Hi there! We have been working hard putting together this winter activity guide for kids. We had so much fun and we hope you do too! Here we go...
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| © Everything Family Guide |
A Monthly Moon Watch (Start-up)
Observe
the night sky for the moon and fill in the moon chart with our findings. Make
a Moon journal by observing the moon for 30 days. Sketch what it looks like daily and record the timings of when it
appears in
the sky each day. If there is no moon leave it blank and only color
a night sky with other visible things like stars or not. As a parent, I double check for moon sightings dates and times on the Weather
Channel website. Turn off all the lights, open the blinds/curtains and lay down to observe the beautiful views of the night sky.
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| One entry in the moon journal © Everything Family Guide |
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| Moon Journal in-progress © Everything Family Guide |
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| © Everything Family Guide |
Other Ideas for Sky Watch:
- Watch
the night sky for northern lights, stars, planets and
other moving objects. Make a daily visual journal to record your
findings; one half of the page for drawing what you saw and the other half
for writing a description of what you saw.
- Observe the position of the winter sun during the day, from your window;
look for a lower sun in the sky, which equals to shorter days in the winter
time. As the sun rises in the east from a lower point, it travels through
the sky and then sets in the west earlier than the summer sun.
Sun Activities
- Make rainbow sun catchers by gluing various colored ripped
tissue paper strips on clear contact paper. Then glue the contact paper on
your window. You
will need contact paper and colored tissue paper to make a colorful sun
catcher. For this activity, we made heart shaped sun-catchers for a
Valentine's day preparatory activity.
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Make a sundial by placing a
vertically aligned stick/ruler into the ground. As the sun rises in the
morning the shadow will be cast on the opposite side of the stick and
move across the ground through the day to tell time. You can mark the
change with chalk to look at it later on. Start off
with the basics like morning/dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset,
sunrise, etc.
Colored Ice-cubes
Mix
a food drops of food coloring with water to make colored ice cubes for outdoor play. Once the colored ice
cubes are ready, we go outside to play with them.
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| Ready to take outside! © Everything Family Guide |
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| Colored Ice cubes in the Snow © Everything Family Guide |
Frosty Candles - Caution:
this activity is done under adult supervision at all times.
Fill an empty container and pack it with snow to the top. Be sure to pack the snow with
your hand; snow has air bubbles. Once it is filled bring it inside and turn it over to remove the container. Now place
a tea candle in the center of the snow pack. Light the candle to make an awesome winter display.
Dress up for winter and take the frosty candle outside late in the evening, to
enjoy the spectacular display!
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| Making Frosty Candles © Everything Family Guide |
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| © Everything Family Guide |
Snowman Activities
- Paper Snowman: Make
a snowman by folding a paper in half vertically and then cutting 1 small, 1
medium and 1 large half circle around the edges. Once you are done cutting,
open the paper to add details like facial features (such as eyes, a nose, and a smile) and draw the winter gear to your snowman,
with markers or crayons.
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| Making a paper Snowman © Everything Family Guide |
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| Paper Snowman © Everything Family Guide |
- Snow Sensory Bin: Make a snow sensory bin by placing ice in a bucket and provide your child with toys or tools they can use to carve shapes or make a snowman.
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Snow Play Bin © Everything Family Guide
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| Snowman made by a Toddler © Everything Family Guide |
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- Cotton Snowman: Make a cotton ball snowman by gluing cotton balls on blue
colored construction paper. You may add details by gluing on googly eyes.
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| © Everything Family Guide |
- Snowman Paper chain - this activity requires a little help from the parent. You need to trace the shape outline of a snowman on a paper that is folded a few times (the more fold it in and out the more snowman shapes you will have). I know our outline is missing arms on the side, as my little guy cut them off (hahaha!).
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| © Everything Family Guide |
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| © Everything Family Guide |
- Snowman Crayon Resist Painting: you will need a white pencil pre-cut snowman stencil on recyclable cardboard, crayon, paint brushes, blue paint and a white piece of paper. You will provide your child with a recycled cardboard snowman template. Let your child color inside the hand-made stencil with a white crayon (shaped like a snowman). Now let your child paint over the paper with blue paint. Let dry to reveal a snowman on a blue background. You can also make little snowflakes with the white crayon before painting. Other ways to add snowflakes is by making paper snowflakes or glitter ones.
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| © Everything Family Guide |
- Egg Carton Snowman - Make a snowman with a recyclable cardboard egg carton. All you need is a pair of scissors, googly eyes, markers, a pipe cleaner with two pom-poms. Then you get set preparing your snowman! I personally love this project the best from all the Snowman projects!
