As promised, this will be my final Winter post. Beginning tomorrow, I will be doing health and nutrition followed by a friendship unit.

You will need:

Epsom Salts
Drop Water
Glue
Paintbrush
Snowflake or white paper cut out

Mix the epsom salts with a drop of water just enough to slightly wet the salt. Spread the glue all over the paper snowflake using the paint brush. Then, scoop the epsom salts onto the glue. When dry, shake off the excess salt, and ta-da you have a crystallized snowflake!

Snow globes are fun for kids ,and great gifts that can be used as paper weights or just as a knick knack. These can be 'custom" made to fit your student's taste.

You will need:
Baby Food Jar
Water
Silver Glitter
Modeling Clay/Playdough
Glue Gun

First, use the clay to form your desired figure or shape. I made a snowman. Harden or bake your modeling material as per that material's instructions.. Use the glue gun to attach the clay to the inside of the jar lid. Fill the jar 3/4 of the way and sprinkle in some silver glitter. Seal the lid, shake it and watch the glitter swirl around!

This week I'll be concluding my Winter ideas. Countdown, this is the 3rd to last Winter post.

You will need:

Shaving Cream
Glue
Snow balls cut out from heavy paper or poster board

Mix 1 C of glue for every 2 C of shaving cream together. Give the kids the snow ball circles, and let the kids spread it around using their hands. It's a great tactile experience. If you have kids who are a bit standoffish with mushy textures, or you want to keep it cleaner, just give the kids paintbrushes. You can choose to build a snowman and accessorize him or just leave them as snowballs. It will dry puffy and slightly shiny like snow!

This is a fun activity to do in the classroom, or at home with your kids.

You will need:

Paper doilies- try to get ones that have as many holes as possible as opposed to the ones that have filled in centers.
White paper large enough to be the background of the doilies
Colored paint
Painters Tape

Use the painters tape to attach the doily to a sheet of white paper. Then paint over the entire doily and a couple inches beyond, or just the whole paper. Try to cover all holes in the doily. Gently remove the doily and peel off the tape.

Voila! You have a beautiful snowflake!!

The mitten match is a great way for kids to work on more than one skill at a time!

What you'll need:

Clothesline
Clothespins
Tape
Paper mitten cut outs
Markers for decorating

Simply pair up the mittens and decorate each pair so that they are unique and easily distinguishable. Hang "half" of each pair on the clothesline using tape, and shuffle the remaining halves on the floor or in a basket. Have the kids find the matches, and hang them next to their other halves using the clothespins!

Winter is DEFINITELY here! Brr!

What you'll need for this fun board:

White cut outs to spell WINTER
Glue
Silver or iridescent  glitter
Thin twigs/branches
Cotton Balls
Staple Gun/Stapler

For the letters spelling WINTER, have the kids squeeze dots of glue and then cover with silver glitter for some fun and sparkle. If you have iridescent glitter, that will look more like snow. I did the letters during free play so only 6 kids did this activity. If you want to include everyone, simply cut extra letters- or Winter words like Snowman, Windy, etc.

For the snow tree, teach the children to tear up the cotton balls bait and wrap around the branches. you may want to reinforce with some glue. Once dry, a stole gun will work better to assemble because the staples are longer, but just staple the twigs to the wall so that you have a tree covered in snow!

Ta-Da!

I found this idea in Disney's Family Fun magazine this past month, and was super excited to try it! As you can see in the picture below, it came out great!!

What you'll need:

Paper towel or toilet paper rolls
Scissors
White Paint
Paint brush
Single hole punch
White pipe cleaners
String for hanging

Start by cutting the paper towel roll into 1/2" strips. Press the rings flat so that they resemble a football in shape. Using the single hole punch, punch 1 or 2 holes in the same place on either side of each ring.
Paint the rings inside and out using the white paint. Once dry, thread the pipe cleaners through the holes, eventually closing the pipe cleaners so that you have a full circle-a beautiful snowflake!! Hang using the string!

Stay Warm!

Unfortunately, I left my camera at school today, so we'll just have to do this post picture-less.

1. The Mailbox magazine's winter issue from last year had a wonderful sensory bin idea that I'm looking forward to doing this year!

What you'll need:
Various shallow containers
Water
Winter animals- or any animals
Freezer

Fill the various containers with water and freeze. Once frozen, pour a few inches of water into your sensory bin and then add the ice that was frozen in the different containers. Finally, add those Winter animals- think penguins and polar bears. The ice will float, resembling the Arctic and let the kids have fun while the ice slowly melts.

2. Shaving cream!- resembles snow and is a lot of fun!

3. Cotton balls with some iridescent glitter- soft sparkly fun snow

4. Sugar cubes to build igloos

5. Recycle your packing peanuts as snow- you can add water in bowls which will allow the kids to stick them together and build with their snow

Have fun!!

These snowflakes are fun, delicate, and really test the kids' hand eye coordination, but they're doable for just about any age over 2.

What you'll need:
Q-Tips
Glue
2" circles cut from white card stock as the base.
Glitter Spray (optional)
String to hang the snowflakes when dry

Give each child a circle base, a handful of q-tips, and glue. I prefer to demonstrate technique in advance and then let the kids interpret the way they see fit. So place a LARGE dollop of glue at the center of the circle. Then place one end of each q-tip into the glue, allowing the other side to extend beyond the central base. Keep placing q-tips around the circle until you have a complete snowflake. Allow to dry. It will probably take several hours because of the amount of glue required. I like to spray on some glitter to make it shimmer. Once completely dry, you can attach a string to one of the q-tips and hang. Or you can use some more glue to attach a looped ribbon to the back of the snowflake's base and hang that way.

I had a lot of fun putting this craft together because of its many different components!

You'll need:
Corks
White Paint
Glitter Spray
Blue Paper as background
White snowballs for snowman
Magazine cut outs of snowman accessories
Markers for detail

Use the corks as a stamp and dip into the white paint and then press on the paper. These will be your falling snowflakes. Once complete, spray the paper with the glitter to add a Winter sparkle and the illusion of fresh clean snow.  :)

Once the snow is dry, you can have the kids glue down snowmen. They can dress them up with cut outs of hats, earmuffs, and scarves. Finally, they can do final touches like eyes and mouths with a marker.