Grade Levels: Toddler-Kindergarten
Age Levels: Birth-36 months (infant/toddler); PreK 3-5 yrs (preschool); 5-6 yrs (kindergarten)
Description: Winter is coming which means many of us will have our first snow day of the season soon. While many kids love to play outside in the snow, others prefer the warmth of their home so we are going to share some ways to enjoy the snow without getting cold! For example, if you have a water table, why not fill it with snow and allow your child to play with the snow inside. Add toys to create a winter wonderland or make up a plate of small items to make mini snowmen. Raisins or small candies make great eyes; mini carrots or candy corn can be used for the nose; licorice, Twizzlers, or fruit roll-ups make great scarfs; and celery, pretzel sticks, or twigs from outside can be used for the arms. You can also paint snow with watercolors! This could even become a science experiment as kids mix the colors to make new colors. For more details and other activities, visit the Parenting with Principle website that offers 15 snow day crafts and activities to do with your young kids inside or visit the CBC parents website that offers some additional sensory snow activities.
If your child doesn’t like the feel of snow, how about making some snowy snacks such as snow cream or maple taffy. Emmamadeinjapan offers a “how-to” video for making snow cream (or see Happy Hooligans for written instructions. Maple taffy is another delicious treat (see CBS kids for a fun demonstration and then visit Martha Stewart for instructions).
Finally, there is no better activity on a cold winter day than snuggling up to read with your child. A wonderful classic snow day book is The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. Head to your local library to check out this book or watch a beautifully animated version provided by the EJK foundation here.
What materials do I need?
Activities:
- Indoor snowman: snow, a cookie sheet to hold the snow, materials for eyes (such as raisins, m&ms), nose (i.e. carrots, candy corn), scarf (yarn, Twizzlers, fruit rollups), arms (celery, twigs, pretzel sticks), or toys from around the house such as Mr. Potato Head parts to use on the snowman
- Snow paint: snow, paint brushes, water colors
- Snow Table: snow, something to place the snow in such as a sand or water table, a plastic container, a casserole dish, or a cookie sheet, toys for pretend play
Snowy Snacks:
- Maple taffy: snow, maple syrup
- Snow cream (ice cream): snow, vanilla, 10 ounces sweetened condensed milk
Tags:
- Art
- Science
- Creative Thinking
- Culinary
- Sensory
Developer:
Karena Rush
Credit:
Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA
Credit: ConnectionSpot.org on 12/15/2020
