Winter Sensory Play

Children of all ages enjoy open ended sensory play and over the last few weeks we have had a few variations of winter themed play for them to enjoy. 

Initially we used our snow blanket with cotton wool balls and tweezers to encourage fine motor skills as well as the introduction of words relating to winter using our magnetic letters. We introduced some animals that live in cold conditions, talking about their habitats.

Our second sensory tray proved to be a lot messier! We used tin foil as an ice base and covered this with corn flour to represent the snow. The children attempted to build snowmen together with making vehicle tracks in the snow. 

Particularly evident within these play sessions is the great use of imagination with elaborate stories being invented by children from three to nine years! Our youngest (1 year old) was content using spoons to move cotton wool balls around and lining up cars in the snow. 

Painting Ice

We have been talking a lot about the winter weather but have been experiencing more rain than ice this year so the children and I decided to make some ice. The children helped fill the ice cube bags with water and then placed them in the freezer as we talked about how the cold would turn the water to ice. 

The next day the children bounded in asking if their ice had frozen so we looked and it had! The children used their fingers to move the ice around, talking about the feel of the ice and the cracking sound it made as it moved. We decided to combine science and creativity by painting our ice. Using liquid watercolours the children painted their ice cubes, watching the paint become absorbed into the ice. The children commented on the size of the ice cubes and counted how many they were painting. 

When the children were satisfied with their creations we decided to add some salt. The children noticed the effect that the salt had on the ice, causing it to begin to break down and melt. We talked about how people use salt on the roads in winter to prevent them being slippy. 

I was amazed that though such a fun and simple activity we had covered all areas of learning and development:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: working together to fill the ice bags
Physical Development: holding the bags and the paintbrushes
Communication: talking to each other about what they were doing and seeing
Literacy: Practising holding writing materials through use of paintbrushes as well as identifying the sounds of the ice.
Numeracy: discussing the shape and number of ice cubes
Understanding the World: Talking about the change from liquids to solids and relating the activity to the gritters on the roads.
Expressive Art: creating colourful patterns within the ice

Melted Snowmen

Due to the sudden cold spell of weather that we have been having and the snow in many areas of the country we decided to make some snowman pictures.

I believe in enabling the children to take complete control over their own art work so simply provided them with some white paint mixed with glitter glue and some eyes, scarves, arms and noses for their snowmen.

The children that created these pictures ranged from one to four years in age and I love how different they all are!

Snowmen and Penguins!

After a chilly winter morning in the park we decided to warm up with a little winter craft sessions. The children were rather disappointed that we did not get snow in this part of the country today so we first decided to make our own snowmen with the help of some cottonwool. 

I placed all the items out for the children and let them design their own snowmen. Whilst some resembled the traditional approach, the younger children just enjoyed the sticking activity and designed their own version!

The children love using their hand and footprints so we next set about our footprint penguins - this caused much hilarity due to some very ticklish feet! After decorating their penguins we used this activity to continue awareness of letter sounds. The children practised saying the 'p' sounds, tried to think of other words beginning with this sound and then attempted to write the letter. 

Building Snowmen

As it is unlikely that the children will be able to build their own snowmen outdoors any time soon I thought it would be fun to let them create their own indoor snowmen using a few simple materials. On a plate I gave the children some sticks, buttons, black beans, foam hat shapes and some ribbons together with some small white circular coffee filters. 

 When presented with the plate I asked the children ranging from two years old through to seven years old to create their own snowmen. The older children demonstrated their creative side and set about creating their snowmen, closely watched and then followed by the younger children. The pictures above, from left to right, show the completely independent creations of a seven year old, four year old and two year old. 

The lovely thing about this activity was that children of all ages were able to use the resources in a different way and were all equally proud of their end results, asking me to take a picture of them all so they could save them.