Niamh Kennedy
Fun Winter-themed Activities: Snow Inquiry and Sensory Snow Making
The activity was used during our Winter theme. We used an Inquiry Based Learning approach to talk about snow, where it comes from, how, why, when, and where. a general brainstorming of questions to generate curiosity (in our region in Spain, snow is not seen very often). We then used the presentation to show a short thought-provoking video to generate more questions, and finally did a sorting activity of solids and liquids.
To conclude, the students did a sensory activity using bicarbonate of soda and hair conditioner to make artificial snow. They loved getting their hands messy and mixing it up. Use 2 parts bicarbonate to 1 part hair conditioner - it creates a wonderful texture, smells nice, and leaves little hands feeling soft. This is not edible, so be aware if your little ones are still prone to exploring the environment with their mouth!
I'm attaching some photos of an activity used in my ESL early learners class (3-4 year olds).