Winter Activities Symmetrical Snowflake Here s one of our favorite winter crafts for kids creating symmetrical snowflakes! Children will be creating symmetrical snowflakes using common craft materials. This snowflake craft would be a great addition to any math lessons on symmetry or patterns! We checked out the book, The Snowflake by Kenneth Libbrecht, from our local library. We were just taken aback by all the gorgeous designs that can be found in snowflakes. (www.buggyandbuddy.com) Since Lucy and I discovered by reading our library book that all snowflakes have six sides, I cut out some hexagons and glued one in the center of each black square. (Having a starting point with six sides really helps with creating rotationally symmetric designs.) You can print out your own sheet of hexagons using the link below: Next I gathered up as many white and silver crafting supplies from around the house as I could find. I ended up using white pompoms (you could also use cottonballs), cotton swabs (both regular length and some cut in half), silver doilies cut into various shapes, and silver twist ties I found in a box of garbage bags. I also used a paper punch to cut our some hearts and stars from various scraps of paper. I placed all the crafting supplies in a tray on the table, along with some glue. Tips: When creating a layer of the snowflake, it helped to first place the crafting items on the paper to make sure they fit before gluing. Don t leave out the toddlers! Although Theo isn t quite ready to create symmetrical snowflakes, he had a blast creating his snowy own art!
Ice Jewels The past couple days the girls have been talking about snow. I guess it started when we saw some tiny flakes Sunday, and while I am dreading those little white flakes (I am NOT a cold weather person), they are excited about them. None of them stuck of course, but I am sure they will soon enough! Last year we didn't have a whole lot of snow, but we certainly had enough (more then enough for me). One day I decided to freeze some colored water in ice cubes for the girls to play with in the snow. I just threw them in the snow for the girls to find. They were excited when they found them. They actually rushed around to see who could collect the most of the "jewels" as they called them. It was funny to watch them if they dropped one because it was quickly engulfed by the snow. They had to fumble around and find it and brush all the snow off again all faster then the other one who would also dive for the lost jewel. This is definitely an activity we will have to repeat this year if (wishful thinking there) it snows! (http://lifewithmoorebabies.blogspot.com)
Iceberg Painting We ve been doing a lot of crafts and young children need to have free art time to create, as well a variety of sensory experiences to discover new things, so this was the perfect answer! Also the ice cubes don t melt very fast so we were able to pack them up to use for another day! 1. Gather your materials. You will need an ice cube tray, some paint, water, a few paper towels, paper and a pan. 2. Start the night before and put some paint in the ice cube tray. Add water and freeze. 3. In the morning or after, pop the ice cubes out and let soften for about 5 minutes. 4. Line your pan with a layer of paper towel add a piece of paper. 5. Start painting! While painting ask about how it feels, see if they will hold the cubes long enough to make a few drips of water etc there is no wrong way to do this. (http://www.notimeforflashcards.com)
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW {PLAYDOUGH PLAY} Recipe: 2 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup salt 3 Tbs. oil 1 Tbs. alum or 3 cream of tartar 2 cups boiling water food coloring of your (child s) choice Mix all ingredients together and you re done! (You kind of have to be exact in the measurements. If it s too sticky, I add a little extra oil. If it s too oily, I add a little extra flour. Too much flour makes it dry out fast.) (http://www.notimeforflashcards.com)
Exploring Ice in the Sensory Table One of our favorite winter activities is exploring ice in the sensory table. It s fun to freeze water from different containers so that you get different shapes and sizes, but having them all the same size is fine, too, as we did in this activity. We added some fine motor to this ice activity by supplying pipettes. We then tinted the warm water blue so they could see it move up and down in the pipette, then squirting onto the ice. There is a lot of movement in this activity, so our energetic children are especially drawn to it. What you will need: Ice Water (we tinted ours blue to make it stand out as they added it to the ice) Pipettes A sensory table or a bin that can be placed on a table or floor Setting it up: Freeze water in your choice of containers. Then, pop the ice out of the containers into the bin. Add containers of warm water (we tinted ours blue with some liquid watercolors), along with pipettes. Hands on exploration: Watch as they touch the ice and realize it s starting to melt. Use the pipettes to squirt water on top of the ice: Preschoolers love using pipettes. Teachers love how it helps fine motor development. As the ice melts, there will be more fun with the pipettes! (http://teaching2and3yearolds.com)
Snow Window Snow has clobbered many of you along with freezing temps but here in the Pacific North West we are still green and wet and needed to make our own snow. Whether you are in sunny Florida or too cold to go outside Minnesota you can play with snow and stay warm while you do with this fun indoor winter activity for kids. This is a fun exploration that is opened ended and really encourages creativity. My daughter ran with it and I love what she made. She has always wanted to make a snowman and even though we ve never had enough snow (that she can remember) to make one she managed to make one with this winter activity. Gather your materials. You will need some contact paper, painter s tape (you could use real tape but it might muck up your windows), cotton balls, q tips (some cut in half), cotton pads and a window! Start by taping the contact paper to your window sticky side out. I find it s easiest if you tape the top edge on first then peel and tape the sides and bottom last. Get the snow bits ready by the window and invite your child to explore. As she created she told me all about how this was her yard and it snowed and she was playing Snowflakes came first Then she discovered that dabbing the cotton ball created little puffs of cotton on the window. Very similar to when we made a pompom window last year. Snowman time! She didn t forget arms. I loved watching her and really didn t get involved at all. This was all her. She explored textures, shapes, and cause and effect with serious intent while also working on fine motor skills and storytelling as she went. (http://www.notimeforflashcards.com)