Snowman Playgroup Party (Bouquet Event)

We are in great need of snow so we thought it was appropriate to have a snowman party - we actually got snow (we knew it was an inch thanks to our new Snowman Measuring Sticks) the day after the party! Our preschool playgroup had a lot of fun reading snowman books, singing Frosty the Snowman, having Snowman circle time, doing a couple snowman crafts, having a snowman snack and playing with tubs of sensory snow! Is that enough snowman for you? We had fun and many of our activities would be great for older ages too!
Check out the ideas for a
Snowman Playgroup Event for
Sprouts and Seedlings (toddler/preschool and elementary age)...

Snowman Circle Time
A few moms helped out with circle time this week – books, songs, and snowman learning!

The Stuff

The FUN!

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner Snowballs by Lois Ehlert Frosty the Snowman lyrics (if you don’t know them by heart) White foam circles with Velcro where eyes, nose, mouth, buttons, gloves, boots and hat go Felt pieces for the eyes, nose, mouth, buttons, gloves, boots and hat Blue and white cotton or fluff balls Giant paper snowball

1. Read Snowmen at Night and have a good giggle! 2. Sing Frosty the Snowman! Have the kids pat the rhythm on their legs and practice the song in small sections. Then the kids can march and clap the rhythm as they sing! 3. Build a snowman with white foam circles. Then the kids each add felt pieces for the eyes, nose, mouth, buttons, gloves, boots and hat. 4. Make and discuss patterns using blue and white “snowballs” cotton/fluff balls 5. Pass around a giant paper snowball. Teacher says pass it to someone wearing jeans, a blue shirt, a boy, etc. 6. Read Snowballs by Lois Ehlert and discuss crafts.

Textured Snowman
After reading Snowballs by Lois Ehlert you won’t be able to resist making a textured snowman – it is like the book is begging for you to do a craft!

The Stuff	The FUN!
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert White paper (you can either let the kids trace circles and cut them out or pre-cut) Blue paper Items for texture (corn, beans, popcorn, rice, leaves, sequins, beads, twigs, buttons, etc.) Fabric, ribbon for scarf or hat Glue	1. Read Snowballs by Lois Ehlert before doing this craft. 2. Cut circles if not pre-cut and glue them onto blue paper to make snowman body. 3. Glue items down for texture. Kids can make faces, legs, arms, snow, or just add items over the circles – whatever they want! They can add a hat or scarf. Let dry and display!

Snowman Measuring Stick
This idea is from Pink and Green Mama - a fabulous blog you must check out - you can find directions for the measuring sticks by clicking on her link! Paint stir sticks are turned in to snowmen and then used as rulers to measure the snow or anything else that might need measuring (like Roly Poly’s alligator, Swampy - as seen in pic at bottom)!

 

Snowman Pancakes and Hot Chocolate SNACK

The Stuff	The FUN!
Pancake mix Berries, raisins, oranges, chocolate chips, etc. to decorate snow-pancake Syrup, peanut butter Hot chocolate w/ marshmallows (we had snowman mallows!)	1. Cook a bunch of small circle pancakes and make hot chocolate. 2. Kids create a snowman pancake! Gobble up the pancakes and drink the hot chocolate!

Sensory Snow
Check out my post on "Comparing Sensory Snow Tubs" to see all of the different types of snow we have made recently. The kids had a great time exploring the different types of “snow”!

Check out these cool types of "SNOW"

 

More ideas…

Measuring Swampy with our new ruler!

Another great book! This one explains how snow crystals and snowflakes are formed!

Please BRAINSTORM your ideas/suggestions in the COMMENTS below for the Snowman Playgroup Event!
Happy Crafting
~Sara

Comparing Snow Sensory Tubs

So someone at my house has been obsessed with making different types of snow sensory tubs to see which one is the best (yes, it is me). The kids have loved it though also! We have compared 6 different types of “snow” and I have given you our thoughts below!
 
Enjoy Comparing Snow Sensory Tubs for
Sprouts and Seedlings (toddler/preschool and elementary age)...

Sparkle Snow ~ from Growing a Jeweled Rose

• Need: Cornstarch, Shaving Cream, Shaving Cream, Peppermint Extract, "SnowFlakes" and glitter.
  Everywhere was out of the "SnowFlakes" claiming it was a winter item (although it is still January) so we skipped that ingredient. We also added tin foil for patches of ice. 
• Cost: $3 (w/o "SnowFlakes")
• Review: The mixing of this "snow" is wonderful by itself (a bit messy)! The boys loved the texture and the smell of this snow - a great sensory snow! I can't wait to try this with the "SnowFlakes". Try this one!

Snow Dough ~ from The Imagination Tree

• Need: Cornstarch, Vegetable oil (or baby oil), and Glitter.
   Hornet also added snowflake sequins.
• Cost: $3
• Review: We loved the texture of this "snow" - nice and silky. This was the best mixture for good snowman and snowball making. We ended up adding a bunch of pine cones, pine needles and moss to our batch and had some fun building a winter wonderland! *FAVORITE!
  Update - a year later this batch of snow stayed in great shape. The others were yucky after a couple weeks but this one still is perfectly snowy! I just kept it in a bin with a lid.

Edible Snow (not to really eat, but it could be eaten) ~ from Growing a Jeweled Rose (she calls it Cake Dough)

• Need: Cake Mix (we added marshmallows to build igloos and caves)
• Cost: $1 for each mix (we used 3 mixes and the marshmallows we had)
• Review: The boys liked building with the marshmallows and playing with their animals in this snow. They often had white around their mouths as well but who could blame them. This mix is great for a sensory material but not our favorite "snow".

Real Snow ~ from mother nature :)

• Need: Snow (the real stuff)
• Cost: Free
• Review: It has been cold and we haven't had much snow but I was able to scrape enough up for a bin. At first the boys grouched because it was cold and I began to think making up all of this "fake snow" has made them wimpy. After a minute or two though they were busy having fun and didn't even notice the cold. They were getting bowls of water to melt the snow and were making snowballs. This was a great way to spend time playing with snow when it is extremely cold outside (otherwise I prefer going outside for the real deal)!

Play Dough Snow ~ from Nurture Store

• Need: Cornstarch, Salt, Boiling Water, Cream of Tartar, Veggie Oil, Glitter.
• Cost: $2-3 (depending on what you have on hand)
• Review: This is a great play dough recipe and fun for making tracks in the snow, snowballs, snowmen, and all those other ways kids come up with for playing with it. Roly Poly made tracks with all of his favorite animals since we were working on the "t" sound and talking about tracks in the snow!

Insta-Snow ~ from Hobby Lobby

• Need: Water and Insta-Snow (found in aisle with the mini-trees and models)
• Cost: $12.99 (use a 40% coupon to make it $8)
• Review: I was hesitant to spend the money to buy this and really prefer a homemade option for snow but I splurged since I thought it would make the review complete. Well, it was a hit with the boys and money well spent - this stuff is fun to mix (and non-toxic) and very cool to touch! It just melts through your fingers. We haven't used all of ours (it says it makes 2 gallons). Try it only if you have a coupon!

 
More ideas…Have you made “snow” that you like?...

Please BRAINSTORM your ideas/suggestions in the COMMENTS below for the Comparing Snow Sensory Tubs!
Happy Winter
~Sara