Creating Indoor Snow

*This post contains affiliate links

In San Diego, we have a lack of snow.  When the weather is right, we only need to drive 30 minutes to reach snow, which is awesome....except I have a newborn.  As disappointing as missing a drive to the snow has been for the kids, we've managed to find other ways to enjoy "snow".  We have passes for Sea World so we went and played in the snow there (below):

Don't you love how they are in short sleeves? Love San Diego!

We also brought "snow" indoors through sensory play.  Recently, I was preparing for a clown job (yes, if you didn't know, I'm a professional clown) and found some Slush Powder in my magic stash.  Slush Powder is basically the stuff they put inside diapers to absorb liquid.  You can also purchase it as Insta-Snow If you've never tried it out I highly recommend it.  It's very simple to use.

Place a small amount of the powder in a large bowl or sensory tub/box.  A little goes a long ways!

 Add water.  I'm sure when you purchase your powder there are measurements on the packaging.  My powder is "magic" grade and was from a bag my dad bought years ago, so it's in a baggie with no instructions; I just added water until I was happy with the consistency   The nice thing is if you add too much, you sprinkle on a little more powder and you are ready to go.  Use cold water to enhance the experience.

As it gels up, you can stir it a bit to ensure equal distribution.

I gave the kids some Arctic/Antarctic animals, blue floral stones, and clear marbles to add to the exploration.  My son found some plastic trees to include in the experience.

It always warms my heart to see my kids playing together.  Both my 10 year old and my 5 year old enjoyed exploring the "snow".  Who says older kids don't like a good sensory experience?

Once his sister started her homework, my son had the snow all to him self.  He created a "snow monster" and of course...

  a great big snow ball!

When I taught preschool, I made a huge sensory tub full of this stuff.  What's nice is if you cover it, it will keep for quite a while.  I believe I had my tub for about 2 weeks.  I would add water to freshen it up but other then that, it didn't smell or get too dirty from dirty hands.  I think I filled the tub with about 1/4 cup or less of this fun stuff.  Although I added toys to the slush, most of the kids enjoyed squishing it through their hands and measuring it with cups.  Even though this is a product you have to purchase, I believe it's worth the cost, as you need so little of it to make a good amount of snow.

Have you tried powdered "snow" in your home or preschool?  What did your kids think of the experience?  

Math Fun on It's Playtime!

I never enjoyed math much.  I always managed good marks in the subject but I simply didn't like numbers.  Maybe if I'd been introduced to math through activities like these, posted on It's Playtime, I would have excelled.

Maro's Kindergarten shared two fun activities last week: Winter Play with Numbers (picture above) and Penguin and Fishes Number Game.

 Have a bunch of Pom Poms you don't know what to do with?  Check out Math & More with Pom Poms!! from Preschool Powol Packets.  Included are some fine motor skill and exploration activities.

For older kids, head over to An Idea on Tuesday for their Maths Fun games centered around a die you can make yourself.

If you were featured this week, don't forget to grab your special "featured button."

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEYKQj4S7oHoLKfsA3PoeXgaNMJ5dxkdUxIphbmwXOlbFg78Gwl73-rT8AdMTgmqYmIJZrkJRYOqOEItkCbR_exui4YhZqLlwZaBHXhC5slGyqPScnxvq-zrQezw9-MdIUiecgW3fxKg/s1600/featured-messykids.jpg" width="150/" /></a>

These activities plus more can be found over on the It's Playtime Pinterest Board.  Happy Pinning! 

Now, on to this weeks play date! 

It's Playtime is a community and Thursday link-up hosted by:

* Rachele : Messy Kids (That's me!)
* Rachel & Holly : Quirky Momma
* Jenny : Let the Children Play

How to Play :

* Link up a post about a playful learning experience enjoyed by kids.

* Give us love and pop a button into your post/blog. Invite your readers to the weekly play date!