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| © Everything Family Guide |
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| © Everything Family Guide |
Story Book with a Movie & Craft
- Read
the winter classic “Frosty the Snowman” (it is published by numerous authors;
Disney, Jack Rollins & Steve Nelson). Then watch the movie “Frosty the
Snowman” (1969 film) or “The Legend of Frosty the Snowman (2005 film). To
make it more fun, you can go outside and make a snowman like “Frosty”; add
details red button nose and a hat similar to a men’s Top hat. For the craft, we got a ready-to-assemble kit from Target for a couple of dollars. Its a 3-D Igloo kit
with a Snowman family. It came with pre-cut shapes for assembling the
Igloo and the felt Snowman standup figures.
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| © Everything Family Guide |
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| © Everything Family Guide |
Snowflake Activities
- Make
a snowflake by folding a paper in half vertically and then horizontally and
then cutting on the folded edges to and the outer edges to make a snowflake.
You can either make large cuts or small ones (like my preschooler did). Keep in mind that all snowflakes are unique so there is no exact design. :)
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| © Everything Family Guide |
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| © Everything Family Guide |
- Study the snowflakes as they fall on your hands, the ground
or on a surface. For this activity you need to be outdoors for a few
minutes. Watch out for unique shapes and patterns. Then come inside and
sketch a snowflake from memory and/or make one by using your own
designs/ideas. Hint: some snowflakes have sides or may be shaped like
hexagons.
- Make a snowflake imprint painting. Cut out a felt-shaped snowflake pattern. You can also use tape to make snowflake shapes on the paper. Then you will paint over and around the shapes. Upon completion, leave the felt shape/tape on and let the paper dry as is. When dried, remove the shapes to reveal a beautiful pattern on the inside.
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| © Everything Family Guide |
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| Tape Print-making © Everything Family Guide |
Winter Dress-up
Cut
out a people’s outline on paper. Give your child a pair or scissors and several
current department store flyers to look for winter gear pictures (i.e. gloves,
hats, jackets, snow pants, boots, scarves, etc). Once they are done collecting
the pictures, talk to them about each item (i.e. hats are to keep your head and
ears warm, gloves are to keep your fingers warm, etc.). Now, dress up your
paper person in winter gear by gluing on the winter gear to the appropriate body
part. Finally, you can add facial details like a smile, eyes, or nose.
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| © Everything Family Guide |
Winter Word Wall
- Brainstorm
winter words on a bulletin board or large paper for your child to see. Let them
tell you the words, while you write them down. Then write your words on small
cards and glue to a display area. Every time you come across a word in a book,
at home, on TV or during play, add to your word wall. Once in a while, you can
read the “winter” words out loud to help your child remember and learn. Some
sample winter words are as follows: snow, snowflake, winter, mittens, gloves,
jackets, cold, arctic air, wind chill, warm, frozen, icicles, sleet, white,
chilly, frosty, blizzard, snow storm, temperature, drop, below zero, frostbite,
hail, snowy, etc.
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| Sample Winter Words © Everything Family Guide |
- Rhyming words: Make
a list of words that rhyme and are winter related.
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| Winter Rhyming Words © Everything Family Guide |
Bird Feeder
Make
a bird feeder by recycling your plastic milk jug. Make a large hole in the
front of the bottle and fill with bird seeds. Make another hole to insert/string a
piece of yarn at the top. Now hang it on a tree branch for the birds
to enjoy. It is important to help your child with the cutting as the milk jug plastic can be very sharp. Let your child help you tape the edges of the bird feeder with paper/masking tape.
Read Fairy tales
The
fun of fairy tales is somehow intensified when read or experienced in the
winter. Read classical Grimm fairy tales like the Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Peter Pan, Puss in Boots, Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, The Wolf and The Fox, and Rumpelstiltskin. Most of these stories can be enjoyed near a fire-place with steaming mugs of hot cocoa or during a S'mores party.
Read Winter-themed Books
Stay in touch with the seasons and celebrations/traditions associated with the different days of the year, months or week. This builds understanding about what your child is learning and develops a sense of belonging to their community (family, culture or country). You can also read books that are based on a winter themes such as the snow, snowflakes, snowman, Igloo, Christmas, New Years, winter animals, winter traditions, winter games (both indoors and outdoors), or winter recipes. This will not only make each activity fun and awe-inspiring, but at the same time educate your child about things around our world.
