Play in the Snow! *indoors edition*

It’s the peak of the winter season and you know what that means… SNOW! And lots of it!

Embrace this month’s abundance of powder with some of these simple activities your kiddos are sure to love (while staying warm indoors)!

Painting + Color Mixing in Snow – art + science with watercolors!

• Painting in Snow
  
  What you’ll need: watercolor palettes, paint brushes, snow, large rectangular bucket or bin
  
  What to do: Fill a rectangular bucket or bin with snow from outside. Offer your kiddo the fresh snow bin with some watercolor palettes and paint brushes and let your kiddo paint the snow!

• Color Mixing in Snow
  
  What you’ll need: liquid watercolors/food coloring (or dried out markers soaked in water work too!), cups + scoops, snow, rectangular bin
  
  What to do: Fill a rectangular bucket or bin with snow from outside. Fill up cups of water with a few drops of liquid watercolor or food coloring, add spoons for scooping and let your kiddo mix colors!

Scooping + Building with Snow – wintertime *sandbox vibes*

What you’ll need: scooping toys, snow, large rectangular bucket or bin

What to do: Fill a rectangular bucket or bin with snow from outside. Gather various toys from around the house to use for scooping, dumping, and exploring in snow.

Some suggested toys and tools to gather include:

• sand castle molds and shovels

• nesting stacking cups

• plastic utensils and discovery tools (e.g., Handy Scoopers)

• construction vehicles

• cookie cutters

Invitation to Create: Miniture Snowmen

What you’ll need: sticks, baby carrots, rocks or buttons, fabric or felt strips (or mini doll house clothing if you have it!), snow, large rectangular bin  

What to do: Fill a rectangular bucket or bin with snow from outside. Gather various items to use for snowman building; suggestions include: sticks, baby carrots, rocks or buttons, fabric or felt strips, etc. Then, invite your child to build a snowman by forming snowballs, stacking them on top of each other and adding personal detail with the provided items!

Catching Snowflakes – get outside for some fresh air (if only for a moment!)

What you’ll need: black or dark colored paper 

What to do: When snow flurries start to fall the next time it snows, bundle up and catch some snowflakes together! All you need is a black or dark colored sheet of paper; hold it out horizontally and wait for some snowflakes to fall onto the page to admire!

For added fun, catch some snowflakes on your tongue and sing:

If all the snowflakes
Were candy bars and milkshakes
Oh, what a snow that would be

Standing outside with my mouth open wide
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah

If all the snowflakes
Were candy bars and milkshakes
Oh, what a snow that would be!

Enjoy!