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VWLA7lm_Fqc/TaNHGpGSuVI/AAAAAAAAEX0/DGSvqIT7fyU/s320/RED-itplaytime.jpg" width="150" /></a>

* Stop by one of our blogs every Thursday and add your link about play. Your link will show up on each of the blogs in the It's Playtime community.

* Each week the playtime hosts will choose favorite posts to feature. (By linking you are giving us permission to use an image and link to you, if featured.)

* Be sure to visit some of the links that catch your eye. Commenting on posts that you find interesting or inspiring is a wonderful way to develop your own playful community.

Snowmen at Preschool

Snow is rare in Southern California and non-existent in my area, so when we want to build snowmen, we have to be a little creative. Today at my son's preschool we built "snowmen."  It was a fantastic collaborative project and the kids had a great time.  Of course, this can be built at home too!  Simply modify my directions to suit your needs.  Here's what to do:

Materials:

• 6 white trash bags (3 for each snowmen)
• Lots and lots of newspaper
• Tape- Wide masking tape is preferred
• Clothing items- hats, scarves, mittens, dress-up clothes, etc
• Twigs

 Directions:

1. Wad-up lot's of newspaper.  Let the children help, give it to room helpers, etc...whatever you need to do to have a giant pile of newspaper.  
2. If you have a large class and at least 1 co-teacher, break the children into two groups.  This is not a race!  It simply makes life easier if you have a large class.  Our kids were divided into boys and girls.  Give each group 3 trash bags.  
3. Talk about building a snowman.  How many balls do you need?  Are they all the same size?  What are the sizes (small, medium, large)?  
4. Hold the trash bag while the children fill it.  Once you have a large ball, tie it shut.  Hold the next trash bag and fill it slightly less full as it's the medium ball.  Repeat making a small ball for the head.  
5. Using tape, attach the balls to each other in proper order.  Use whatever technique you find easiest.  
6. Send your kids around the classroom to find items for the eyes, nose, mouth, buttons, etc.  One of our groups used coins for eyes, while the other used legos.  Let the kids be creative.  Attach the items with tape.
7. Dress your snowman. 
8. Name your snowman
9. Bring the class back together and talk about what's the same (two eyes, a nose, etc) and what's different.  

As you can see from the picture above, the girls team designed a female snowperson who was "getting married".  They used coins for the eyes, legos for buttons, gave her a skirt, cowgirl hat, scarf, and veil.  Her name was Melody and she was ready to marry Eric.  Their snowperson had a complete story line, providing extra personality.

The boys, on the other hand, created a male snowman.  He had legos for eyes, plastic piping for a nose, a train track for a smile (which I think was very creative), a costume tied around his neck for a scarf, twigs stuck into the bags for arms, and a wizards hat adorned his head.  The boys named their snowman Tree.

What the children learned:

• Proportions
• Cooperation
• Same & Different
• Creativity
• Pride in a job well done!

Have you made a snowman at home or school?  Tell me about it and/or share your link in the comments below!  

Need a book to share with your little snowmen?  

This page shared on:

It's Playtime: A Winter Feast for the Senses

I've often expressed my love of sensory bins.  I'd hoped to create my own winter "snow" bin at my house but bags of plastic snow disappear early in the season (us southern Californians find snow where we can).  I guess I'll have to be as creative as these wonderful posts shared on It's Playtime!

There's the fake snow I was looking for!  Winter White Sensory Tub from Make, do & friend

I love all the different elements this Christmas Sensory Tub from Pre-school Play has to offer!  The mirror "pond" is my favorite.  I remember one of my grandmothers having something similar when I was a child and I loved imagining the characters ice skating over it.  

H is for Homeschooling also put together a Christmas Sensory Bin.  I love how completely different it is from the one created by Pre-school Play!  

We Can Do All Things shared their Homemade Iceland created from colored salt.  The little penguins look so happy!  

If you were featured this week, don't forget to grab your special "featured button."   

