Wintertime is a wonderful time of the year! During this season, children can look forward to fun holidays with the family, delicious winter food and desserts and most of all, take part in many cozy and exciting activities. In this collection of fun activities, children will use all 5 of their senses! These activities are great for children of all ages, and many of them are taste-test safe so even infants can enjoy them!
-Fake snow- With this activity, children can use their different senses to explore fake snow.
Things You Will Need:
-2 parts corn starch
-1 part oil
In a bowl or bag, you can mix together the ingredients, and have the children explore. It's a simple activity, that incorporates all of the senses. Your child can be amazed as they watch the snow being made, and how it falls from one surface to the other in itself. They can feel the snow between their fingers and roll it in their hands. It's taste-test safe, so you can even allow them to put the snow in their mouths.
-Jingle bell fun - Children can make their own musical instruments, as they practice math with this activity!
Things You Will Need:
- Jingle bells
-glue
-paper plates
-construction paper
-yarn
-rubber bands
-markers
For this activity, your children will make their own jingle bell instruments and identify different shapes and numbers. Start off by asking them to identify the different shapes they know. Once they have listed their shapes, ask them about instruments they know. For younger kids, you can begin to help create their own instruments, pointing out the shapes they see within them. For example, if you were to create a jingle bell bracelet, point out how the bracelet comes together to form a circle. You can also count how many jingle bells you use to decorate each instrument. Encourage your kids to be as creative as they want with their instruments and jingle bells. This activity encourages creative expression, as well as number and shape recognition as they explore the exciting sounds the jingle bells come together to create! Younger children get a chance to explore all the noises, and even compare jingle bells; in how the more you have on an instrument, the more noise you can make.
- Pine tree exploration- In this activity, children will explore and recognize various parts of a pine tree, as they get imaginative and create their own art. Pine trees are one of the main trees that get recognized during the holidays and wintertime. A great way to introduce your children to pine trees, or even other plants and their parts. is to incorporate them in a fun activity. During this activity, we encourage you to collect various parts of the pine tree, and have your children come up with ways they can create something out of them.
Pine cones: Ask your children If they know what pine cones are, explain their importance and suggest crafts. This can include pine cone ornaments, or even making their own miniature pine tree with paint. You can also suggest making cute animals with construction paper, felt fabric, and googly eyes.
Leaves (needles): Why does pine trees have needles and not leaves? Why doesn't pine trees change colors like other trees? You can ask these series of questions, and encourage your children to use the needles to make their own creations. Crafts such as needle stamp painting, and a wreath made out of needles are fun suggestions!
-DIY playdoh - For this activity, children will make their very own playdoh!
Things You Will Need:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups salt
-food coloring
- bowl
- measuring cups
Start by having your children carefully measure out all the dry ingredients. Once they have finished, pour them all into a bowl. Measure out one cup of water and add it to your mixture. Before you mix, add your few drops of food coloring. Depending on how bright and vibrant you want the playdoh, we suggest initially adding about 3-4 drops. Mix everything together. Once you have finished, now you can knead and fold in your dough, until you get the consistency you desire. This is a great activity for children, because it's not just fun, but they can help build on their large and small motor skills as they stir, knead and play with the dough. They also develop additional math skills by measuring and counting as they put all their ingredients together.
-Snow doh- Similar to our playdoh, Our snow recipe is also just as fun!
Things You Will Need:
-2 parts cornstarch
-1/2 part oil
-A bowl
In a bowl, have the children combine the ingredients together. Once you have mixed the ingredients together, place the dough on a flat surface, and have the children knead it. The texture should resemble between playdoh and snow. This is a simple recipe, that allows children to explore the texture of the dough and the ingredients. They can have fun kneading, rolling and folding the dough in on itself. Encourage the kids to pick apart the dough, and even compare the different textures to that of our regular playdoh and snow recipe.
-Cotton ball fun- For this activity, children will make their own pictures and practice counting using cotton balls!
Things You Will Need:
-Cotton balls
-markers
-crayons
-construction paper
Depending on the child's age, make a list of numbers. We suggest starting with 1-10. Ask your children to draw one picture for every corresponding cotton ball. For example, placing on cotton ball on one sheet of paper, than two on another and so on. We also suggest having the children form the cotton balls into the shapes of the numbers, then gluing and tracing them. This activity helps with number recognition, as well as orders and creative expression. You children can have fun coming up with different pictures to decorate the cotton balls with.
-Marshmallow exploration - In this activity, children will use marshmallows to make different shapes and pictures!
Things You Will Need:
-Marshmallows
-tooth picks or pipe cleaners
- scissors
-glue
-construction paper
Depending on the age of the children, you can choose to cut and paste the marshmallows on construction paper, and ask them to make a picture out of certain shapes they have. For instance, they can glue the marshmallows into three triangle shapes and make a tree out of them. Another way, is to use the pipe cleaners and attach the marshmallows in the middle to create your shapes. Ask the children what shapes they can make, and then once they have finished, ask them how may marshmallows they used to create those shapes.Younger children can have fun exploring the marshmallows and their texture; squeezing them to see how soft they might be, and even smelling them.