Mitten Game

I saw this fun felt board idea at http://www.sotomorrowblog.com/2012/01/flannel-friday-snowball-snowball.html  and immediately made it.  I made a mitten from every felt colour that I had, there is no limit.

The poem:

Snowball, snowball

cold and round

Behind which mitten

can you be found?

 We've played this game at every story time.

 It has been wonderful for practicing taking turns and colours.

The game is left out and available for the children to play.

Balloon Painting

The children showed me today how much fun and delightful

playing with a water balloon in paint can be.

 

 

 It started like I thought it would, 

gently holding on to the balloon

and painting.

 But as the morning progressed and different children approached

the table, especially younger children,

 it became more of a fingerpainting activity.

The lightly inflated balloons are easy to grip

and bounce nicely too.

Look at the girl at the top of the picture,

the glee on her face when her fingers get covered with paint.

 A few did begin to add details,

 and label their artwork.

He is pointing out the snowman's cheeks, here and here

and here.

Another snowman on his way home.

Evan's Dinosaur.

Tonight it is snowing - yay

Play Trays

Here are some of this week's play trays.

Matching snowflakes.

 I photocopied images of snowflakes from a book on to overhead transparency film.

 They had to find the snowflakes that matched.

Magnifying glasses help with the small details.

I brought out this small light table for another sensory appeal.

Counting and matching buttons to the number on the snowman.

 The numbers are from 1 - 10.

I find that any activity that involves buttons are attractive to children,

and grown ups too.

Sun Catcher Snow Globes

Today's project.

More sun than snow outside so we created our own snow scenes on these window sun catchers.

I precut the circle frames and mac tac circles.

 The children used shaped hole punches and confetti.

Or they could cut shapes free hand.

 No glue required for this craft,

Everything sticks to the mac tac.

Even fingers.

 When finished

they're ready to hang in the window.

I love how they decorate our room from the outside.

Hot Chocolate Day - Yay!

We had a treat with our snack today - hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows.

I made the marshmallow at home because it does involve very hot syrup and takes a while in the mixer.

Warm marshmallow creme is so good.

I poured half of the marshmallow in the pan and to the rest I added colour.  We'll use the pink closer to Valentines Day.  If you want the recipe, you can find it here.

 I decorated little styrofoam cups as snowmen. Inspiration.

Cheers.

At the art table we painted with hot chocolate mixed with brown paint.

 The paper shape is a mug.

So a clever parent grab a real coffee mug to help the children and grown ups compare the shapes.

The paint really does smell like chocolate.

 We used confetti for marshmallows.

 Marshmallows sprinkled all over the table

and floor by the end of the morning.

Yummy morning.

Waterless Snowglobes

I've always wanted to make snowglobes with the children but usually cannot gather enough baby food or small jars for everyone.

I was at Michaels after Christmas and found these cute little snowmen ornaments at a great price.  

Perfect to fit in little plastic cups from the dollar store.

Yay all we needed to do was cut out a paper circle, glue and add glittery snow.

This is how we made them.

 Trace

 Cut

 Glue

 Scoop

 Glue some more

We have been using glue guns a lot lately so the parents are becoming more comfortable allowing their children to use them.

This craft was a lot of fun to make together.

And the globes were fun to shake after they were complete.

Still no snow for us here.  We may have to go on a fieldtrip up the mountain to enjoy some snow.