SNOWFLAKES AND WINTER THEME GAMES AND BOOKS

SNOWFLAKE ART:

For a pretty snowflake pattern I used a doily on top of a foam snowflake.  I gave each child a blue and white snowflake along with a doily for each.  (sorry for the glare on the bottom of the pictures, still trying to figure out the camera!)

 So the kids could experience two different kinds of painting I used two different kinds of paint... after placing the doily on the snowflake they sponge painted white craft paint over the doily in up and down motions covering the entire surface.  For the white snowflake they used a blue dot painter and also painted in an up and down motion all over the doily.

 When they were done and pulled up the doily a great snowflake type pattern appeared!  The thicker craft paint worked better as you can see below.  The blue paint was very light and didn't show up well in a picture.  These foam snowflakes have pre punched holes in them, so we put string through them and the kids were able to take them home and hang them up for a winter decoration.

LEARNING GAMES:

Matching Snowmen

Using colored flannel pieces I created a fun game for the kids.  I cut out 4 white snowmen with felt stick arms, felt carrot noses and drew on their eyes and mouth with a pen.  I then created hats and buttons for each snowman - one yellow, one blue, one red, and one green.  To play the game I mixed up all the colors, handed them to the child and they sorted the colors to created a snowman that had matching hat and buttons!  I also put these out on the flannel board just for fun during center time.  The kids liked creating their snowmen and making up stories.

Snowflake Sorting:
I found a bag of felt snowflakes at the craft store.  They were great to use for sorting.  The kids can sort by color or by shapes.  It is also fun to hide the snowflakes and have the kids hunt for snowflakes.  You can challenge them further by giving them a snowflake of a certain shape or color and they need to find only ones that match their snowflake.

BOOKS:

Some great winter themed books are:
White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt
Word Bird's Winter Words by Jane Belk Moncure
Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester
Three Cheers for Tacky by Helen Lester
No Two Alike by Keith Baker
Snow by Manya Stojic