Experiences- Build a Snowman-If you live in a warmer climate like me, try making an alternative santa. Use: Clear trash bags, packing peanuts or shredded paper, plastic top hat or other hat available, scarf, coal or lava rock, and fake carrot, or roll a piece of orange construction paper into a cone shape. Pack the small clear trash bags with white packing peanuts. Then tie each bag off and stack on top of each other. To help the bags stick together, use hot glue and dab on to gently connect the bags. Then decorate the santa with coal eyes, buttons, scarf, hat, and nose. Cute!!! If you don't have access to the packing peanuts and want to do a snowman outside, try using the white plastic garbage bags and leaves. Stuff the bags with leaves and then assemble the snowman as above.
Centers- *Make a snowman-White clay or playdoh, miniature accessories:hat, scarf, coal eyes, carrot nose, twigs, and a neat scene/background. We model the language for the children on building a snowman. The children teally seem to enjoy this. Show me the snowmen!
*Sensory table-Fill your sensory table with white packing foam pieces and confetti. Or..... if it snows where you teach, bring in a couple of buckets of snow; put the buckets in the sensory table and have children "color" the snow. Use paintbrushes and food coloring. Tint the brush with color, and let them go!!
*Toy Snowman Area-For your game area, tape an outline of a snowman on the floor. Use the white adhesive vinyl tape, or plain masking tape. Add black tape eyes, buttons, and hat. Don't forget the orange tape nose. The vinyl tape comes in lots of colors.
*Snowman Color/Number Match-Make snowman cutouts, add raised dots (easier for visually impaired children, and great tactile for others) to match the number written on the snowman. Make sure the number and dots are color coded to match the next step. Then, color the clothespin the same color. Either string the snowmen from a small clothesline, or put the clothespins in a small basket and the snowmen in the other. Have children match the number clothespins to number, or dots, on snowmen, or just the color.
Snowman Tactile Cards-Make snowmen from various textures. I use long pile fur, short pile fur, sandpaper, aluminum foil, glitter, paper coated with "sticky", corduroy, buttons, bubble wrap, etc; We talk about how each snowman feels. Some children are tactile-defensive, and it takes a while to build up to touching all of the textures. Please be patient with them, and do this gradually, if this is the case.
Snowman Sequencing Cards-Make snowmen from various colors, or sizes. Then have children make patterns or sequences from the snowmen.
Shake up bottle-Fill a small coca-cola plastic bottle with water, irridescent glitter, snowmen or snowflake confetti. Shake up!! The kids love this!!
Dress Up Peter-Make a large Peter, from Snowy Day. Make clothes for Peter (snow suit, mittens, pants, sweater, boots, scarf, etc;). Let the children dress Peter for playing in the snow.
Cooperative Igloo-Save the kids' milkcartons from lunch, fill with water and freeze. Remove for the containers and have children stack the blocks to make an igloo. Pour salt on the igloo pieces to make them stick together. Then if desired, using tempera paint watered down, or food coloring, and brushes, let the children paint their igloo.
Lace up Mitten cards-Make lacing cards, using a mitten pattern, hole punch, and yarn.
Match up Mittens-Cut/color various patterns on mittens, have children match the same patterns.
Sequencing mittens-Cut mittens from various colors and make various sizes. Have children create patterns (ab, ab, a,b,a,b) with the mittens.
Water table-Place frozen ice sculptures in table. Supply a pair of mittens for children to play with at table.
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