Winter

Winter Train Table Sensory Play

December 29, 2011

Just because you haven’t gotten any snow doesn’t mean your kids can’t play with it! We are lucky enough to have a train table that my dad made ( he’s been hacking Ikea since before it was hip) and this week we took some time to play with pretend snow . This is a wonderful multi- age sensory activity and worked great for my 5 year old son and 18 month old daughter, they each explored and played learning different things but having the same amount of fun.

Gather your materials. We used our train table , extra trains and some cotton balls. If you don’t have a train table grab a bath mat, large shallow bin or just a coffee table and set up some trains or trucks then add in the “snow”.
Start by being a little goofy and pretending to be clouds that are snowing . Give the kids the cotton balls and let them decide where the snow goes. I talked to my son about weather, asked him to look outside and tell me if he thought it would snow today in our yard. For my daughter we focused on the color white and the word “soft” feeling the soft cotton balls in our hands and on our faces.
Play. This is where some kids and many parents ( and even teachers) clam up. Now what? Here are some things we did that were fun.
My son pretended to be delivering snow from one end of the train table to the other and we counted the snow as we loaded up the train, and then the pile when we dropped it off.
My daughter had a ball putting the snow into the little train house , through the windows. Hello, fine motor and hand eye coordination practice!
We made a blizzard.
We pretended to be the wind and blowed the snow.
And more play. What I loved so much about this was that it made the train table feel new again and we played with it and the snow on and off for days.

Books About Trains

Freight Train by Donald Crewes. Donald Crews’ Freight Train is a classic book. It is rather simplistic in nature, but it is good for the younger train fans as it talks about the different kinds of freight cars and teaches about colors. My son loved this book at 2 and will still grab it at the library and read it when we are there three years later.

Tracks by David Galef and Tedd Arnold is a hilarious book about a man named Arnold who is in charge of directing the crew who lays down the train tracks. Arnold’s glasses break, and his vision becomes a bit skewed. What will the mayor think of this wacky track? You’ve got to read it and find out!

Terrific Trains by Tony Mitton is another great book. My parents bought my son this whole set and at first I was sceptical of it just because it is a set and I guess I judged a book my it’s cover because I love all the books in the set. They are informative, fun, have great rhyming text and my son will sit for them and often requests them at bedtime too!

Posted in Age 2-3 years, Age 3-5 years, Sense of Touch, Sensory Activities, Snow, Train, Transportation, Winter |

9 Comments »

Toddler Friendly Snowflake Craft

December 7, 2011

You know that stage when everything gets thrown off tables? Bins get dumped? Nativity scenes get wiped out in a single visit from Baby-zilla? Yeah we are knee deep in that right now. It’s fun. This is a really simple classic craft but with a few tricks you can save yourself cleaning up gobs of glue from the floor, your baby’s mouth or hair. As you can see she loved making it and points to it and asks me to hold her up to touch it in the window daily.

Gather your materials. You will need some cotton balls, glue, a dish, a paint brush ( pretty wide like an inch or so) and some construction paper. I used 2 pieces one to glue the cotton balls onto and one to use as a backing to make it strong enough to hang it up.
Start by pouring some white glue in a small dish.
Paint the glue onto the paper in the shape of a snowflake.
Add kiddo and cotton balls.
Because the glue is so thin the cotton balls stick but if they pick it back up there won’t be a ton of glue on it. I rotated the paper as she filled up each arm of the snowflake.
Lable the textures as they explore and make the snowflake- soft, sticky glue , rough ( or smooth) paper.
Let dry and cut around the snowflake and glue onto the 2nd page if you need some extra strength. Hang up where your little one can see their awesome creation.

Books About Snow

Stella, Queen of the Snow by Marie-Louise Gay is my kind of book. If I were to quote all my favorite bits of this book I would write out most of it. I just love the writing, it’s simple but doesn’t talk down to the reader. The characters are sweet but not saccharine and I love how inquisitive Sam is . Stella is a know it all but not bratty about it at all! Sam has never seen snow before and Stella tells him all about it as they explore the first snow fall of the year.

The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll is a cute winter book that holds a fantastic message inside. The book tells the story of a snowman making contest in Mouseville, two little mice work so hard by themselves but it’s just not enough until they join forces. Competition is not a bad thing but sometimes cooperation is even better, I really like this book.

Pop over to my other blog Crafitivity Corner on FamilyEducation.com to see our take on the classic popsicle stick snowflakes.

Posted in Age 2-3 years, Age Under 2 years, Sense of Touch, Sensory Activities, Snow, Snowflakes, Winter |

2 Comments »

Marshmallow Snowflakes

January 12, 2011

It seems like it’s snowing almost everywhere lately. I love doing activities that use what’s going on around us to keep things interesting and fresh! This snowflake craft is simple enough for preschoolers to do with a little direction , and don’t forget you can add in lessons about counting and estimation too!

Gather your materials. You will need a sheet of construction paper, white glue, mini marshmallows, and glitter.
Start by designing your snowflake. You can just use the glue or draw it with a pencil first. I did this one to show my son how to draw with glue.
I encouraged my son to do this himself by reminding him that all snowflakes are unique.
Add the marshmallows! I get asked all the time how do you avoid him eating them all? My main strategy is that I let him eat a few but only after he adds them on. I tell him to count to 14, then eat one, then add on another 20 and eat one etc.. interestingly enough this time he didn’t eat a single one, but he still counted.
Add glue for glitter
Add the glitter. I LOVE these little glitter tubes. They only hold a small amount of glitter so the mess is minimized. I wouldn’t use them with toddlers/ kids who still put things in their mouths though, the tops pop off and could be a hazard.
Let dry. His is proudly on display in our front hall.

