Winter Fun!

Yep, this blog is a little late in coming (it is currently the last day of April and 70 degrees outside).  But, I took the pictures with the intent to blog and I finally found the time to do so!  ;)

Regardless, we had a blast!  It was a full day of fun and some of these activities were repeated throughout the rest of our winter days.

First, we got out our "ice skates," or rather, a couple pieces of wax paper.  This idea, from Toddlers Through Preschool, could be used all year round and was a HUGE hit!  We tried it on every surface area we could think of in the house and probably spent about a half an hour just skating around. 

I even joined in on the fun!  ;)

Then we headed outside for some good old-fashioned fun which included sled-riding, making snowmen, and snowball fights!  But, of course, I had to include this wonderful idea from Rockabye Butterfly - spray-painting the snow!  With a few spray bottles, water, and a few drops of food coloring, the kiddos didn't notice their cold hands anymore (even though I sure did...)!

As we came inside, we brought some of the snow with us so that we could have even more fun painting!








This idea is from Housing a Forest.  Again, just food coloring, a little water, and some paint brushes and we had fun for quite awhile.  She suggested using water color paper so that after all the snow melted there would be a painting but I just used what I had on hand - the kids loved it!  And they thought that it was "magic" how all the colors disappeared after the snow melted.  

We ended the day by making sun catchers.  Check out The Fairy and the Frog for the original idea.  I just grabbed a couple of old containers and a bunch of little nick-nacks I had floating around my craft room.  The kids put whatever they want into the water, stirred it with a paintbrush and then we stuck them in the freezer overnight.  I made ours a little thick so it took 2 days for a complete freeze.  Then we hung them outside and learned how the sun melts ice...even when it is cold outside.  

This was a fun-filled day but we never had any "melt" downs.  lol.  I encourage you to keep some of these ideas on hand for next year - I sure will!