**All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission.
If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks!
Our Own Winter Wonderland **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks!
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This is a constant work in progress, but I wanted it up so it can be a resource. The books are listed alphabetically by the author's last name. These books will include, but are not limited to books about the season of winter, snow, snowmen and winter-type animals. I'll add to it as I come across books that we've read and liked. Allen When the Snow Comes (talks about animals getting ready for winter) Buehner Snowmen at Night Cuyler The Biggest, Best Snowman Ehlert Snowballs Howell Zoo Flakes ABC (snowflakes made with animal shapes) Murphy Baby Polar Shertle What Do You Need to Make a Snowman? Wilson Don't Be Afraid, Little Pip Wilson Mama, Why? Wilson Winter Snow Winget Sam the Snowman We were surprised to wake up to several inches of snow on March 18th here. It was beautiful and of course, we had to get out and play it! **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! Since there is no real snow to eat, we decided to make our own healthy snowballs to enjoy! This recipe is easy and fun plus you get to use the food processor! I found this idea from a preschool idea book years ago, but I don't have the title. Banana Raisin Snowballs Ingredients: 2 cups raisins, 2 bananas, shredded coconut (we use the sweetened kind) Supplies Needed: Food processor and mixing bowl What to do:
*We halved the recipe and it made over a dozen snowballs of varying sizes. The verdict: The recipe called for using a blender, but I ended up having to use a mini food processor because the blender just wasn't cutting it. (Pun intended!) Our raisins were a bit hard, but the blender wasn't even chopping up the dry apricots I added to make up for our lack of raisins. Next time, I think I'll even add some walnuts. The girls loved the mixture and the coconut! I wasn't sure if Love Bug would like the coconut, but she did. If your child doesn't like coconut, you could always make "dirty snowballs" and roll the balls in crushed cookie crumbs. It was hard to keep the girls from eating while we were trying to make the snowballs. I thought that might happen so that's why I gave each girl her own spoons and bowls of coconut and fruit mixture. Then, I just let them loose! The mixture is sticky, but the girls liked it just the way it was. If you don't want them to be so sticky, you could always put them in the refrigerator or freezer to get them to "harden" some. Don't leave them too long in the freezer or the coconut starts to get crunchy. All in all, this was a VERY easy recipe to whip up. The girls did a great job keeping most of the coconut off of the dining room floor and they LOVED eating the snowballs. They are already asking when are we going to make them again. Let me know if you try these out! **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! We have been on a roll here (pun intended!) making snowmen. They are easy, fun and can be done so many ways! This particular snowman works on those important scissor cutting skills (curves in particular) and sequencing. You can also work on on-to-one counting by having your child count out buttons before and after he/she glues them on the snowman. Here's a little rhyme to do before you get started: Chubby Little Snowman A classic rhyme A chubby little snowman Open arms wide. Had a carrot nose. Point to nose. Along came a bunny Hold up two fingers to make a bunny. And what do you suppose? Hold up bent arms on either side. That hungry little bunny Hold up two fingers to make a bunny. Looking for his lunch Make bunny look around. Ate that little snowman's nose Pretend to grab nose. Nibble, nibble, crunch. Pretend bunny is eating. I even got out a felt snowman out for the girls for them to point to the carrot nose. Sweet Girl took it a step further by getting out a little bunny toy and acting out the rhyme. Cut and Decorate Snowman Supplies Needed: snowman pattern (I got this one from a book called Little Kids Can...Cut!, but any pattern with a thick outline would do), scissors, construction paper, buttons, fabric scrap for scarf, markers/crayons, glue stick What to do:
**All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! Contact Paper Snowman idea from http://blogs.familyeducation.com This was a really fun, simple project. I did have to do a lot of cutting, but I definitely like the idea of letting the girls "build" the snowman rather than just having it as one big piece as suggested on the idea site. Love Bug even noticed how the paint wouldn't stick on the contact paper--no matter how many times she painted it! We embellished the snowmen with permanent markers, crayons and glitter glue. Supplies needed: White contact paper, white construction paper, water colors and brush, cup with water, scissors, and salt What to do:
2. Peel off the backing and build the snowman on the construction paper. Where did those snowmen go? 3. Use watercolors to paint ALL over the paper. The contact paper will resist the water color and you will be left with snowmen standing in front of a very colorful background. Ask your child if he/she notices how it "feels different" to paint on and off of the contact paper. 4. Add salt to look like little sparkles of snow. We totally forgot about the salt and ended up using glitter glue. 5. Let the painting dry. We left our contact paper on, but you can peel the contact paper off if you want. **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! This is one of those activities I've had in my winter file forever. I'm pretty sure the original idea came from The Mailbox Magazine preschool edition. It's quick to set up and is a fun way to get those little fingers moving. We started off with this little song. Falling Snow submitted by: Suzanne Moore, The Mailbox Magazine sung to: "When the Saints Go Marching In" Oh, when the snow Move fingers to resemble falling snow. Begins to fall, Continue moving fingers. I'll build a snowman round and tall. Move hands upward from the floor. Oh, how I love the cold, cold weather Hug self. When the snow begins to fall. Move fingers to resemble falling snow. And then I'll lie Sit on the floor. Down in the snow Lie on the floor. And move my arms and legs just so. Move arms and legs to make snow angel. Oh, how I love to make snow angels Continue moving arms and legs. When the snow begins to fall. Continue moving arms and legs. Then, we put some Celtic music on to "skate" to. This was the kind of music playing at the end of our Friday Flicks video today. :) It was upbeat and relaxing at the same time. Get some of your favorite music on and get ready to go finger skating! Finger Skating Supplies Needed: White paint, scotch tape, aluminum foil, glitter glue or glitter Sweet Girl eager to get "skating" What to do:
Look at those little fingers glide across the aluminum foil. Love Bug and Sweet Girl really got into it. It's definitely a different experience than just painting on paper. Love Bug's finger skating is on the right and Sweet Girl's is on the left. The glitter glue resulted in a hint of shimmer through out the paint. They didn't want me to cut down their work to size to fit a piece of construction paper, so we are just displaying them like this! Be ready to do a couple of these because your child want to "skate" more than just once! **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! Well, we had our first snow of 2013. It wasn't huge, but it's the most snow we've gotten all winter. The girls were very excited and eager to go out after breakfast. I decided to liven up their yogurt with these little snowman faces. The girls were surprised and really liked them. I think if food is inviting, children will be more apt to try it. Whether that means serving it a different way (in a mug, on a stick, etc) or "fancy-ing" it up with a face or arranging it in a special way. After breakfast, we suited up and headed out. It was C-O-L-D. Even in the sun, that wind was chilly! The girls had fun walking in the snow, making snow angels, touching the snow and we even made a little snowman. Of course, we had to have some hot chocolate when we came in. :) Before lunch, I wanted to try a fun-looking recipe I found when browsing for snowflake snack ideas. I had never seen anything like this before and thought it would make a nice treat to go with lunch. Sweet Tortilla Snowflakes http://spoonful.com Ingredients: Flour tortillas, vegetable oil for baking, confectioners' sugar, sprinkles or edible glitter (optional) Supplies needed: clean pair of scissors, cookie sheets, brush for oil, sifter for sugar What to do: 1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Warm the tortillas (about 15 seconds) in the microwave to make them easier to fold and so they won't crack. I didn't have to do this with my tortillas. Maybe it's because they were kept in the refrigerator. 3. Individually fold the tortillas in half once and then in half again, so that you end up with a shape that resembles a wedge of pie (it will be thick). 4. Using clean scissors, cut triangle, circles, or squares out of the edges, as if you were making paper snowflakes. 5. Unfold the tortillas and place them on a cookie sheet slightly apart. (Mine touched some because I had big tortillas. I could only fit one on my smaller cookie sheets.) 6. Lightly brush the tops of the snowflakes with vegetable oil. 7. Bake them until lightly browned and crisp (about 4 minutes). You can bake them a few minutes longer, if you want a crispier snowflake, but keep an eye on them. 8. Sift confectioners' sugar on the snowflakes while they are still warm. Cinnamon could also be used. 9. For an extra sparkly effect, you can sprinkle on a bit of edible glitter. The girls thought these were fun to eat. Look how big they are! I'd love to know if you try these out for yourself! **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! I'm always looking for new snacks or new ways to serve the "same old" snacks. I came up with these two ideas to go along with our winter theme. Not only are they cute and tasty, your children can help create them. Children love being able to help in preparing their own food. This can also make children more interested in eating the food since they got to pick what went on/in it. Plus, these particular snacks require small motor skills to pick up all those little goodies. Cracker Snowman Snack Ingredients Per Snowman: 3 round crackers, 2 pretzel sticks, chocolate chips for eyes and buttons, sprinkles for nose and mouth, cereal puffs for bow/ears/feet/etc, cream cheese Supplies Needed: Spreader, plate, little dish *I did this snack on the spur of the moment so I just went with what was super easy and accessible. Other fun things to use would be Cheerios, mini chocolate chips, little pieces of cut up dried fruit, tiny sliver of raw carrot, raisins, etc. To make this more of a substantial snack, add some fruit on the side. What to do:
Creating time! Love Bug on the top. Sweet Girl on the bottom. Sweet Girl's creation. Notice the ears and feet. Love it! Banana Snowman Snack Ingredients Per Snowman: 3 pieces of sliced banana, Fruit strip cut into strips for the arms and hat rim and a larger rectangle for the hat, chocolate chips for buttons, sprinkles for nose and eyes and icing (one of those little squeezable ones) for the mouth Supplies Needed: plate and knife *I did this snack in lieu of just cutting up a banana at breakfast and the girls loved it! Of course, we made a couple of them and still had some sliced bananas on the side. So, each girl got about half of a banana and a fruit strip with her breakfast. What to do:
This next one requires a bit more adult preparation, but the results are really cute. We haven't done this one yet. I found this one at www.spoonful.com. Snowman on a Stick Ingredients: bananas, grapes, carrot, apple, mini chocolate chips and pretzel sticks Supplies Needed: Bamboo skewers and a knife *For each snowman, you will need three thick slices of banana, a grape, a sliver of carrot, and a triangular piece of apple. (Tip: Poke a hole in the apple piece with a bamboo skewer first to make assembly easier.) What to do:
**All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission.
If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! |
AuthorThe Master's Daughter, Angela Pounders, loves teaching and sharing her ideas with others. After working various teaching-type jobs, she now uses her God-given gifts with her children at home. Categories
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