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Make a Snow Globe
- 3D Snow Globe: You
will need an old glass jar, white recycled paper, whole punch, a plastic toy,
marker, glitter and glue. Now use a whole punch to make as many little white
pieces of paper circles as possible. Next, thoroughly clean and dry the glass or
plastic jar. Glue the toy to the inside of the lid and add white whole punch
circles and glitter. Screw the glass bottle on the lid and you have made yourself
a snow globe. You can also make a wet one by adding water 2/3 through the jar
and adding oil in the rest of the space. For the wet snow globe, only add
glitter and not any paper whole punch circles, as they will turn into white
mush.
- 2D Snow Globe:
Make a construction paper snow globe where you cut a red
rectangle (base), 1 large blue ball (snow globe dome), 2 medium sized
white balls (that fit inside the dome; one for the lower body and the other for
the middle), and one small white ball(for the head). Glue the pictures on
paper to put together your snow globe. Now add details like face, arms,
and buttons using a pen. Paint a clear glitter wash on the top with a wet
brush to give it a magical look.
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| © Everything Family Guide |
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| © Everything Family Guide |
Winter Math
- Daily Calendar Fun: Turn down the temperature in your calendar learning area by adding winter-themed pictures. Use little snowflakes or a snowman as calendar number cutouts.
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- Make a graph on a large piece of
paper (makes a great visual) and laminate it to accompany your calendar
routine. The graph will have a column each for sunny, partly sunny,
snowy, windy, cloudy,
rainy, etc. Then each day, look out the window to record/check mark
the
weather of the day. At the end of each week or month, look
for/discuss occurring patterns, similarities or differences in the
weather graph.
Outdoor Snow Activities
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| First Snow of the Season © Everything Family Guide |
Here are some outdoor fun ideas:
- Go tobogganing or sledding (sleds cost around $5 at Walmart
or look for really thick cardboard boxes at the recycling depot)
- Go skiing with your family
- Make an igloo using disposable plastics containers to fill
with snow and sprinkle with water to make firm. Then after a few hours or
until the snow doesn't fall apart, start stacking your ice blocks to make
an igloo.
- Go snow-trekking in your sturdy winter boots.
- Play ice hockey using a hockey stick, a puck, 2 goals,
friends and lots of energy!
- Go ice skating at your local/community ice skating rink
(it's usually free and you can even rent skates in your size for a low
price).
- Make a snow angel by lying on the snow on your back. Then
rub your hands and feet in the snow in the upwards and downwards motion to
make a snow angel.
- Fill a squeeze bottle with food color eater and do snow art
outside or write messages in the snow using food color squeeze bottles or
a twig to imprint messages.
- Do a good deed by shoveling your neighbors snow pathway or
sidewalk to reduce the chances of someone getting hurt or saving them
time/energy to do it themselves.Shovel the snow from your pathway or sidewalk to help your
parents out! Go ice fishing with an adult.Make a snow-fort using huge snow blocks or balls and then
have a snow-fight with your friends or family.
- Winter Olympics: Research
the types of games they play during the winter Olympics. Get ready to watch the
winter Olympics, which will be hosted in Sochi, Russia from February 6th
to the 23rd. Make
your own gym station in and around the house with indoors and outdoor games to
do a copy-cat Olympic event.
- Make a Brochure of Cold Things or Animals (in our Environment): You
will
need a blank piece of paper, scissors, glue, and old national
geographic
magazines from a used book store. Pick and choose things that can
survive a cold
winter (i.e. rocks, frozen water, wolves, fish, squirrels, skunks,
rabbits, polar bears, penguins, dogs, etc). You can glue this on a paper
folded like a book.
- Animal Tracks: Dress
up in your winter gear to go for a trek through the snow in your local park or
backyard. Look for animal tracks. Come back inside and draw the animal tracks
on a piece of paper. Try to infer the name of the animal using the information
you have (paw size, fingers, distance of the prints, etc). Watch through your window for winter animals like rabbits,
mice, raccoons, ground hogs, squirrels, owls, coyotes, wolves, deer, moose,
or beavers. Or look for animal tracks in the snow. Use your prediction skills
to infer the name of the animal using the characteristics of the animal
track.
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| © Everything Family Guide |
Indoor Fun Activities
Enjoy indoor family fun time or movie time with a bowl of
homemade popcorn. You need to heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pot, and drop a
kernel in the pot. When the kernel pops, you know the oil is hot enough. You may let the
kids pour the kernels in the measuring cup and then the adult can pour the
kernels in the hot pot and cover the lid. Ask your kids to hear the "popping" sounds
of popcorn. When you hear that the popping is spaced between 3-5 seconds,
then you know the popcorn is done. Turn off the heat and take the pot off
the stove. Wait for popcorn to cool off slightly before serving with butter or
flavored seasoning (optional). Here are some fun indoor time ideas:
- Make
it a movie day by doing activities from the movie and
then watching the movie at the end of the day. For example, to
watch
"The Polar Express", we will setup chairs/pillows in a train and
pretend we are sitting in a train or board a train by pretending to
exchange tickets. Drinking hot chocolate, drawing our own
trains or designing a ticket, are some activities we may do before
watching
the movie.
