January Snowflake

Although snowflakes may look similar, every one, like a fingerprint, is unique. Snowflakes can be compared to our children because each are so beautiful and original, no two are alike!

Sometimes life can become overwhelming for parents with small children during the winter months when the weather keeps us indoors for too long – often referred to as “cabin fever.”

The following activities will create a fun learning environment for children indoors when outdoors is just too cold or wet. Of course, there are countless more ideas out there, yet here are just a few to get you started ~ ENJOY!

  • Make a blanket fort in a corner of your home where it can stay up or be put up spontaneously. This will become a “magic place” in your home where children can use their imaginations ~ leave a few flashlights, pillows, books, and simple games/puzzles for them beneath the fort. Rotate the toys and books to create a fresh experience.
  • Create an indoor ICE Skating Rink in your home by cutting wax paper or magazine pages out to the size of your children’s feet. This is a silly and fun way to get out those endless wiggles and giggles while exercising those gross motor muscles! Play music and skate away!
  • Get a giant box – refrigerator, washer/dryer, dishwasher, etc. . . . often times you can get one for free from a store – just ask a manager! Once the box is home – let the imaginations of your children run wild! Is it a rocket, race car, tree house, animal cage in a zoo, hot air balloon, etc. … Have crayons, markers, paints, stickers, and scissors – for windows – and anything else available for the children to decorate! Read with and to them in the box and use rich language asking open-ended questions about the box.
  • Have old/discontinued wallpaper books available – Lowes, Home Depot, or any home decorations/design stores may have old ones – rather than throwing them away, ask for them. These are amazing inspirations for creative learning – children can trace shapes, letters, numbers, look at patterns, talk about colors, design a 3D room with a shoe box and wallpaper, gluing it to the walls, creating a collage, cards, or so much more! Wallpaper books – a fun activity for a cold winter or rainy day!
  • Magazines, scissors, glue, and paper – think of a theme – depending upon the age and development of your child and look for pictures that can be cut out and created into a collage. Maybe it’s as simple as things you like or want to do, yummy food, or career choices for older children.
  • ICE Trays – perfect for teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) – rather you actually have the ice in it and watch the melting process with a thermometer and discuss the properties of water – solid, liquid, and steam – and the temperature needed for each, talk about volume and mass as well (age appropriately) or go for math and point out the pattern of pairs and count them. Talk about what one “dozen” means and a “half dozen” – even if the children are very young – introduce them to new vocabulary and say it in a sentence for them. Also, tweezers, clothespins, chopsticks, or Q-tips can be used with objects such as pompoms for sorting, counting, and matching. (watch for small pieces – choking hazards)
  • Accordion Plastic Pipes for rain gutters and balls to fit them – these come in all sizes and shapes, yet they too are fantastic for indoor or outdoor play! We have several on our playground and the amount of learning that takes place at these areas is amazing! This is Early Childhood STEM learning at its best! Children will have so much fun exploring these objects – from talking and listening at each end (language development), pulling the pipe together and apart (fine and gross motor as well as cognitive skills), and filling it with the balls. It is fun when the balls may be similar in size, yet vary in weight. Children will actually discover the difference in them and choose accordingly!
  • Indoor Snowman - get some old pillows and clothes and create an “indoor” snowman complete with hat and shoes!
  • Jump, Jump! – Create a soft place on the floor where you can cuddle, roll, or be silly and jump around by collecting all the pillows off the beds, sofas, etc… fill it with blankets and books to for a great place to read together!
  • Hot Chocolate! - Who doesn’t like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day? I’m sure you’re out there, yet for those of us that do, fill up the entire crockpot and make it homemade from real milk rather than the powdered packets (although they are better than nothing!). Best with vanilla, chocolate syrup, and marshmallows, yum!
  • Pots & Pans – when all else fails – get out the pots and pans and make music and DANCE!  Have fun with the children and tap away – with your hands, wooden spoons, etc… Teach them how to count, syllables, listening skills, rhythm and repetition, read a rhyming book to a beat such a Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Erick Carle. There are some great YouTube videos of “Ice Drumming” – so “cool” – no pun intended – inventively creative, and beautiful!