Let it snow!
As it doesn't snow in this part of the world, there are kids that have never seen any snow in their life. Why not let your kids get a feel for it by creating your own pretend play snow at home. With only 2 ingredients you can create a cold fluffy snow, which smells nice too.
Age
From 1,5 years
What you need
Corn flour
Lotion
Large plastic container
Play attributes i.e.; small cups, plates, spoons, Christmas items, plastic animals, cookie cutters
Preparation
Put the flour in the fridge for a few hours. Get the rest of your items ready and set up a play area. This could be a messy activity so make sure you remove or cover up all items that you don't want to get dirty.
Play
Put the corn flour in the container and add some of the lotion. Let the kids do the mixing. Continue to add lotion until you are happy with the desired texture. Mixing the ingredients is already part of the play. It is a good sensory activity for the younger kids. The snow feels very fluffy and soft and the kids can mould it with their hands. As the flour has been in the freezer it also feels cold on their hands.
Give your child some control over the activity and let them choose what play attribute they want to add to the play. This is an open ended play activity, there is no right or wrong.
Add-ons for more fun play
The play area can be best cleaned using a cleaning wipe and some hot water mixed with a dishwashing liquid. Clean the rest of the play attributes with hot water and dish soap in the kitchen sink.
Educational
Kids that have not been outside of Thailand might not realise that in some parts of the world it's gets cold and snow appears this time of the year. With a map of the world you can teach them about the continents and their different season's. Things to talk about are the changes in temperature, that each season produces different fruit and veggies, what the animals do when the season's changes, how the plants and flowers change and what impact the season change has on daylight.
Age
From 1,5 years
What you need
Corn flour
Lotion
Large plastic container
Play attributes i.e.; small cups, plates, spoons, Christmas items, plastic animals, cookie cutters
Preparation
Put the flour in the fridge for a few hours. Get the rest of your items ready and set up a play area. This could be a messy activity so make sure you remove or cover up all items that you don't want to get dirty.
Play
Put the corn flour in the container and add some of the lotion. Let the kids do the mixing. Continue to add lotion until you are happy with the desired texture. Mixing the ingredients is already part of the play. It is a good sensory activity for the younger kids. The snow feels very fluffy and soft and the kids can mould it with their hands. As the flour has been in the freezer it also feels cold on their hands.
Give your child some control over the activity and let them choose what play attribute they want to add to the play. This is an open ended play activity, there is no right or wrong.
Add-ons for more fun play
- Once finished playing with the snow you could add some (coloured) water with a pipette and the substance turns into Gloop which guarantees for more fun play.
- Add some small cars and trucks to the play. Pretend to play the trucks have to clean up the snow from the streets. The boys will love it!
- If you have no large plastic container, you could do this activity in the bath tub. Easy clean up is a bonus!
- You can also make play snow by mixing corn flour with shaving cream or baking soda with water.
The play area can be best cleaned using a cleaning wipe and some hot water mixed with a dishwashing liquid. Clean the rest of the play attributes with hot water and dish soap in the kitchen sink.
Educational
Kids that have not been outside of Thailand might not realise that in some parts of the world it's gets cold and snow appears this time of the year. With a map of the world you can teach them about the continents and their different season's. Things to talk about are the changes in temperature, that each season produces different fruit and veggies, what the animals do when the season's changes, how the plants and flowers change and what impact the season change has on daylight.