snow

Painting Ice And Snow Activity

January 29, 2022 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Ice cakes are the highlights of this painting ice and snow sensory table activity little learners are bound to love.

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A painting ice and snow center is one of the easiest activities you can set up, and little learners love to participate in it. Stacking the frozen ice into triple-layer cakes will level up the fun factor and visual appeal.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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Supplies To Collect

For this frozen-themed snow and ice sensory table activity, gather the following:

activity tray
round plastic food containers in different sizes
ice cube trays
small metal bowls
large pail
snow
food coloring or liquid watercolors
paint containers
paintbrushes
sturdy tablecloth

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Setting Up The Painting Ice And Snow Activity

How to set up a painting snow and ice sensory table activity for early learners.

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Freeze water in food containers for several days. Empty yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, and margarine containers work well for the molds.

Set the activity tray on a round table covered with a tablecloth.

Scoop up snow in a large pail and dump it into the tray.

Take out the ice shapes from their molds and drop them on top of the snow. Stack smaller ice chunks on larger ones to make triple-layer cakes.

Set out ice cubes in small metal bowls.

Add liquid food colors to paint containers, or mix a little food coloring into water to make the hues. Featured are paints in primary colors.

Include brushes and invite little learners to paint the ice cakes and snow.

An easy to put together painting ice and snow sensory table activity the whole family can enjoy.

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The watercolors in the containers stay quite pure in this activity, without having to ask anyone to rinse their brushes between hues used. And there will be lots of excitement when new colors such as green and purple pop up in the snow.

Little learners will love to participate in this snow and ice sculpture painting activity.

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If you are short on preparation time, offer snow, ice cubes, and paints with a variety of kitchen accessories. Think muffin tins, bowls, spoons, pans, and frozen dessert sticks. Your little charges will enjoy painting the snow and ice cubes, and will excitedly use the accessories in snow kitchen activities.

Kitchen accessories add to the play experience in this snow painting sensory table activity.

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If snow is not available where you live, the activity will work fine with ice shapes alone. Little learners will be thrilled to focus on painting the ice cakes and can add ice cube embellishments.

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Decorating an ice cake is the highlight of this painting ice and snow sensory table activity for little learners.

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Hockey Game Small World

January 25, 2022 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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If you say the word “hockey”, you may think of Canada, and when you say “Canada” you may think of hockey. That’s because in the late 1800s the game of hockey was developed in Canada, and has been a popular game for Canadians to play ever since. Because I live in Canada, I’ve been dying to touch on the sport in a blog post. And this hockey game small world is a fun way to introduce the outdoor winter game to little learners.

Hockey is a lightning-fast team sport played on ice. Players wear skates and helmets, and use sticks and a small rubber disc called a puck in the game. There are usually six players on each team. One of them is the goalie, who guards their net. The other players try to shoot the puck into the opposing team’s net. If they do, their team gets one point.

Although now there are many indoor hockey rinks to play the game on, the sport was traditionally played outdoors. An outdoor backyard or pond rink is featured in this post.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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Supplies To Collect

Supplies to make a backyard ice skating rink small world.

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Here are the supplies in the hockey game small world set up:

rectangular or square tray
snow
hockey player figurines
four toy pylons
small black disc-shaped bead
evergreen sprigs
fence sections
pail, shovel, and broom accessories

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Assembling The Hockey Game Small World

A sensory opportunity-filled hockey game small world with real ice and snow.

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Freeze a layer of water in a square or rectangular tray. This will be the skating rink.

Pack snow around the edges of the tray to make snowbanks.

Add fence sections and accessories such as a pail, shovel, and broom to the snowy areas.

Stick in evergreen sprigs to serve as trees. My “trees’ are lemon cypress sprigs taken from the plant I used for Christmas Playdough.

Lay two pylons on each end of the ice to be the goalposts. If you have toy goalie nets, such as the ones that come with Playmobil hockey sets, use them instead.

Set the goalies in front of their nets. These players have wider sticks and more protective gear than their teammates, and that’s how you can distinguish them.

Arrange the rest of the players on the ice and add the bead puck. I feature a goalie and three players. If your sensory tray is large enough, add five players to each team in addition to the netminder.

An outdoor hockey game small world play invitiation with real snow and ice.

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Invite little learners to investigate the hockey team small world tray.

The ice and snow in the tray offer sensory play opportunities. And little learners get to practice fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination when they give each hockey player a stick.

This hockey game sensory tray features real ice and snow. A link to a blog post with instant snow recipes is included.

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Instant Snow Options

Where I live in Alberta, there is plenty of snow for at least four months of the year. So there is little need to try any instant snow options. If you do not have snow where you reside, a blog post by Playing With Rain features six homemade snow recipes to try.

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[Read more…]

Scissor Skill Snow Cutting Activities

January 30, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Invitation to cut craft supplies to make fake snow. The snow is featured in small world and sensory activities. Scissor skill practice for early learners.

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A scissor skill snow cutting activity snipping craft supplies is sure to attract your child’s attention. A rich base will be created for small world and sensory activities. A bonus is that this snow will never melt or be too cold to play with.

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Supplies To Collect

Go on the hunt for white, neutral, and silver craft supplies:

strips of cardstock paper
packing peanuts
straws
yarn
tissue paper
crepe paper
foil
ribbon
cotton balls
bows
lace
bead garland

Also needed:

blunt-edged children’s scissors
storage tray (to hold the precut supplies)
small cookie sheets

White and neutral craft supply tinker tray. Scissor skill activity to create fake snow and bits and pieces for collage and sensory activities.

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Scissor Skill Snow Cutting Set Up

Fill a storage tray with items for cutting.

Set the tray with scraps on a table along with pairs of scissors. Invite your child to choose pieces to snip smaller over a cookie sheet. Feel free to join your child in making snow.

White and neutral craft supply cutting tray set up. Scissor skill activity to create fake snow and bits and pieces for collage and sensory activities.

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Encourage your child to stand and cut. Studies show that children sit down for an enormous time each day, so adding activities where they are on their feet reduces sedentary time. (View an article that cites the benefits of standing versus sitting at standupkids.org.)

The variety in materials offered facilitates scissor skills. For instance, stiffer pieces are easier to hold with the helping hand and harder to cut items increase small muscle strength in the cutting hand.

This scissor skill snow cutting activity offers rich opportunities for language development. Model and discuss descriptive words. Here are some possibilities:

Descriptive words to describe craft supplies in a snow cutting tray.

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Cutting practice with craft scraps offers a non-threatening way for young children to develop scissor skills. There is no wrong way to do it, so frustration is minimized. Children can experiment and cut the materials that work for them.

Early learners can start using scissors with guidance. For tips on teaching children to use scissors, view my post “Santa’s Beard Scissor Activity.”

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