TMR resident creates igloo structures so kids can safely play in the snow
Like any modern parent, Éric Villiard would rather his kids, ages eight and five, play outside than stay stuck on their iPads. But when it comes to winter safety, the Town of Mount Royal resident learned the hard way that fun can turn to fright quickly when the elements won’t co-operate.
Raised in Ste-Adèle, Villiard lived a typical suburban Québécois boyhood. Unfortunately, that included a scare at age 10, when the igloo he was attempting to build one day in his front yard collapsed on him.
“Like any normal kid, I went out to play in the snow, and it was really sticky,” Villiard recalled. “I made a big pile of snow and started digging inside to make an igloo. In a matter of a half a second, it collapsed on me. I was on my belly and I couldn’t move a finger! I was just about to panic. I knew my father was inside but I didn’t know he was watching me.”
Within about 30 seconds, Papa Villiard came to the rescue, pulling young Éric out of the snow.
“It was quite a fright,” Éric confirms.
These things happen, and luckily in Villiard’s case, all was well that ended well, but the experience stayed with him.
“A couple of years ago, (my kids) started digging tunnels and holes in snowbanks. I didn’t like it and told them not to do it,” Villiard said.
But this approach left him at odds with himself. He wants his kids to enjoy the snow, and feels that all families should get out more during winter and enjoy the natural playground the season brings. So he decided to look for a solution.
“I started thinking: There’s got to be a product out there, some kind of structure to support the snow, if you want to build an igloo,” he said.
His internet research led him nowhere, so the career salesman took matters into his own hands.
“I thought: Why not build it myself?” Villiard explained. “So I called an industrial designer. I said I need a plastic structure, shaped and designed like an igloo. I pictured it in my head — a dome-shaped structure that can support the snow.”
Working with the designer, through trial and error in his garage, Villiard eventually brought to life a durable plastic design, safety-tested to resist the snow’s weight and survive the subzero winter temperature. The prototype was a success. Play Snow was born.
“And my kids loved it!” he added.
Convinced he was not the only person to whom such a product would appeal, he set up a Kickstarter to mass-produce the Play Snow igloo structure, selling 2,000 units in that test run.
Today, with a product line that includes the igloo, tunnel structures to connect to other igloos, and a play castle to round out the fun, Villiard is ready to launch Play Snow to a wider market, based on the success stories and fun his original clients have reported as feedback.
Composed of 17 heavyduty interlocking plastic panels, the Play Snow igloo — five feet in diameter and three feet tall — is easy to assemble and designed to withstand whatever winter brings, be it wind or ice.
At his house, when spring comes, the family covers the structure with a camouflage tarp and keeps it open as a summer playhouse, too.
“It has to be set up by an adult,” he said, “but the kids can participate, and it’s really easy to put together and disassemble. It takes a matter of minutes.”
Now, his kids can’t wait for the next big snowstorm.
Recalling his brush with nature’s forces as a child, Villiard feels he accomplished what he set out to do and hopes to see families having igloo fun without the fear attached.
For now, you can visit the Play Snow website or their Facebook page to get a look and find out pricing and shipping details. Meanwhile, Villiard is close to also having the product available in retail stores.
“Kids love to play in the snow, and now parents have the tools to make it a safe activity,” Villiard said. “It’s worry-free for the parents.”
For more information, visit playsnow.ca.