This isn't what I had intended to post about today. My recent posts make it seem as if we do an organized project every day, and that's certainly not the case. But we did this today, and since I'm a little too tired to write carefully and critically about books tonight, we'll go with snow.I've seen lots of ideas for indoor snow play online, but this was the first time we've tried it. If you're someone who cringes at the thought of big, messy sensory projects, read on! This is actually a breeze to clean up, and the chicks really got into the whole project.
Our Supplies
- A large tray for each child. We found an unused metal roasting tray and the bottom of a plastic 9 x 13 cake carrier in the kitchen cupboards.
- Bowls of very watered-down liquid watercolors.
- Medium and large paintbrushes.
- Small containers of glitter.
- Tools. These included popsicle sticks, spoons, cups, eyedroppers of various sizes, a plastic syringe (medicine dispenser), and some playdough tools.
- Plastic play people (these were an addition made by Bojey).
Here's Bojey mid-play:
One way to gauge the success of a sensory project like this is by looking at how messy and crazy the outcome is. When Ninna walked away from her tray, it looked like this:
She thoroughly enjoyed it.The icing on the cake is that the clean-up for this project is easy, can be entirely done by preschoolers and toddlers, and is actually part of the fun. Each chick took a turn cleaning up her own tray. I brought the trays to the bathroom sink, and the chicks alternated between rinsing off their tools and engaging in the oh-so-satisfying activity of melting snow under warm water. They each happily continued this until everything was rinsed and all the snow was gone.
This project is definitely a keeper. I now realize that snow is a free resource we should be using and repurposing, as ridiculous as that sounds. It's like the backyard is filled with free, easily malleable clay in unlimited amounts.
12 comments:
I'm so glad you tried snow trays! They are always a huge hit in our home! =)
I love the last part of what you said, that's a great way to look at all of natures art supplies!
Love this idea. Your being tired kind of worked to my/our advantage as this idea is great! Since J is has some sensory sensitivity, I wonder how yours reacted to the coldness of the snow? Was it an issue at all?
Oooh--Nature's art supplies--that's a great category in itself.
Nadia--no, it didn't seem to be an issue at all. I asked several times if they wanted to stop or keep playing, and they kept going. They did more scooping and moving around with tools than with their fingers, I think, so that kept them from getting ridiculously cold. I do think the stopping point, which was at about an hour, was because of the cold, but I wouldn't have expected them to play with it for more than an hour or so anyway.
Love it! My kids do this at their daycare (though I've never actually done it here!) What fun!!! <3
LOVE it! I am going to do this today!!!! Jaimie...seriously...you are to darn good! I look forward to your posts every day! You help me be a more fun and involved mama with your great ideas! Thank you!!!
So I just don't understand indoor snow play. I see this blogged around, but Jaimie, do tell me why people bring the snow inside? Outside you have natural light, fresh air, and you can use all of nature's winter elements. With snow suits on, kids can roll around in the snow and get their whole bodies moving in creative snow play. When we come in from our daily outdoor adventures, I can tell you that the last thing I want is more cold in the house! :) E.
I can't say why other people do it--I can only say why we tried it. It's true that kids can roll around in the snow and get their whole bodies involved when playing outside, but I'm not sure why that has to be the only way they can engage with it. I guess it's just like other things--water, for example. Playing IN water, swimming, rafting, etc., is wonderful for kids. But playing with water on a more fine level--pouring, mixing, etc.--is also wonderful for kids.
I have one child in particular who really craves sensory activities, and this is really enjoyable. If I weren't also trying to cook dinner, I would have sat down and done it with them.
In thinking about this right now, I understand that it might be a trendy thing on the mom blogs, but I'd be willing to bet it's an activity older than the blog world. Off to see if I can uncover older examples! :)
OK, this is not really all that old (not like centuries old :), but here's an example in a kids' activity book from 1991--so 20 years ago:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=ZVo_RcAIn2cC&pg=PA23&dq=bringing+snow+inside+to+play&hl=en&ei=tVpETZavIc7pgQfi7cXPAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false
I really think people have probably done this for a very long time though. Now that we've tried it, I think it's such an obvious thing, perhaps more obvious when you don't have 9 million things at your disposal to play with. If I find anything older, I'll put it up here. I'm pretty sure in Little House in the Big Woods, they bring snow inside to make maple candy, which is not the same, but along those lines.
I guess I just feel like it's this thing that's there to play with, so why not engage with it in various ways?
You can engage fine motor skills outside while getting the benefits of winter's natural light and fresh, crisp air. But snow seems different from water because it is so shockingly cold. Maybe because I'm from California and I do spend a good amount of time each day outside in this long cold snowy winter that I just want my inside time to be about warmth and sensory explorations around warmth. Like making snowflakes, something in a winter theme, but doing it will 100% wool felt, which is very warming. But like I said, I'm really out of place up here in the north pole. Perhaps next year I'll fair better in NJ where there's a white winter, but it's shorter and not so cold. I'll let you know then if we're up for indoor snow play. Ha!
I've taken my kids outside to do snow play with paints. After all the bundling up, the actual painting time was a little short for my taste. I'd say one advantage to doing it inside might be the relative warmth of the house -- fingers not going to cold for play as quickly as outside. For the children, it's a great novelty to be allowed to play with snow indoors, and all the toys are indoors instead of needing to be cleaned up from in front of the house. Jaimie, thanks for sharing. I had never heard of this before. I like it. We may have just enough snow outside here to gather up and do some :) ooh mini snowmen — I can picture it now.
We have valley inversions where I live, so the air outdoors is often too full of particulate matter to be safe for the young and old. It seems like we spend 80% off winter under red air alert days. This may be another reason indoor snow play appeals to some of us.
Post a Comment