Snowstorms or blizzards bring cold temperatures and strong winds. When dangerous snowy winds blow they are called "whiteouts." In these conditions, it is safest to stay home and off the roads. During this Invitation to Create, the children chose a textured stamping tool, used their finger or paintbrush to create a snowstorm. Through this process, the children found their own strategies for using the supplies laid out for them. Hands on projects require tactile skills and create an inviting and fun activity. They each created their own beautiful snowy scene.
For letter Vv practice they made more icicles and we created ice cream cones! They also sorted numbers and letters in their journals. 

Hats and scarves are essential for keeping our heads and necks warm during the winter! 
For review, we talked about all the different types of winter clothing that help keep our bodies warm. The children then cut or tore their choice of colored paper to design their very own winter hats. 
We created simple patterns and used Q-tips to paint our names; great practice for fine motor skills and name recognition!

We finished off the week making B is for bear and b is for butterfly.  They also used stickers to form the letter Bb and made puzzles.  Next week we continue with our Winter in the Woods theme!

We explored pinecones today! Pinecones grow on pine trees and hold the seeds that can grow into new trees. When a pinecone falls to the ground, its seeds scatter into the soil and may sprout, nature’s way of planting new life 
During this Invitation to Create, the children used crumpled paper to represent the bumpy shape and texture of a pinecone. Before we began, we studied an inspiration photo and talked about what we noticed; colors, shapes, and details found in nature. The children painted using green and brown paint and used pipe cleaners to create pine needles. As they worked, they experimented with combining materials and tools to bring their ideas to life.
Open ended art like this encourages children to observe natural patterns, strengthen fine motor skills, and express their creativity in meaningful ways.
For group math, the younger children practiced color recognition by sorting dot stickers onto snowmen, while the older kiddos sorted shapes with buttons. Learning through play makes everything more fun!

Did you know a snowflake always has six sides? Even more amazing, each snowflake is one of a kind, just like our kiddos! For snow to fall, the temperature in the atmosphere must be 32°F or colder.
During this Invitation to Create, the children explored how snowflakes form through folding, cutting, dripping, and painting. They carefully folded coffee filters and practiced cutting to make their own unique snowflake shapes. Cutting can be tricky for little hands, so help was offered whenever they needed it.
We used droppers to drip colorful paint onto coffee filters and watched the colors spread, just like melting snow. The kiddos also used paintbrushes to decorate paper snowflakes, strengthening their fine motor skills while getting creative.
This activity was a fun mix of science, art, and fine motor practice, and every snowflake turned out beautifully, no two the same!

Pine trees can live over 1,000 years old. Pine trees have needles, rather than leaves, that stay of all year long. Pine trees also grow pinecones which help pollinate and produce seeds. Today they made a pine tree lifecycle model. If able they cut out the triangles and I helped them glue/tape to create a 3D pine tree life cycle.  For math skills, they picked a card and built matching trees with counting cubes.
For fine motor skill practice, they created lines in their journals and used dot markers to fill the circles. 

Owls are nocturnal birds that live in various places, such as forests, deserts, mountains and prairies. They can turn their heads 270 degrees. Owls are silent while flying in the air. They each made their own owl using a paper bag, cupcake liners and stickers! 
Finished the week with letter Hh review making Hh is for horse and heart.

Bears search for a good place to hibernate for the winter. Hollowed out trees are favorite denning spots for bears. Some dens will even be used over and over again by different bears. During this Invitation to Create, the kiddos explored different ways to build their own bear den. They planned out and designed a bear habitat. These kinds of projects give children the opportunity to construct with their own ideas, then use their imagination to role-play with their art. 
For fine motor practice they made letter Hh puzzles and cut grass! We played a game today, "How Many in the Den?"  I placed bowls and bear cards on table, they took turns rolling the die, they identified the number on the die.  Then they counted out that many bears and placed in the bowl with matching number of bears on the card.