January is always snow much fun in Kinder.These babies start to grow up and we really build on our prior knowledge.
Since behaviors seems to settle in, the learning grows…
and our ability to stretch the activities
and have amazing amounts of meaningful fun occurs.
AKA- We have a blast learning because we can handle it.
Meaningful FUN learning is what makes Kindergarten the BEST grade.
Here is some of our Brrrrillant Winter FUN.
We broke out the fake snow this week and made a sensory snow table.
I love to use this fake snow because, here is Georgia, we rarely have real snow.
We rarely have snow these kids can actually play in.
We use Be Amazing Insta-Snow Jar
in plastic bins.
Although this is cool, we have to add the educational element and
the fun element by adding Arctic and Antarctic toys to the snow bins.
I love the size of these Safari Ltd Arctic TOOB.
{I have larger toys in there too, but I don’t recommend that size.
The smaller figures work better and last longer.}We also played this Arctic Freeze game in small groups.
in plastic bins.Although this is cool, we have to add the educational element and
the fun element by adding Arctic and Antarctic toys to the snow bins.
I love the size of these Safari Ltd Arctic TOOB
.{I have larger toys in there too, but I don’t recommend that size.
The smaller figures work better and last longer.}We also played this Arctic Freeze game in small groups.
This game is educational and fun at the same time. Let me break it down for you.
All the cards contain arctic and antarctic animal true or false questions,
with an answer key provided.
I loved how much my students thought about their answers and whether they should say “true” or “false.” During one conversation, a student said, “The bear’s baby is not called a pup. It is called a cub. Does that mean the answer is true or false?” Anything that gets kids thinking about our topic and answering questions, especially with facts is awesome in my book.
Their favorite part of the game is using the images on unix cubes to be their game pieces.
{Yes, honey bunch. If these little animals on taped on a cube get you interested and invested in learning today… game on!}
This game is a great way to review what your class has learned about winter animals.
We also used the book Mama, Do You Love Me? to expand our conversations about Winter Animals and make connections to literature. And to make this book even more memorable, we had to make our own Eskimos!
to expand our conversations about Winter Animals and make connections to literature. And to make this book even more memorable, we had to make our own Eskimos!
{Do you see the eye lashes my little love added to her Eskimo! I heart it!}
We used the Write Me Three format to write three sentences about the book.
You can see this little lovely using his Write Me Three sheet to write the sentences in his journal.
We made these cutie pie polar bears. {Notice the polar bear has black skin and white fur? I love art that drive the learning home and makes it memorable.}
Of course, we had to connect the theme to math using activities like this one:
And this topic can’t be complete with talking about the fictional book, Tooth Trouble.
We use this book to discuss what is real and not real. This book has a good lesson in it, but it also contains lots of factual information about walruses, like what they eat and how they use their tusks.
Once we read this book, we make a walrus and talk about the beginning, middle, and ending to the book. And we play this FUN reading comprehension game to work on all those comprehension skills we need to master to be fully prepared for first grade.
These activities and ideas can be shared using these units:
I love the fake snow sensory bin and oatmeal polar bear!
Kate
Fun in ECSE
Your students look like they get to have so much fun while they are learning. If only I wanted to move to Georgia, you would make a great Kindergarten teacher for my kids!
Tara
The Math Maniac
Very useful
Very useful
These are awesome! I just found them on Pinterest and believe they'd definitely help with my kindergartner and later, my two year old!
These are awesome! I just found them on Pinterest and believe they'd definitely help with my kindergartner and later, my two year old!