We have been having so much fun with all of the snow blanketing Connecticut these days.
Yesterday was perfect for making snow creatures. We tried the rolling ball method and found that too difficult for the fours. Then I showed them the shovel method where we made a huge pile of snow and then carved out our creature-who made her way in to being a girl eventually.
The other passion of my students has been sledding. We have a wonderful hill on our playground.
We didn’t supply sleds, so they used their creativity with the help of a fun loving dad and began sledding down on our plastic shovels.
Although this was closely monitored, the handles caused some concern, so we brought out plastic trays.
We brought out three trays and have 16 children, so they are getting an excellent opportunity to practice their self control and patience as they wait for a turn.
It was great fun!
I hope you are getting your students outside every day. We go out twice a day unless it is below 22 degrees. It did take some parent education on the necessity of proper snow clothes including waterproof boots, gloves/mittens and snow pants. It also takes an extra dose of patience as a teacher to help dress and undress 16 children. They are all getting much more independent with all this practice.
Aside from the wonderful learning opportunities, the squeals of delight from the students make it all worth it!
And one more thing…
Allow yourself to have some fun WITH them!
Chloe’s chants of Da-na! Da-na! led to this…
Have you tried cardboard sleds at all? The scouts around here have a yearly challenge. We tried it at our daycare: http://childcentralstation.blogspot.com/2011/02/who-needs-sled.html
ReplyDeleteIt sure was fun! We have also been keeping busy with lots of different snow activities! We average about 200 inches every year, so we've got a seasoned toolbox for snow time fun!