Activities in the new year

**mumofone** · 21-12-2016, 07:37 PM

When you all return to work in 2017 after all the fun of christmas, what do you all plan to do with your mindees? Are there any particular activities you plan to do or that you think suit January/the beginning of a new year? I find this time of year so easy in that there's always something to do and summer well the weathers good so that makes things easy but January.....!

**Maza** · 21-12-2016, 07:55 PM

https://artfulparent.com/2010/12/a-n...ce-wreath.html

I keep meaning to make one of these and I'm determined to do it this year when it gets colder.

**FussyElmo** · 21-12-2016, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by Maza

https://artfulparent.com/2010/12/a-n...ce-wreath.html

I keep meaning to make one of these and I'm determined to do it this year when it gets colder.

I have seen these done with the lids from roses tins. Something we provably will all have come January

**Maza** · 21-12-2016, 08:10 PM

Pressed enter too soon!

I usually do a bit of work around penguins and polar bears. It is quite easy o tweak it to suit different age groups. There was a stunning penguin documentary on last Christmas which was very child friendly.

I also read 'The Mitten' https://www.amazon.com/Mitten-Jan-Brett/dp/0399231099

I have lots of odd mittens/gloves which I have accumulated over the years and the little ones like matching them - it's a great maths activity. If you get them to peg them onto a little washing line then it is a good physical/fine motor activity too.

Here they all absolutely loved going to the woods with a big stick to break up the ice in the puddles - risk assessed of course!

We talk about different ways of keeping warm and wrap up he dolls/teddies too.

We usually make different types of bird feeders too and talk about why food may be more scarce in this season. x

**sarah707** · 21-12-2016, 08:32 PM

We tend to plan for the seasons so in winter we will talk about the weather - do experiments with ice and snow - find out about cold weather animals - talk about clothes for winter etc...

Keep it real for the children and make sure they have lots of time to explore and play their own games as well - they will need some time to re-settle after the holidays as well so don't over- think things

**Mouse** · 21-12-2016, 08:45 PM

We concentrate on winter, polar bears, penguins, ice etc.

I've got some lovely polar animal resources that I love getting out.

**SYLVIA** · 21-12-2016, 09:30 PM

We do snow and ice in January. We have made the ice decoration before. We also made the coloured ice balls made in balloons which came out really lovely. We do the big bird watch and make feeders. We also have lots of walks in the woods as I find the park equipment so slippery in the winter

**FloraDora** · 21-12-2016, 10:42 PM

Winter theme here too - but I like to keep it real to their experience so go with the flow on weather, I only do snow things if it actually snows. Our cold places smallworld is an all year round geography linked basket rather than winter.
Lots of bird watching and feeding the birds. Making bird cake and fat balls as this the time of year they need it.
I leave containers out in the garden and when it gets really cold and the water collects and freezes we have great time finding ice.
We go for short walks and experience the cold first hand then come home and whizz up hot chocolate. We take cameras and photograph the icy spiders webs and bushes.
Mr frosty pictures, rhymes and songs on frosty days.
Rainy umbrella walks and craft on wet days. Muddy puddle splashing.
I have a simple weather station to measure rain and temperature in the garden, fairies do 'winter' play. We work in the heated greenhouse too and prepare for spring.
The favourite thing mine do is role play 'ice skating' they put on their hats and gloves and wellie socks and slip around the kitchen floor - risk assessed of course!

**loocyloo** · 22-12-2016, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by FloraDora

Winter theme here too - but I like to keep it real to their experience so go with the flow on weather, I only do snow things if it actually snows. Our cold places smallworld is an all year round geography linked basket rather than winter.
Lots of bird watching and feeding the birds. Making bird cake and fat balls as this the time of year they need it.
I leave containers out in the garden and when it gets really cold and the water collects and freezes we have great time finding ice.
We go for short walks and experience the cold first hand then come home and whizz up hot chocolate. We take cameras and photograph the icy spiders webs and bushes.
Mr frosty pictures, rhymes and songs on frosty days.
Rainy umbrella walks and craft on wet days. Muddy puddle splashing.
I have a simple weather station to measure rain and temperature in the garden, fairies do 'winter' play. We work in the heated greenhouse too and prepare for spring.
The favourite thing mine do is role play 'ice skating' they put on their hats and gloves and wellie socks and slip around the kitchen floor - risk assessed of course!

Winter themed here too, and like Floradora, keep it to actual weather. There is a lovely book called 'Williams winter wish' about a little mouse wishing for snow that we read as the mindees do all wish for snow!

