epic-scattered-snowman
Epic 2: The Scattered Snowman ❄️🧦
Frosty melted. His bits are scattered across Essex County. The power socks help you walk between warm and cold to bring him home.
Epic Overview
Status: 🌱 PLANNING Started: December 27, 2025 Goal: Collect all of Frosty's pieces, learn thermodynamics, reunite him
The Story Setup
The elves arrive on December 27th with a final Christmas gift - power socks. But there's a problem.
Frosty wandered too close to somewhere warm and... melted. His bits scattered across the kingdom. The socks give the kids the power to walk between warm and cold zones without losing their own warmth (or melting what they carry).
The Thermodynamics
| Concept | Kid Version | Frosty Version |
|---|---|---|
| Solid → Liquid | Ice becomes water when it gets warm | Frosty melted - he's not gone, just... spread out |
| Heat = movement | Warm things have fast-moving bits | Frosty's bits got too excited and ran away from each other |
| Cold = stillness | Cold things have slow-moving bits | We need to get his bits cold again so they'll stick together |
| Freezing | Water becomes ice when it gets cold | If we collect the bits in the cold places, Frosty can come back |
| Insulation | Traps air, keeps warmth in OR cold in | The socks protect the boundary - walk through cold without losing heat |
Key Insight: Insulation works both ways. The socks don't make warmth - you already have that inside. They let you keep it.
The Power Socks
Gift from the elves (via Lisa at Christ Church).
- Don't create heat (the kids already have that inside)
- Protect the boundary
- Walk through cold zones without losing your warmth
- Walk through warm zones without melting what you carry
- "The warmth is already in you. The socks just help you keep it."
Frosty's Scattered Pieces
Each piece is in a different real-world location. Some survived in cold spots. Some melted and need to be re-frozen.
The Pieces to Collect
- 👀 Coal eyes (2) -
- 🥕 Carrot nose (1) -
- 🎩 Magic hat (1) -
- 🧣 Scarf (1) -
- 🌿 Stick arms (2) -
- ⚫ Coal buttons (3) -
- ❄️ Snow body (needs fresh cold snow) -
Location Mapping (TBD)
Location Mapping - The Scavenger Hunt
The Geography (Real World)
THE DRIVE: Kingsville ↔ Amherstburg
- Daddy's house (Kingsville) → Kids' school (Amherstburg)
- Passes through or near: Colchester, Harrow
WARM ZONES 🔥 (Frosty melted here - pieces need rescuing)
Colasanti's Tropical Gardens (Kingsville)
- Greenhouse full of tropical plants - jungle inside a building
- WHERE FROSTY GOT TOO CLOSE and started melting
- His scarf got caught on a tropical plant
- Thermodynamics: Warm air holds more energy, molecules move fast
John R. Park Homestead - Kitchen Fireplace (Harrow)
- The warmth drew the family on cold winter evenings
- Frosty's carrot nose rolled toward the fire
- Thermodynamics: Heat transfers from hot to cold
Blacksmith's Forge (John R. Park Homestead)
- Coal-fired forge - the hottest place around!
- One of Frosty's coal buttons returned to its origin
- Connects to Time Vortex epic (finding the blacksmith!)
- Thermodynamics: Fire = rapid oxidation, releases energy
COLD ZONES ❄️ (Pieces preserved here)
The Ice House (John R. Park Homestead)
- Real historical ice house - kept ice all summer!
- Frosty's magic hat preserved perfectly here
- Thermodynamics: Insulation keeps cold IN as well as out
- THE KEY LESSON LOCATION
Colchester Beach & Harbour (Lake Erie)
- "Walleye Capital of Canada" - frozen in winter
- Frosty's coal eyes found on the frozen shore
- Pirate Ship Playground - maybe the eyes were watching the pirates?
- Thermodynamics: Large bodies of water freeze slowly (thermal mass)
Lakeside Park Toboggan Hill (Kingsville)
- The cold north-facing slope
- Frosty's stick arms found in the snow
- Thermodynamics: North-facing slopes stay frozen longer (less sun exposure)
TRANSITION ZONES 🌡️ (Temperature learning opportunities)
Christ Church - The Upside-Down Ship (Amherstburg)
- Lisa's church - where the elves came from
- The power socks originated here
- Built like a ship's hull - designed to hold warmth inside
- Thermodynamics: Architecture as insulation
Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary (Kingsville)
- Where do birds go when it's cold? They MIGRATE
- Not a Frosty piece, but a CLUE about temperature
- Birds know: when it's cold, go where it's warm
- Frosty should have done the opposite!
THE BODY ⛄
The Hole / Daddy's Backyard (Kingsville)
- Fresh snow for Frosty's new body
- Where it all comes together
- The entrance to the Magic Kingdom
Route Options
Short Route (Kingsville focus):
- The Hole (start) → 2. Colasanti's (scarf) → 3. Lakeside Park (arms) → 4. The Hole (rebuild)
Medium Route (add Colchester):
- The Hole → 2. Colasanti's → 3. Colchester Beach (eyes) → 4. Lakeside Park → 5. The Hole
Full Essex County Adventure:
- The Hole (Kingsville) - START
- Colasanti's (Kingsville) - scarf, WARM lesson
- Lakeside Park (Kingsville) - arms, COLD lesson
- Colchester Beach (Colchester) - eyes, WATER lesson
- John R. Park Homestead (Harrow) - hat + button + nose, ICE HOUSE lesson
- Christ Church (Amherstburg) - power socks origin, INSULATION lesson
- The Hole (Kingsville) - REBUILD Frosty
Each location teaches a thermodynamics concept. Each piece recovered is a verse in the song.
The Song (Accumulator Pattern)
Build Frosty back up verse by verse:
First we found his coal eyes in the snow, in the snow
First we found his coal eyes in the snow
And we're bringing Frosty home
Then we found his carrot nose so cold, nose so cold
Then we found his carrot nose so cold
Coal eyes in the snow
And we're bringing Frosty home
Then we found his magic hat up high, hat up high
Then we found his magic hat up high
Carrot nose so cold
Coal eyes in the snow
And we're bringing Frosty home
[continues accumulating...]Each verse PUSHES a new piece. Each chorus POPS back through everything collected.
Learning Integration
- Thermodynamics: State changes, heat as movement, insulation
- Geography: Real Essex County locations
- Memory: Accumulator song structure
- Problem-solving: Where would pieces survive? Where would they melt?
Connection to Existing Mythology
- The Hole (Kingsville backyard) - Starting point
- Christ Church (Amherstburg) - Where the elves' gift originated (Lisa)
- The upside-down ship church - Maybe where the magic hat landed?
- Colasanti's Tropical Gardens - The WARM zone where Frosty got too close?
Navigation
North: [[epics]] East: [[epic-time-vortex]] (previous epic)
Made with ❤️ by Dad, who teaches physics through snowman rescue missions
North
slots:
- context:
- Epic 2 - Winter thermodynamics adventure
slug: epics
West
slots:
- context:
- Previous epic - Time Vortex complete, now Scattered Snowman
slug: epic-time-vortex
Location Mapping Tbd
South
slots:
- context:
- Scavenger hunt checklist for Epic 2
slug: snowman-scavenger-hunt