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEYKQj4S7oHoLKfsA3PoeXgaNMJ5dxkdUxIphbmwXOlbFg78Gwl73-rT8AdMTgmqYmIJZrkJRYOqOEItkCbR_exui4YhZqLlwZaBHXhC5slGyqPScnxvq-zrQezw9-MdIUiecgW3fxKg/s1600/featured-messykids.jpg" width="150/" /></a>

Now, on to this weeks play date! 

It's Playtime is a community and Thursday link-up hosted by:

* Rachele : Messy Kids (That's me!)
* Anna : The Imagination Tree
* Rachel : Quirky Momma
* Jamie : hands on : as we grow
* Jenny : Let the Children Play

How to Play :

* Link up a post about a playful learning experience enjoyed by kids.

* Give us love and pop a button into your post/blog. Invite your readers to the weekly play date!

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VWLA7lm_Fqc/TaNHGpGSuVI/AAAAAAAAEX0/DGSvqIT7fyU/s320/RED-itplaytime.jpg" width="150" /></a>

* Stop by one of our blogs every Thursday and add your link about play. Your link will show up on each of the blogs in the It's Playtime community.

* Each week the playtime hosts will choose favorite posts to feature. (By linking you are giving us permission to use an image and link to you, if featured.)

* Be sure to visit some of the links that catch your eye. Commenting on posts that you find interesting or inspiring is a wonderful way to develop your own playful community.

It's Playtime: Wishing for Snow

I live in San Diego, so I often find myself wishing for snow, as do my children.  My son is 4 and has yet to see snow.  Every year there is a short window where we can drive an hour from our home to play in the snow, and it seems, every year we miss out.  We drove north for Thanksgiving and my daughter's big wish was for it to snow, which it did not.  Very disappointing.  So this week, on It's Playtime, I'm featuring some fabulous snow activities...NO SNOW REQUIRED!

Who needs snow to make a snowman?  Not Nurture Store!  They created Snow Playdough and built their own indoor snowman.  The best part?  This snowman won't melt!  

I'm not the only one wishing for snow.  Sassy's Sanity is longing for Snow in the Tropics so they created some with contact paper, glitter, and miscellaneous white items.  The contact paper allowed them to stick the "snow" to the window creating the illusion of a white winter in 85 Fahrenheit.     Sounds like what I need to do!

Pre-school Play had some sensory fun with their Foam Snowmen.  This snow is messy fun with 0 cold fingers!

How about a little science with your snow play?  Hands on: as we grow investigated "icy roads" the safe way: at home with ice, sand, salt, and some trucks.

If you were featured this week, don't forget to grab your special "featured button."
  

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEYKQj4S7oHoLKfsA3PoeXgaNMJ5dxkdUxIphbmwXOlbFg78Gwl73-rT8AdMTgmqYmIJZrkJRYOqOEItkCbR_exui4YhZqLlwZaBHXhC5slGyqPScnxvq-zrQezw9-MdIUiecgW3fxKg/s1600/featured-messykids.jpg" width="150/" /></a>

Now, on to this weeks play date! 

It's Playtime is a community and Thursday link-up hosted by:

* Rachele : Messy Kids (That's me!)
* Anna : The Imagination Tree
* Rachel : Quirky Momma
* Jamie : hands on : as we grow
* Jenny : Let the Children Play

How to Play :

* Link up a post about a playful learning experience enjoyed by kids.

* Give us love and pop a button into your post/blog. Invite your readers to the weekly play date!

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VWLA7lm_Fqc/TaNHGpGSuVI/AAAAAAAAEX0/DGSvqIT7fyU/s320/RED-itplaytime.jpg" width="150" /></a>

* Stop by one of our blogs every Thursday and add your link about play. Your link will show up on each of the blogs in the It's Playtime community.

* Each week the playtime hosts will choose favorite posts to feature. (By linking you are giving us permission to use an image and link to you, if featured.)

* Be sure to visit some of the links that catch your eye. Commenting on posts that you find interesting or inspiring is a wonderful way to develop your own playful community.