~ Ideas for Winter ~
Books
Activities
Snowman Art
[Art]
Thanks to Sheryl from Teachers.net for sharing this great snowman art project with me, and letting me include this on my website. Children glued 3
sizes of white paper doilies onto large blue construction paper (12x18). They identified the large, medium and small doilies, gluing them in order
from the bottom to the top. I set out several kinds of collage materials: colored craft pompoms, colored buttons, yarn, pipe cleaners, wiggle eyes,
tissue paper squares, popsicle sticks, and small craft foam squares. All of these materials were inexpensive; I was able to find the 3 sizes of
doilies, pompoms, pipe cleaners, colored buttons, and popsicle sticks at the Dollar Tree. I told the children to decorate their snowman any way
they chose and use any materials they chose. These turned out so cute and unique to each child. I like this because it's more open-ended than most
art projects. Tip: Use a divided chip and dip tray to hold the collage materials. This makes it easier for the children to see the materials and
get what they need.
Click to enlarge the images.
Snowman Math Game
[Math]
I made four of these mats using scrapbook paper and stickers purchased from Michael's. Children roll a die, count the amount of dots on the die,
and place that amount of white pompoms (snowballs) onto the snowmen. They play until each snowman is covered by a snowball. Children can play this
game alone or with others.
Build-A-Snowman Math Game
[Math]
Children roll a die, identify the numeral and count out that amount of snowman pieces. They add the pieces of snowman (there are 10 pieces in all)
until they have completed it. The pieces are two white felt circles (the stiff kind of felt), black felt hat, blue felt scarf, two wiggle eyes,
orange felt nose, 3 buttons.
Graph (Mittens/Gloves)
[Math]
Children brought mittens or gloves from home. We graphed them on the floor mat and compared and counted the two sets to see which had the most.
Shaving Cream Snow
[Literacy]
Children practice writing their name or letters with their finger in shaving cream "snow".
Animal Tracks
[Fine Motor Skills]
White play dough and small toy polar animals (reindeer, polar bears, penguins, artic wolves, etc.) were placed in the play dough area. Children made
animal tracks in the "snow".
Melt Ice with Salt
[Science]
A day in advance, children filled small paper cups with water and put them in the freezer overnight. The day of the experiment, the children peeled the
paper off of their ice and placed it in a disposable bowl. We used an eyedropper to place drops of colored water on the ice to add color,
then the children sprinkled on some salt, and observed what happened. When we did this, the salt seemed to "eat away" at the ice, and with the food color
added, it looked like colored crystals.
Ice Cube Swirls
[Art, Science]
Each child chose two colors of powdered tempera paint to spoon onto a paper plate. We used an ice cube on a popsicle stick to swirl around the plate,
watching and waiting as it melted, mixing with the paint and blending the colors. Children could see how long it takes for the ice to melt.
Ramps & Pipes
[Science]
Children use long boards, pieces of cardboard, PVC pipes, and paper towel tubes to make ramps. We drop ice cubes down the ramps and mark how far they slide.
Polar Ice Cap Drink
[Snack]
Pour blue Koolaid into half of a clear cup. Fill the cup not quite to the top with ginger ale or Sprite. Add one scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Drink with a straw. Note: Children can pour the liquids themselves using mini pitchers which are available from Publix or the Dollar Tree.
Recipe from Your Big Backyard magazine
Cryogenics
[Science]
Cryogenics is the study of the effects of freezing temperatures on different materials. In this activity, we put four different substances
(water, liquid soap, vanilla pudding, and honey) into small cups, then froze them. After they were frozen (the next day), we took them out to
observe and touch to see what effect freezing had on the substances.
Ice Rainbows
[Science]
Children drop colored water onto crushed ice to watch the colors travel down through the ice pieces and blend with other colors.
Insta Snow
[Science]
Insta-Snow is a superabsorbant polymer. I let my kids watch as I make it so they can see the powder absorb the water. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby,
but you can also get it from Steve Spangler. Since my kids don't get the opportunity to see or touch real snow, they like to just run their fingers
through it and play with it. You could also use it with measuring cups and containers of different sizes, or with small plastic polar animals.
Resources
