Snowflakes

The day started with a super fun surprise in the Touch and Feel pool....ICE!!  The kids had lots of fun trying to hold it in their hands and coming up with words like "slippery" and "freezing" to describe how it feels.  We even had a contest to see who could melt it in their hands the fastest.  This made for some really cold fingers for morning circle....but it was well worth it!

Playground was a big hit today.  It was the kids first trip outside since coming back to school from Christmas, so somehow everything seemed brand new!  And....to the kids delight.....under the swings, where water usually puddles, were all the balls....frozen in ice!  The kids went to work immediately trying to crack the ice and free the balls.  It kept them entertained, and cooperatively playing, the whole time.

The book today was The Little Snowflake by Steve Metzger. This story is about a little snowflake who dreams of becoming part of a snowman.  We followed his journey out of the clouds, onto the wings of a goose, and finally landing on a rock.  The children nearby are working to build a snowman, but they don't see the little snowflake on the rock.  When they are finished, they realize that the snowman is missing something.  They use the little snowflake as a twinkle in the snowman's eye....and he is so happy to have a special place!

For our language activity, we contrast things that are little and things that are big.  The kids came up with lots of good ideas to add to the chart.....and we even talked about some different words that can mean the same things.....like tiny and small and huge!

For art today, we divided into stations to complete several activities.  One group did rainbow writing.  The word "snow" was written on a black piece of construction paper in chalk.  The kids had to trace that word, naming each letter as they went.  Then after they selected another color of their choice, they could trace over it again....or attempt to write it on their own.  The second group made hand print snowflakes.  We already learned that each snowflake has six sides....so we had to paint our hands on the paper SIX times.  The kids had fun counting....and painting your hand can be kinda ticklish....so lots of giggles from this group.  The third group learned a fun new song about snowflakes on the iPad.  They all took turns and moved easily from group to group!

Today was a great day.....we can definitely tell that the kids are getting back in a school routine!  Going outside certainly helped get out some energy.....and with tomorrow's weather even warmer....the playground should be ice free!!