Category: Activities

Materials
Blue construction paper
Sharpie marker
Cotton balls
Tongs

Directions
Write a numeral on each piece of construction paper.  Place a bowl of cotton balls in front of your child. Invite your child to use the tongs to count out the correct number of cotton balls to match each numeral on the pieces of construction paper.

For toddlers:  Focus on numerals 1 and 2.
For preschoolers:  Provide your child with numerals 1-10.  Once your child has identified the numeral and placed the correct number of cotton balls on the paper, encourage your child to put the papers in numerical order.

• Shaving Cream
• White school glue
• Peppermint extract
• Iridescent glitter 

Directions
Begin by placing the shaving cream and glue in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.  When ready to make the paint, allow glue to sit out on the counter for about ten minutes so the glue will flow more easily.  

Next, mix equal parts of the chilled glue and shaving cream in a bowl.  This is a rough estimate; it’s a bit of a guessing game.  Sprinkle in glitter to make it sparkly. Add a few drops of peppermint extract and mix.  

Invite your child to paint on construction paper using a paint brush or sponge brush. To finish, sprinkle more glitter on top of the wet paint.

Once dry, the creations will be puffy to the touch!  The paint may also be used as a FUN sensory snow experience.  Give your little one a few scoopers and other gadgets, and he will have a great time exploring the shivery, oh so puffy, snow.

Ingredients:
16 oz. box Corn starch (Freeze to make the snow dough extra cold)
Lotion (Refrigerate to make the snow dough extra cold)
Iridescent glitter and peppermint extract (optional)

Directions
Place corn starch in a bowl.  Mix in a few drops of peppermint extract if scent is desired.  Slowly add lotion until the desired consistency is reached (roughly 1/2 of a 20 oz bottle of unscented body lotion purchased from Dollar Tree). You can play with the consistency and add more or less lotion.   More lotion will give you a more oozy dough, and less will give you a more powdery dough.  Both are mold-able and super fun explore! Iridescent glitter will make the snow dough sparkly!

This dough feels amazing!  It is SO SOFT and leaves hands feeling silky smooth after play.  Your child will love to squish, build, stack, and create in the snow dough.

When play time is over simply store the dough in a Ziploc bag or air tight container for future play.  Store it in the refrigerator to keep it extra cold between play times, if desired.  If it dries out at all just add lotion to return the snow dough to the desired consistency.

Materials

Star Mold
Water 
Large plastic tub

Directions

Fill silicone star mold with water and freeze overnight.  Remove star-shaped ice and place in a tub filled with water.  Invite your child to use their hands and explore the star-shaped ice cubes.  How do they feel?  Are they slippery? How many stars can you count? Observe how the ice melts.  What happenes to the ice?

Lesson Extensions

• Place one star-shaped ice cube on a plate and set it outside.  Place a second star-shaped ice cube on a plate and set it inside.  Which one melts faster? Why?
• Using a pipette, squirt warm water onto the

Materials
Variety of festive jingle bells
Tweezers
Empty plastic water bottle
Small basket or container to hold jingle bells

Directions
Using the tweezers, invite your child to pick up the jingle bells, one at a time, and place them in the empty water bottle. Encourage him to count as he drops them into the bottle. It’s fun to shake the bottle once all jingle bells have been dropped in the bottle and the lid has been placed on top.

Materials
Shredded red and green construction paper
Jingle Bells
Large plastic bin

Directions
Place shredded paper in a large bin.  Hide several jingle bells in the shredded paper. Invite your chid to seek and find the bells.  Count how many he can find.

Ingredients
1 bag mini marshmallows
2 tbsp coconut oil, plus additional for mixing
1/2 cup corn starch, plus additional for mixing
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for mixing
Food coloring

Directions
Place marshmallows and coconut oil in a large pot and heat over medium heat. Stir continuously until melted (you can do a microwaved version of this as well). Once melted, pour your marshmallow melt into a mixing bowl and add in corn starch and powdered sugar. Mix with your hands. Note: this will get STICKY! To help with this, coat them in coconut oil. (As the slime cools, invite your child to help with the mixing) Transfer the mixture onto a cornstarch coated surface, and continue to knead and mix until the *right* slime consistency is reached. It should be stretchable and not sticky. Keep adding corn starch, powdered sugar and coconut oil until you feel happy with your texture. Divide the slime into three, and add a few drops of food coloring on each. Knead again to mix the colors. Have fun rolling, stretching and playing with your slime (and it’s ok to take a bite, too!).

Materials
1 12×18 piece of red construction table
white tempera paint
clean sponge
Sharpie marker
Scissors

Directions
Draw a large candy cane shape on the red piece of construction paper using a Sharpie marker. Pour whit tempera paint onto a paper plate. Using the flat edge of a sponge, invite your child to dip the sponge in the white paint and press it across the shape of the candy cane. Continue down the candy cane shape, leaving space between each white stripe. Dry completely. Help your child cut out the candy cane and display. 

Ingredients
White glue
Plain shaving cream
Spoon
Bowl
Paper plate
12×18 Green construction paper
Glitter (optional)