- Play card games like old maid, go fish, crazy eights, or
concentration/memory.
- Play board games like scrabble junior, connect 4,
color/shape matching, snakes and ladder, etc.
- Play movement/sports games like throw/catch ball, musical
chairs, freeze, sly fox, hide and seek, etc.
- Help your parents or an adult set up the fireplace. Then
watch the beauty of fire in your home. You may even convince your parents
to have an indoor S'mores party (there's nothing yummier than toasted
marshmallows tucked in between chocolate wafers; Yum!)
- Share and Tell family stories/songs around the fireplace or in
the living room, while getting cozy with a blanket.
In the Kitchen with Chef Junior
- Make a Menu of Cold Things (To eat): You
will need a blank piece of paper, scissors, glue, and grocery store flyers. Now
pick out items that you would normally find in a grocery store frozen section. This activity can be done on a booklet.
- Baking: Bake a cake or muffins with a homemade recipe or use a cake
mix. Ice a cake or muffins with homemade icing (whip butter,
icing sugar and vanilla essence in an electric mixer to make delicious
homemade icing).
- Homemade Ice Cream: Make your own homemade ice-cream by adding 1 cup of
whipping cream, 4 tbsp of sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla extract and flavor
(optional) to a medium-sized Ziploc bag and seal it. Then take ice from
the freezer or snow from outside plus 1 tsp of salt and pour in a larger
Ziploc bag. Now place the food bag inside the ice/snow bag and seal it.
The fun part begins by allowing your children to shake the bag vigorously
for 10-15 minutes. Viola! Enjoy some yummy homemade ice cream, sans the
preservatives!
Make hot chocolate: Make a hot chocolate with cocoa powder, milk/cream, sugar and hot
water. Make it delicious by sprinkling a little bit of cocoa powder on top
or by having it with a candy cane (YUM!)
- Make a Gingerbread house and decorate with candies and frosting. Sorry about the untidiness, as my little guys helped me with this. :)
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| © Everything Family Guide |
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| © Everything Family Guide |
Science Experiments
- 3 Forms of Water: Bring a bucket of snow inside and
let it stay at room
temperature to see what happens; it will melt and become water.
Afterwards, put that same bucket in the freezer to see the water
solidify into ice. Finally, leave the frozen bucket outside in the sun
and watch what happens the next day when it disparate in the air. This
will teach the concept of solid, liquid and gas.
- Today’s Weather Report: Make
a weather report by taking a white paper sized at 8 ½ by 11 inches. Now
decorate your cover page with the title “Weather Report”. Next, dress up in
your winter gear to go out for recording the temperature, using an outdoor
thermometer. You can buy one at Wal-Mart or the dollar store for a few bucks.
Place the thermometer on the floor and then wait for the mercury to rise up.
The parents will announce the temperature and show their child. Once inside,
you can record the temperature in your book and draw a picture of the
thermometer. You can also draw pictures of a sun with clouds, snowflakes
falling from the sky, cloudy sky, windy with snow flakes, etc. You can observe and record for a week.
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| © Everything Family Guide |
(Day
30) Grow a Garden
- Start an indoor planting project by placing your plant in
front of the window that catches the sun the most. This year we planted
the stalks of fresh leftover coriander, green onions, and Italian parsley.
We placed the stalks in a glass jar 2/3's full of room temperature water. The best plants to grow would be green onions or herbs like coriander. Save the stalks when you are done using the herb or vegetable and then place it in a container with water. Watch it progress everyday as it grows. Cut off the tops and enjoy in your salad. Watch them grown again from the stalks. Make sure to keep your plants well hydrated and with sufficient air/light.
- Start a seedling project by buying
inexpensive seeds from the local grocery store. Plant them in a pot with
good quality potting soil. Place the pot by a sunny window patch and
water the pot daily. Watch and journal the plant progress to observe
changes or growth. You can also germinate chick peas in a clear plastic
cup with a little water and watch the chick peas sprout to observe
changes or growth.
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| © Everything Family Guide |
Overall, this winter season has been coming along well. I apologize if some of these projects are not 'PERFECT' looking as they are made and designed by my little guy. That's what makes them original! I hope you enjoyed our post as we took a month to compile all our activities. We would love to hear some feedback from our readers.
Many thanks,
Annie
