As Ontario schools close, social media lights up with kids playing in snow | The Star

It’s official, it’s a snow day!

On the day Ontario students were supposed to head back into schools, the province has been hit by blizzard warnings, with GTA school boards cancelling classes due to extreme snowfall.

What are people doing instead? Sharing reactions and photos of the heaping snow hills they woke up to.

“Thanks Mother Nature,” Heather Braun tweeted with a photo of her child tobogganing in the backyard.

“I think our daughter speaks for Toronto” Travis Farncombe shared on Twitter with a photo of his daughter submerged in snow.

The snowfall started late Sunday evening, continuing overnight and accumulating 20 to 40 centimetres of snowfall by Monday morning. The last comparable snowfall in Toronto was on Jan. 28, 2019 when 26 centimetres hit the city.

While some school boards have called a snow day, Toronto District School Board is still running online classes, with many asking to just let kids off the hook for one day to enjoy the outdoors.

“Remote learning is important but can we give the kids at least ONE snow day? Just one? As a treat? Some of my favourite childhood memories was when the snow was taller than me and school was cancelled and remote learning would have killed that vibe,” Valerie Dittrich shared.

Some children (and their determined parents) braved the snow to play in the snow.

The Star’s Kelsey Wilson snapped these pictures of some tiny tots wading in the white stuff at St. James park.

For some, the enormous dumping of snow really took away from the view.

Snow day also means a wonderful day for frolicking dogs. Here are some happy pups playing in the snow.

For animals like this polar bear at the Toronto Zoo, it is a wonderland.

The weather has also proven difficult for drivers, commuters and those shovelling outside — with knee-deep snow on sidewalks and cars being stalled.

Some are also talking about nurses and other essential workers who don’t get a snow day.

The storm is proving to be a problem for large vehicles like fire trucks as well.

One user in Hamilton saw nearly 50 cm of snow in the backyard.

Shortly after 10 a.m. on Monday, Toronto police announced the temporary closures of the Gardiner Expressway and DVP to allow for the removal of vehicles stuck in the snow.