**Maza** · 22-12-2016, 09:08 AM

BBC - Home › Factual › Science & Nature › Nature & Environment

Hopefully the link above works...It looks like the penguin documentary that I was talking about might be on again this Christmas eve. It really is lovely for the whole family - our family toddlers dipped in and out of it and the rest of us were hooked throughout. Mumofone I think you mentioned life cycles in a thread ages ago, and this covers that topic really well. We tend to think of life cycles as a Spring time activity with tadpoles and butterflies, and so it is nice to look at other animals too. Great to get the atlases and globes out as well and link it to the topics on penguins and polar bears.

The thing with only doing snow topics when it snows is that I might be waiting for years for it to snow! My nieces and nephews up north have an annual experience of snow, but some of my mindees hadn't experienced snow by the age of 3 or 4. Of course there's nothing like the real thing for learning about snow, but I have such a lovely (and big) collection of books and resources that it would be a shame not to use them.

Another thing that mine love it taking our hot chocolate out with us in a flask. They are all quite fascinated by flasks.

I remember last year Floradora mentioned that when going on a walk they like to spot trees which are still green amongst all the bare ones. I thought that was brilliant and so simple. We do tons of the reverse in Autumn - spotting golden/brown/orange trees and it is nice to do it the other way round.

It's lovely to get to know your own area too - we have a little clump of snowdrops which grow on a patch of land on our street and we always check up on their progress in the early winter. We check for early buds on trees and the daffodil shoots begin to appear very early here (I'm sure I spotted one on Christmas day last year) - again something that we usually associate with Spring. Life cycles again!

I like to read poems to very young children too and there are some lovely ones around based on Winter - not always about snow either.

Topics around the dark are lovely too at this time of year.

**Maza** · 22-12-2016, 04:57 PM

I didn't manage to do the correct link above but it's called:

'Snow Chick - A Penguin's Tale' and is on BBC2 on Christmas Eve at 2.45pm. You must record it. Perfect for a cold Winter tv session. Many of mine would happily watch an appropriate documentary instead of a movie. Kate Winslet does the narration and some of the footage is amazing. We can't wait to watch it again.

**mumofone** · 22-12-2016, 08:54 PM

Thanks everyone, lots of lovely ideas and inspiration.
You're all so fantastic at what you do!

**Maza** · 29-12-2016, 08:24 PM

https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/kids-and-sch...ild-challenge/

This 'Wild Challenge' looks really good. I have done a very similar one with my old mindees when they were 2/3yrs. It would look great on your SEF too. You might need to adapt some of the activities for very little ones, but I like them because they hardly involve any cost and cover so many areas of learning. x

**loocyloo** · 29-12-2016, 10:41 PM

Originally Posted by Maza

https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/kids-and-sch...ild-challenge/

This 'Wild Challenge' looks really good. I have done a very similar one with my old mindees when they were 2/3yrs. It would look great on your SEF too. You might need to adapt some of the activities for very little ones, but I like them because they hardly involve any cost and cover so many areas of learning. x

That looks good. Thank you x

**mumofone** · 30-12-2016, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by Maza

https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/kids-and-sch...ild-challenge/

This 'Wild Challenge' looks really good. I have done a very similar one with my old mindees when they were 2/3yrs. It would look great on your SEF too. You might need to adapt some of the activities for very little ones, but I like them because they hardly involve any cost and cover so many areas of learning. x

Thanks maza, i love things like this, i'll take a look

**FussyElmo** · 27-01-2017, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by Maza

Making a Nature Ice Wreath

I keep meaning to make one of these and I'm determined to do it this year when it gets colder.

Have finally got around to doing this. We have had a lovely hour exploring what happens to ice when it get warm. We made it dance with a hairdryer.
Big discussion of why the leaves were cold but then wet and then warm
Then we did the ice picture to show what happens when water gets cold.
Fingers crossed that it freezes :-D

**Maza** · 27-01-2017, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by FussyElmo

Have finally got around to doing this. We have had a lovely hour exploring what happens to ice when it get warm. We made it dance with a hairdryer.
Big discussion of why the leaves were cold but then wet and then warm
Then we did the ice picture to show what happens when water gets cold.
Fingers crossed that it freezes :-D

Some lovely ideas! I might have to steal those. We still haven't done our ice sculpture. We keep meaning to. I'll put it on my list for this weekend as it is the perfect weather for it.

**FussyElmo** · 27-01-2017, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by Maza

Some lovely ideas! I might have to steal those. We still haven't done our ice sculpture. We keep meaning to. I'll put it on my list for this weekend as it is the perfect weather for it.

That's what motivated me as it soooooooooo cold here today. It even looks cold. Yes I know that sounds ridiculous