Let It Snow (at least in Germany)!

How do you help children understand the season of winter without any snow?  You fake it!

While many states have been hit hard with snow and freezing temperatures, in our part of the world we have had lots and lots of rain.  L  During this time of the year we usually have snow so it works well to talk about the season of winter.  Fortunately we did have some snow in November, so there is something to relate to.  But since we have had no snow since coming back to school, we found some activities that will bring winter to our classroom and help children understand the concept of the season.

Paper snowflakes:  We hung paper snowflakes the children made from the ceiling in the classroom to give the feel of snow falling. 

Snow:  We found the best stuff ever through Amazon.  It is called Insta-Snow Powder.  You just add water to the powder and it fluffs up like real snow.  It even feels cool and wet.  We sat as a group and each child had their own cup of powder and snow.  We talked about not having any snow outside, so we were going to make our own snow.  We said the magic words, abracadabra, and they all added water to their cup of snow.  They were amazed and excited about the magic snow!  We then took all the “snow” and put into the sensory center.

Throwing snowballs:  Styrofoam balls are a great substitute for the real thing!

Ice skating:  The children skated around the carpet using wax paper “skates”.

Ice painting: This is a great activity using a different type of medium to paint with.  It also is a great way for children to feel the cold.  We used dry tempera paint and then gave the child a piece of ice to paint over the dry tempera paint.

Hopefully most of you have some snow and real winter weather to talk about but if not faking it isn’t too bad!

Other activities:

Graphing names and determining who has the longest name, shortest, less than 5 letters....

      Writing: Class book “Snowman, Snowman”

                          Art snowmen

For more winter activities - check out the link.

http://www.pinterest.com/thebeezyteacher/winter-crafts/

Along with reading fiction and nonfictions books to the class, we try to make sure there's always a book on "kindness".  For this week's choice I read The Mitten Tree.  This is a beautiful story about kindness and is a must have for any classroom.

Ok, one more item and then I'm off!

A freebie to add to your collection!

Keep safe and warm!