Books

Holly’s Red Boots by Francesca Chessa was a delight to read. Holly wants to go outside in the snow but can’t find her boots and we follow along as she looks for them.It’s a cute story and the pictures are scrumptious. My son loved that the dinosaur was wearing her boots and wanted to read that page over and over. I also loved that when she does go outside her mom has her baby sibling in a baby carrier. Fun book!

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester is such a cute and funny story, your kids will love it! Tacky is an odd bird but when hunters come to get some pretty penguins is funny odd ways of doing things turn off the hunters and saves Tacky and his perfectly not odd companions. This is a sweet look at being different and being happy as pie about being different. My son loves this book and will often point out that Tacky is proud to sing just the way he wants. I love that it can preach to kids without preaching at all.

Posted in Age 2-3 years, Age 3-5 years, Crafts, Fine Motor Activities, Marshmallows, Snowflakes, Winter |

11 Comments »

Hole Punch Snowflakes

December 16, 2010

by Kim

Making snowflakes isn’t a new craft. I love to try different ways of doing traditional activities. When Iwas young my mom and I would make snowflakes like this. So I had to do this with my son.

You will just need paper, hole punch and scissors.

Fold the paper into a triangle.

Give your child the hole punch and the triangles. Just let them punch away.

You will need to make sure that you don’t fold the paper too much or you may encounter this…

Cole made random punches on the first snowflake, but as he started the second one I asked if he coulduse the hole punch to make a hole that was a line. He looked at me funny for a second, then you could see the light bulb go off. He really got into making clusters and lines.

The end result was a window full of beautiful snowflakes. Now I have passed down this activity to the next generation and I guess we have a new tradition in our house.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kim is a contributing writer for No Time For Flash Cards, a mom to a toddler, a preschooler, and a foster parent, too. She juggles her day by trying out fun activities and crafts with the kids. After all, she is just a big kid herself. See what she has been up to over at Mom Tried It.

Posted in Age 2-3 years, Age 3-5 years, Age 5 and older, Crafts, Snow, Snowflakes, Winter |

3 Comments »

Snowflake Snowman Craft

November 30, 2010

The snow was everywhere this time last week and we were excited to make a snowman. Unfortunately the snow wasn’t sticky enough so we had to come in warm up and make one with paper plates and glitter. This snowman craft needs adult involvement for preschoolers for sure but working together is one of my favorite things about crafting with my kids. This snowman was inspired by our very popular Snow Globe Snowman we made a few years ago.

Gather your materials. You will need 1 large and 1 small paper plate, a cupcake liner, glue, scissors, glitter ( ’tis the season), goggly eyes, a hole punch, some ribbon, a stapler or heavy tape, black and orange paper.
Start by cutting the middle out of your large plate. Make sure that the hole is a little smaller than your cupcake liner.
Add glue to the plate.
Add glitter and set aside to dry.
Fold your cupcake liner in half, then half again.
Make cuts along the side. Have extras on hand for preschoolers who insist on doing it themselves with no instruction and get frustrated when it’s not “perfect” for us that was 4 liners. Make sure that they don’t cut the outside edge or the snowflake won’t glue to the snowman’s tummy properly. This was tricky with the foil , he did the first cut and I did the second and carefully took the pieces out. Paper would be much easier , though not as shiny!
Open and glue over the hole in the large plate . Let dry.
Make a quick hat out of the black paper and a carrot nose out of the orange. Great use of scrap paper if you have it!
Using the hole punch have your child punch some holes in the black paper for coal for the mouth.
Add glue to the small plate for the face.
Add the googly eyes.
Add the punched out black paper for the mouth – this is a great fine motor exercise, but may be frustrating for really little guys so be prepared to help . Add the hat and nose as well.
Let dry. My light ( for pictures) was fading fast so I continued but you should wait until things are dry so they don’t shift on the plates.
Attach the small plate to the bottom one. Glue is not a great option for this, staples are ok but tend to bend the plates. I have found the best option is to use packing tape.
Add the ribbon as a scarf.

My Favorite Snowman Book Ever !

Snowman in Paradise

Snowman in Paradise by Michael Roberts is genius. There I said it. I very rarely think that of books. I like the majority of books I read and think there are so many good ones to share but I don’t want to return this one to the library, I want to keep it! The book is about a snowman from Manhattan who is glum after Christmas and wants to go on a vacation too. A magical bluebird grants his wish and he flies first class to a tropical island , with the only rule being he needs to come back in time for Christmas next year. This book is written like the traditional “Night Before Christmas” and although I thought the copy would be too long for my son at first , I was so wrong. The rhymes are unique , my favorite being :

In May after splashing with buckets of paint, He threw down his brush, saying, “Gauguin I ain’t.”

Even if some references are more for the adults reading it than the children listening , both parties will close the book smiling and wanting to start all over again. Grab it and see why I love it so much!

Posted in Age 2-3 years, Age 3-5 years, Age 5 and older, Crafts, Snowflakes, Snowman, Winter |

8 Comments »