuit artist of Canada's far north sometime before 1939 and they were used as temporary shelters by hunters during the winter. Igloos are also translated as snow houses - the dome-like buildings originally constructed of pegged together whale ivory. The people that live in igloos are communities of Eskimos and their dogs. Some Eskimo people only live in the igloo for a temporary time. Authentic igloos are constructed with snow blocks cut out of deep, hard snow drifts. The Eskimo uses a bone-bladed knife to cut the snow into blocks with which he builds his winter home. The snow used to build an igloo must have sufficient structural strength to be cut and stacked in the appropriate manner. The best snow to use is the wind blown snow which interlocks the ice crystals. The igloo blocks are sloped so as to incline towards the center. The blocks are laid down, one course upon another, in circles of ever-decreasing circumference. After the snow blocks are inserted to their places, the hut is tightly sealed and a lamp is kindled inside. The heated air melts the face of the snow blocks making each snow block firmly cemented in place and converted to ice on its inner side. An Igloo is made this way because it is the only thing there is to build with. Like every building, igloos have windows that in a traditional igloo would be made of translucent seal gut, and on the inside - benches, storage and other features. Due to ice's excellent insulating properties, inhabited igloos are warm and comfortable inside.
For fun or for winter camping, a simpler kind of snow huts can be constructed that are similar to igloos. Even though the deep, hard snow drifts are lacking, basically any kind of snow is opt for building snow houses. If you live in the snowy place, why not grab your kids or friends and begin building a snow house? This way you'll find the winter passing quickly. You don't have to build anything as fancy as an igloo. Just create a large pile of snow and excavate the inside. The snow is seldom, if ever, hard and compact enough to admit of this treatment and we must find another way to handle it. After the snow is piled up it must sit for a couple of hours for the ice particles to interlock. A fresh pile of snow will not be stable. To make it faster and easier for you, use boxes made of hard plastic to serve as a mold during the project. Snow will be shoveled into this mold and tamped down, forming the necessary building blocks for the snow house. To make the snow house sturdier and safer it is recommended to pour water over it so it gets covered in ice. Make sure you do it after you had cut the door. However, if the snow in your yard is not powdery, but is sticky instead, you don't need to apply water. Just tamp it into the mold, remove it from the mold and use your newly-formed blocks immediately. Don't climb on top of a snow house: people climbing on the house are the primary reason why snow houses collapse. A collapsing snow house can be very dangerous if someone gets caught in it.
the simple craft idea of building an igloo or, rather, a snow house,  is a great way to make the winter go faster.

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