Easy Snowball Sensory Table

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A little over a year ago I moved from San Diego to the San Francisco Bay area.  It's been a big adjustment for me and the kids.  My son had to change schools (then change again when he entered a special education class at the beginning of the school year), we can no longer have a "beach day" in January because the water up here is freezing, and of course we all had to make new friends.  Boy, did I win the jackpot with that!  I've met some terrific moms since I moved which has kept me and my children active around town.  

Once of the places we visit regularly is The Duck Pond, a non-profit indoor play space in south San Jose.  Because it's non-profit, they relay on volunteers to help out during the 2 hour session they are open each day.  One of my friends was a regular volunteer and she talked me into it as well, along with another good friend.  Now we are all there at least once a week helping in various forms to keep the place running.  Over the year I've been there, it's been noticed that my talents lie with the craft projects and the occasional sensory activity.  I am extremely limited in these areas; no paint or super messy sensory items (rice, flour, sand, etc) of any kind, simply because the parents are required to be involved and many aren't.  Too much for us volunteers to have to clean up.  So, it's become a challenge for me, in a good way (keeps those gray cells working hard).   

Digging through supplies last week I came across cotton balls and styrofoam balls and the snowball sensory table was born!

Most of us, even The Duck Pond, have inexpensive water tables laying around for warmer weather.  Well, dig it out because it's not just for water!  Water tables have many uses, that I hope to explore over the coming months.  

For this table I kept it simple: cotton balls, styrofoam balls, cups, and some pretend ice cream scoops we had in our "snack shop" pretend play area.  That's it!  

When I put the table out, I had the cotton and styrofoam balls mixed together. The children quickly separated the two (sorting=math).   

Then we had all kinds of scooping going on.  Kids were scooping styrofoam balls, kids were scooping cotton balls.  Some were pretending it was snow, some pretended it was ice cream.  The smallest children enjoyed throwing the cotton balls into the air.  It was a frenzy of exploration and the parents were loving it!  

This is a perfect indoor activity for winter and rainy days.  The clean up is easy and I'm sure you have at least cotton balls and kids cups around your house to get this table going today.  Don't have a water table?  Try using a large plastic storage bin or if you want a smaller scale, use a plastic 6-Quart Storage Box (shoe box sized).

Materials:

• Water table or some sort of storage bin or large bowl.  
• Cotton balls
• Styrofoam balls (size is up to you)
• Cups and/or scoops

I hope this activity will keep your kids sane during indoor weather.  Let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment or share your photos over on my Facebook page.  

Frozen Winter Sensory Bin

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Once upon a time I made a winter sensory bin for my son and our playgroup.  It included colored rice, epson salt, and snowflake confetti.  He had a lot of fun playing in it with friends and on his own.  When we moved on to another season, I stored the sensory material to be used at a later time.  Well, it's roughly 4 years later and my youngest is 3 and loves to make a mess.  Lucky for her, I came across my stash of sensory materials and pulled out the winter bag.  

Preschools often use large sand tables for sensory materials, rotating them throughout the year.  Of course many of us have sand and water tables being stored for warmer weather, but why wait when you can use it for all sorts of play, not just sand and water.  But if you want to do a sensory bin that is easily storable, table or floor friendly, and on the smaller side, shoe box sized storage bins are inexpensive online and at Target, roughly $2.00 a piece.  

The nice thing about this sensory bin is you can keep it simple with just the rice and epson salt and add in small cups or scoops, or you can add toys like Arctic animals or 

Frozen toy figures. My daughter received some Frozen characters for her birthday so it seemed like a natural fit.  I threw in some winter type animals too.

The toys were quickly disregarded as my daughter is a feeler; she was more interested and the texture and flow of the sensory material then the imagination side of the bin.

She quickly made a game of finding the snowflakes and sorting them out next to her.

Make your own Frozen winter themed sensory bin with these materials:

• Shoe box sized plastic bin (6 quarts) or larger
• colored rice (link to recipe)
• Epsom Salt
• Snowflake Confetti
• Frozen characters and/or Arctic animals
• small cups and scoops if desired

Be creative and have fun!   Don't forget to share your pictures with me on Facebook!

  

Creating Indoor Snow

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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?  

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?  

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It's Playtime: Camping....Indoors!

I don't know about you, but thanks to the influence of T.V. my son is dying to go camping.  He's seen Max and Ruby roast marshmallows, sleep in tents, and tell stories around the fire and thinks it would be a blast.  I agree with him.  I love camping!  My parents took me several times a year when I was a child and I always had a good time.  Unfortunately, not only does my husband have zero interest in sleeping on the ground outdoors, but we don't own a tent.  I hope to remedy this in the spring so we can camp-out in the backyard this summer, but until then, indoor camping will have to do. Check out these great posts from last weeks It's Playtime featuring indoor camping.   

Create with you hands had some Creativity with Cardboard Boxes, making a fun indoor tent.  Blankets and pillows completed the play space for comfort and lazy afternoons.  

Everything and Nothing jazzed up their Reading Corner with a tent, play camping light, and even a pretend campfire with cooking pot!  Add a sleeping bag (which they did!) and your child is ready for a reading adventure.  

As for us, my son has settled for a good ol' Blanket Fort on his bunk bed.  It's great for reading, hand shadow puppets, and when the time is right, sleeping.  

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

  

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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!

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* 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.