Snow

Teddie Bear left on park benchSnow
Even if you live in an area where it doesn’t snow, you can still have fun with these snow activities.

Never-to-Melt Snowman
Create an indoor never-to-melt snowman out of Paper Mache’. We mixed flour and water to form a paste and glued strips of paper over our chicken wire form. Small pieces of PVC pipe were inserted in the places where we wanted the facial features, arms, and buttons. When our snowman was dry, the children painted it –a painting party.

making a snowman
the snowman's frame
making a snowman
filling out the frame
making a snowman
a little paper machete
Reading time Snowman
starting to decorate
Snowman Reading Day at Anderson Lee Lib
adding more details
Reading time Snowman
dressing up the snowman

Flyswatters make good arms. Miss-matched mittens, over mitts, garden gloves create wonderful hands. We used toy foods for the face, bells and plastic lids for buttons. Handles were attached to the facial parts and inserted in the pre-formed holes. If that’s not an option, duct tape will always work.  Add to your collection a variety of hats, scarves, and ribbons, and your children will have a grand time decorating your snowman.

Reading time Snowman
Sock Snowman
Stuff a child-sized sock with cotton batting. Twist a rubber band around the top and fold down the top edge of the sock to form a hat. Loosely twist a rubber band around the center of the sock, forming two snowballs. Decorate your snowman with markers or paint or glue (hot glue) buttons, jewels, pompoms, and ribbons. We used a small piece of orange chenille stem (pipe cleaners) for a carrot nose.

Snowball Throwing
If you can’t take your children outside to throw snowballs, try these indoor snowballs. Make a sock ball by rolling a sock and folding the top over it. Styrofoam balls also make good snowballs. Place a basket or box by the wall and have your children throw their snowballs into the basket. Suspend a hula hoop and then throw the sock balls through it. Children will have to stand back far enough to stretch those muscles.

Matching Snowflakes
Glue foam snowflake or stickers, (snowmen, penguins) onto 3×5 index cards or pieces of cut construction paper. You will need two of each snowflake(sticker) for your child to find matching pairs.

Counting Snowflakes
Stickers are great for creating counting games. You will need snowflake stickers, paper strips, and numbers 1-10. Cut ten strips of paper and place the snowflake stickers on each strip. One sticker on one, two on the next, three on the next, until stickers are placed on all ten strips. Write the number of snowflakes on the back of the card for self-checking. Have your children count the snowflakes. Then find the corresponding number and place it on the snowflake card.

 

Sensory Table Fun
Fill a container with shredded white paper or packing peanuts. Hide white objects in the container for your children to find. Increase the challenge by having them wear mittens, or use ice cube tongs to pick up the objects. Objects might include: cotton balls, pompoms, felt shapes, foam snowflakes, white toys-polar bears, eggs.

 

Shaving Cream Fun
Squirt shaving cream on a tray or shallow pan. Your children’s hands will never get cold in this “snow”. Add ice cubes and enjoy!

Exploring: I wonder what happens if…
Conduct experiments with your children. Have them make predictions, conduct the experiment and then discuss the results, answering the “whys”.  I wonder what happens if we put a cup of snow (an ice cube) under a blanket? Which do you think will melt faster- the ice cube in the dark cupboard or the ice cube by the sunny spot?  If we put a heavy dark cloth over an ice cube and a light-weight, light-colored cloth over another ice cube and then place both ice cubes side by side, what will happen? After the experiment, talk about clothes you wear in the summer and those you wear in the winter.