snowmen

Kids’ Winter Wonderland Tablescape

January 25, 2022 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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Catching fluttery snowflakes on mittens, building a humungous snowman, and having a splattering snowball fight are all activities little learners gleefully participate in outside. This inviting kids’ winter wonderland tablescape takes snowflake, snowmen, and snowball activities indoors for further snow-themed exploration.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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Kids’ Winter Wonderland Tablescape Supplies

Let your little learners explore a sparkly Winter Wonderland tablescape with snowmen, snowflake, and snowball accessories.

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For this cozy pretend play setup, I feature snowmen, snowball, and snowflake accessories from the supplies I have available. Craft bits and other loose parts feature prominently in the resulting collection.

Items in the winter tablescape:

snowman-themed tablecloth, dinner plates, cups, baking dish, oven mitts, cookie tin, and bottle
snowflake erasers
foam snowflakes
snowflakes cut from garland
blue and clear gem snowflakes
snowflake serving utensils, cupcake liners, and tin
large and small styrofoam balls
round winter-themed gems
cookie sheet
muffin tin
plastic forks and spoons
play food buns
Winter Wonderland sign

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Setting Up The Tablescape

Changing up the decor in our play kitchen is one of my favorite things to do. And little learners always eagerly dive into each new setup.

When it's cold and chilly outside little learners can explore snowmen, snowflakes, and snowballs indoors in a Winter Wonderland play tablescape.

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For this kids’ winter wonderland tablescape, a fabric snowman-themed tablecloth is a base.

The buns are the only real play food on the table.

A variety of loose parts add a dose of glam, and little learners can imagine them to be any number of foods. For instance, the foam snowflakes make good cookies to bake in the play oven. The large foam craft balls can be reimagined as snowball cookies.

A sparkly, kids' Winter Wonderland play tablescape with snowman, snowflake, and snowball decor for little learners to explore.

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And the smaller loose parts displayed in the snowman baking tin and scattered around the table could be candy.

A sparkly, kids' Winter Wonderland pretend play setup with snowman, snowflake, and snowball play kitchen decor for little learners to explore.

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A polar animal theme would work fabulously for winter pretend play too. Here’s a super fun penguin-themed tablescape by birdsparty.com.

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CD Case Christmas Craft

December 24, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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An empty or used empty CD case can be turned into a beautiful art or craft project. There are many creative ideas to try. For this blog post, I’m choosing to feature a CD case Christmas craft.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more creative ideas.

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Supplies To Collect

Gather the following for this seasonal craft:

clear CD jewel case
thin unpainted wood holiday decoration
festive cardstock
acrylic craft paint
scissors
ruler
glue stick
white glue or glue gun
craft bits: pony beads, holiday confetti, garland strips, sequins, punched paper snowflakes

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Assembling The CD Case Christmas Craft

Steps to making a CD case Christmas craft. An all-ages craft the whole family can do.

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Carefully remove the tray from a clear CD case.

Trim the cardstock pattern of choice to the size of the case.

With the case open, use a glue stick to adhere the cut cardstock to the bottom right section.

Paint a thin holiday-themed wood decoration with acrylic paint and let it dry. The paint and decoration can easily be found at dollar stores.

Note: Acrylic paint dries quickly and comes in a large variety of colors. It’s so fun to use!

Glue the painted wood shape to the cardstock.

Add craft bits of choice.

Close the case snugly.

Make this easy and fun holiday-themed CD craft today!

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Display on a shelf or wall in the classroom or your home.

Tips: The craft bits can be glued down so they are stationary or left movable.

These holiday-themed CD case crafts are a lot of fun to make. Have the whole family create one!

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These charming CD case Christmas crafts are perfect for displaying during the holiday season.

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If desired, add a clear seal to keep the CD case closed.

You may wish to make this CD case Christmas craft in a variety of holiday and winter themes. The craft lends itself to being showcased in groups.

Make this cozy CD case Christmas craft in a variety of festive color schemes. An all-ages family craft.

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Of course, little learners can get in on making this creative craft. The activity could be a cooperative one for a parent/teacher/caregiver and child.

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CD Case Christmas Blocks

Instead of displaying the crafted CD jewel cases, include them on a table with blocks for little learners to use in construction play. This is an idea I look forward to exploring in the future.

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Make this winter-themed snowman CD case craft today! It's easy and fun to do.

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Snowman Sensory Play

January 17, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

These snowman sensory play ideas can be explored any time of year – winter or summer. When it’s super cold out and there is real snow on the ground, I’d rather play with these activities indoors!

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Snowman themed sensory play. Rice bins, sensory tube, and ten frame activities for early learners. Free printable included.

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Snowman Sensory Play Supplies

Collect these supplies for the activities that follow:

clear chunky gems
silver snowflake confetti, bead garland strips, and balls
white pom poms
orange beads, pom poms, and pipe cleaner pieces
black buttons and beads
snowmen buttons, ice cubes, and bottles
silver spoons

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Loose parts and snowman themed supplies to use in a sensory tray or tube.

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Snowman Sensory Tray

The materials are sprinkled on a white rice base in a square metal tray. The snowmen bottles are the find I was most excited about.

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Snowman sensory tray with a rice base and loose parts. Snowman bottles, ice cubes, and buttons are the highlights of the tray.

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An easy alternative to themed bottles is to draw snowmen’s faces on clear cups with black and orange permanent markers. Design some extra faces for snack cups…a dandy idea featured on a post from passionforsavings.com.

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Snowman sensory tray with a rice base. Clear cup snowmen, themed buttons, and snowmen ice cubes are included along with clear, orange, and black bits and baubles.

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Funnels, dessert cups, large white pom poms, and snowmen erasers would also make great additions.

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Ten Frame Activities

Ten frame activities are perfect for this snowman sensory tray. The frame makes it easy to introduce counting and adding challenges.

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Include this ten-frame printable (downloadable below) in the center and have your child find …

seven snowmen buttons
five ice cube snowmen
six orange beads and four black beads
five black parts and five orange parts
ten objects of any kind

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Snowman themed ten frame activity using rice bin supplies. Snowmen buttons and ice cubes with loose parts sprinkled in are ready to count in this math prompt.

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Ten FrameDownload

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An egg carton with two sections trimmed off transforms into a ten frame. A bonus is that the cups easily contain the supplies.

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An egg carton with one section cut off makes a perfect ten frame for counting snowmen buttons and ice cubes and loose parts.

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Snowman Themed Sensory Tube

Extend play possibilities by adding these snowman-themed materials to a sensory tube. You can get by with less of each supply, and variety is always nice!

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Snowman sensory tube with a rice base and loose parts. Snowman ice cubes and buttons are the highlights of the tube.

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You can never go wrong with a snowman theme, for any age! I hope these snowman sensory play activities enhance your child’s hands-on learning opportunities with this beloved topic.

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