Collection

• Building an igloo that comfortably accommodates several elementary school students requires about 250 milk jugs. Collecting them should begin early in the school year and involve every student in the class. The number of jugs collected can increase rapidly when students engage relatives, friends and neighbors to contribute to the cause.
  
  

Frame

• Avoid the frustration of a collapsing igloo by first building a frame to support the weight of the milk jugs. A sturdy choice for the frame is PVC piping measuring three-fourth inches in diameter and their connectors. Using the pipes, build the frame in a semi-circle position, using the connectors to shape the igloo. When assembling the dome portion of the igloo frame, use the pipes and connectors to form an arch.
  
  

Stacking

• Using a hot glue gun, begin making the bottom row of the igloo by gluing a milk jug to the center back of the frame. The jug should be on its side with the lid pointing toward the inside of the igloo. Follow suit with other milk jugs until the bottom row is completed. Continue building rows by gluing the milk jugs on top of each other until the desired height is reached.
  
  

The Dome

• Again, make sure the milk jugs are on their sides with the lid pointing toward the inside of the igloo. Stack the jugs to form an arch. Another option is to trim the tops of the jugs and staple them together in vertical strips before shaping the arch. This can make building the dome a more manageable task by reducing slippage that might occur when the jugs are stacked in the leaning position required to form the arch.
  
  

Final Touches

• White quilt batting can be used to fill in cracks and gaps between the milk jugs. A sheet of white Christmas tree batting can serve as a door while sparkling icicle lights, snow garlands and artificial snowflakes serve as wintry decorations. Adding blankets and pillows to the inside of the igloo creates an inviting atmosphere for reading activities.
  
  

Tips

• It is important that all milk jugs be thoroughly washed and air-dried before they are included in the building process. Not only will sour milk cause a green residue to form in the jugs (and make the igloo look moldy), it will also make for a smelly igloo and classroom.