Lesson Plans: "S" is for Snow: Teaching Your Infant/Toddler/Preschooler About Snow

Circle/Quiet Time:

Talk about the different types of weather and seasons. You can use a weather wheel made from card stock and pictures from Hubbardscupboard.org

Have fun showing how snow falls using your fingers to trace a pattern and talking about cold. You can also add information about same and different; all snow flakes are different (show different ones you have cut out) and that all children are different too.

Science Activity:

Sensory Bottles: This is one my youngest daughter's favorite activities. Whenever we go to the Children's Museum she spends a great deal of time "chasing" the floaters in the floor to ceiling sensory tube in the play area. See also fine motor skills.

Instructions: Use an empty 12 oz plastic bottle, such as coke, Gatorade, water. Clean it out and remove the labels. Fill with ¼ cup corn syrup, silver and while glitter and water. I like to glue gun the lid onto the bottle so that I can use it for longer. For a second bottle fill it with ¼ detergent with water. Let you child shake the bottles and talk about which one looks more like snow.

Fine Motor:
Spray your child's activity table with shaving cream and allow them to play in it making swirls and piling it up to make "snow" drifts. For imaginary play add people (I like the Fisher Price Little People).

You can also allow them to play with large ice cubes sliding them around and talk about how ice causes you to slide when you walk on it. For an art variation for the older ones add tongs and paint and allow them to ice paint.

Create your own snowman using play dough.

Gross Motor:

Try playing freeze tag. For the older children you can instruct and supervise the regular game. For younger ones try this variation: allow them to run around, move around, swing arms, march in place, whatever motions they would like and when you say "FREEZE" they have to stop. If you want to add music, treat it a little like musical chairs.

Musical Freeze Tag: Play music and dance around with your child. When you stop the music you both have to freeze. This works best with a remote control.