What an awesome start it has been to our Tot Schooling adventures here at Mac-n-Taters. We packed so much fun into these last two weeks learning about winter and snow. Little Miss was so excited to get back into the swing of things after taking a couple weeks off after Christmas and to be honest so was I. Throughout each day we try to do activities in 4-5 different categories: Books, Fine Motor/Trays, Gross Motor, Sensory/Craft/Science, and Fun with Food. Here is a peek at what the last two weeks looked like for our Winter/Snow Theme. We didn’t get to all the activities, but you know what. That’s ok. We had a fun filled couple weeks and that is all that matters. Affiliate links have been added for your convenience. The Snowy Day By Ezra Jack Keats Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner Snowballs By Lois Ehlert The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll One Mitten by Kristine O’Connell George Baby Loves Winter by Karen Katz There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro Snowmen at Play by Caralyn Buehner Cotton Ball Tong/Scoop: Initially I set this activity up as a tong activity, but this still gives Little Miss some trouble and she became easily frustrated so we switched over to a spooning activity tray. I used “wintery” colored containers and a tray I got from the Dollar Tree and an ice cream scoop and set up an invitation to spoon tray. She enjoyed spooning the cotton balls from one container to the other. After a while though it was more fun to just dump the containers from one to the other. Snowman Playdough Invitation To Create: Ever since Christmas, Little Miss LOVES to play with playdough. We typically only use our Melissa and Dough playdough set with some homemade playdough so this was a fun new experience for her. It is absolutely hysterical watching her try to roll balls of playdough. Instead of rolling it between her hands she holds it and her whole body shakes. We will have to keep practicing. I ended up making lots of balls for her and she had fun pressing all the loose parts in it after squishing them into pancakes. Marshmallow Snowman Paint: This activity was so fun for Little Miss. I used a white crayon and drew a snowman outline on a piece of black construction paper. I then took a clothespin and grabbed the marshmallow with it to make a “paintbrush.” I love using different painting mediums. I showed her how to dip her marshmallow in the tempera paint and use it to stamp the snowman. She loved saying the word “stamp” over and over. It soon turned into more of a paintbrush, but the desired effect was achieved. Everytime we do an activity like this I am amazed at how well she stays within the lines or colors/paints only on parts that need painted. Q-tip Snowglobe Painting: This was our first time using q-tips for any type of activity and once again, it was an exciting new tool for Little Miss to use. I drew a snowglobe scene on a piece of construction paper, set up some paint in a bowl and let Little Miss get started adding snow to her snowglobe. I showed her how to use it like a “stamp” and she immediately got to work. We even set the paper aside and she used the remaining paint to paint on the tray. Colored Mitten Matching: I used construction paper and created several sets of matching mittens. I was going to use scrapbook paper, but wanted to make it so that she could noticeably tell the difference and I didn’t want the patterns to distract her. Once she made her matches I encouraged her to hang them up on the string to practice her fine motor skills with the clothespins. I had to help quite a bit with this activity, but other than finding matching shoes to put on, this was her first experience with matching. Snowflake Tape Resist Painting: This activity was fun to put together and I love the end result. I took some painters tape and made some snowflakes on a piece of colored cardstock. Little Miss then got to paint over the tape with white washable tempera paint. Once the paint was dry, I carefully tore back the tape and a beautiful snowflake scene was left. Outside Snow Play/Make Tracks: We had one relatively warm day that made it perfect to go outside and enjoy the snow. We actually had to carry her back inside because she was so obsessed with the snow she didn’t want to come in to eat dinner. She definitely slept great that night. Indoor Snowball Fight: This activity was on repeat throughout the last two weeks. We used large pom poms and had a blast throwing them at each other and Little Miss also liked making piles of them so that she could then kick them all around. Snowman Cup Knockdown: This was another activity on repeat. I used styrofoam cups I got from the Dollar Tree and drew snowman faces on each of them. We would then stack them up and Little Miss would use our pom pom snowballs to knock it down. Her preferred method of knocking down though was throwing the “snowball” off to the side and then using her feet. Whatever works right? She also loved to then stack all the cups on top of one another for clean up. “Shovel” Snow: This activity was great for many reasons. It required her to use concentration in order to get the cotton balls to where she needed them to be. She had to focus and not rush. It was an awesome activity for hand-eye coordination. She used a dustpan and mini broom to “shovel” the cotton balls. I also taped off an area on the floor and had her “shovel” the “snow” into that specific area. Snowball Toss: The laundry hamper we use for Little Miss to put her dirty clothes in is a collapsible white mesh hamper. This worked perfectly to turned into a snowman. We took turns throwing the snowballs into it from different distances. This helped Little Miss practice her throwing skills. Indoor Skating: We took paper plates and “skated” around the house. I held onto her hands as she wasn’t too sure about how unsteady she felt, but when I was holding her hands she had a blast. Snowflake Hop: I taped snowflakes to the floor and she jumped from snowflake to snowflake. She has been on a counting kick lately so each new snowflake she jumped on we counted out loud. Felt Snowman: I created each of the pieces for a snowman felt board and Little Miss put him together over and over again. Bubble Wrap Snowman Craft: We had a ton of different types of bubble wrap laying around from the holiday season. I cut up a small square for her to use to paint a snowman. He turned out so cute and she loved trying to pop all the bubbles afterwards (and during). Handprint Mitten Craft: I am a complete sucker for any type of print craft and I just love this one. It will be so fun to look back on and see how tiny her hands once were. No Mess Snowflake Paint: As much as I love doing messy projects, It is always nice to have those that do not require a ton of toddler clean up. We brought out my handy dandy cake pan with a lid and Little Miss got to shaking it. We used a marble to help paint the snowflake. Paper Plate Emotion Snowmen: Mr. Mac-n-Taters and I have really been noticing how in tune with emotions Little Miss is. She quickly recognizes if one of us is hurting and immediately asks us if we are ok. She gets upset if we are upset. If something is on the tv and its funny she immediately starts laughing. I loved creating these fun emotion snowmen and pretending to be and talking about each of the emotions with her. She was a hoot trying to imitate them. Banana Snowmen: We used bananas, pretzel sticks, and chocolate chips to create ours. Phew. And that was our last two weeks of Winter/Snow Tot School. What a fun play based filled couple of weeks.
