It didn’t matter that is was 72 degrees for Texas Snow Week at Worley Academy because we have BIG imaginations and we had LOTS of fun! The only problem was the week was to short for ALL the things I had planned. But it was still a bunch of fun and I have a pretty good lesson plan ready for next winter. Since Isaiah is sporting a 103.7 fever today I decided to add a few more fun things into this lesson that he could do easily. That and the fact that it’s actually cool and windy outside made it a perfect day to continue the FUN!
I started this adventure off last week with snowman pancakes:
Pancakes made with coconut flour, turkey bacon and Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I did add marshmallow snowballs on the bottom of Isaiah’s.
We had a lot of fun making snowmen out of beans and cotton balls.
It’s funny to watch how differently they approach new things.
Samuel wanted his snowman to have a cotton ball head and 6 (not three) buttons.
Isaiah’s snowman has a third eye but no nose or mouth.
I hung the snowmen on their bathroom mirrors.
Yes, I’ve already started decorating for our Valentine theme that starts next week.
We also have this guy hanging around.
Then we decided to get a little messy and made Snowman handprints pictures.
Isaiah cracked up with the cutest little giggle when I tickled his hand while painting the white paint on!
He did a great job not smearing the paint all over the paper. I know he was tempted!
Then he wanted to chase me with his white paint covered hand!
I did a little finishing work based on the Poem “5 Little Snowmen.”
Since we were already messy, we added the feet too! What awesome treasures these will be as they grow! Isaiah and Samuel both cracked up when I painted their feet.
Cute feetie snow people.
I pulled all my creative juices together to make a super-duper fun snow lunch.
I made a banana and blueberry snowman with chow mein noodle arms and a pepperoni snowman.
I made Mr. Cheeseman to hand out the snowflake crackers.
Then spelled SNOW out of alphabet pretzels and put it all on a snowflake plate.
We listened to songs about snow on Pandora while we did all the snowfun stuff. We ended the night with Daddy reading them Snowflake Bentley in their new fort.
I had several people ask me if do theme weeks in addition to our regular work and the answer is yes. It’s really not that hard to fit it into our cirriculum, it just takes some planning and organizing. I find MOST of my stuff on Pinterest which is fun for me. Samuel’s spelling words this week were: boots, chilly, coats, gloves, hats, season, snow, snowflakes & winter. The theme usually takes the place of reading and art time, we still complete all our other subjects. We really do a lot more than we need to in a day, but it’s all fun so the time flies by.
On Day Two we:
Had snowman english muffins for breakfast.
They are pretty cute aren’t they?
We decided to head outside for a mini winter scavenger hunt and filled our bowls with things that remind us of winter to make frozen sun catcher. The boys picked red berries, pine cones, pine needles, an assortment of leaves and flowers. The colors really came together and looked so pretty.
**We could FINALLY put these outside today. I have no idea how cold it actually was because black van is the only one who shares that information with me and I haven’t been with him today.
Adding water to the treasures found in nature and getting the winter sun catchers ready to freeze.
We added a ribbon to hang them on the tree the next cool (below 80′s) day we have!
I didn’t quite think the ribbon placement through!
They are beautiful, aren’t they?
I love the addition of the red berries. Only in Texas are yellow roses winter flowers.
One thing our Snow Week needed….was SNOW! So we decorated the school room with snow flakes and watched them fly and fall off the fan.
Figuring out the best way to cut the papers to make the prettiest snowflakes.
South Texas SNOW! While listening to “Let is Snow” on Pandora. Isaiah cut his to look like two angels.
We acted out Frosty the Snowman on the flannel board while Samuel sang the song, over and over and over and over….Isaiah finally said, “Can you please stop that Samuel it’s really annoying.” He learned that STRAIGHT from Samuel!
Isaiah loves the flannel board. It’s worth the effort to make them for him.
Then we played with the magnetic dress up dolls and dressed them for winter. (Even if it is in the 80′s)
This is another project I didn’t think through completely. I didn’t use strong enough magnets or put them in the right place. I would be better off using ticky tack.
We made some super fun snowman tortilla pizzas for dinner.
Samuel is very offended by melted cheese so his snowman lacking in the “snow.”
I added an extra special surprise and made them melting snowmen for dessert when Noah was getting them ready for bed.
I think they look more like puppies…
Dessert is a very rare occasion in this house, so they were super excited.
Samuel came prepared for the freeze.
MMMMMMM more chocolate please!
Samuel really enjoyed reading the information on snowflakes from this site after we reread Snowflake Bentley. http://snowflakebentley.com/ For him, the more details the better. Isaiah just wanted to play with his Lego men.
On Day Three We:
Of course we had to watch Frosty the Snowman!
We started a really cool experiment with Borax to make crystal snowflakes.
Mix boiling water and 1/3 cup Borax in a pint-sized jar. Attach a shaped pipe cleaner to a string and tie to a pencil at the right length to submerge the pipe cleaner, but not touching the bottom. Crystals will grow on the bottom also.
They turned out so sparkly and pretty. The picture does not do it justice.
Isaiah made the star and Samuel made the figure eight. Samuel was quick to notice that all the crystals are cubes.
They even grew in the bottom of the jar. So pretty!
We pulled out the two train sets and had a winter train rides available to all interested action figures. I bought the city themed nesting boxes a few years ago on clearance and they worked into the play area perfectly.
Samuel was getting all the snow to a small village so the children could have a snowball fight.
Isaiah had a big snowball blocking his track and when he drove through it, it landed on his head.
I have been craving something sweet so it was a no brainer to make these yumtastic paleo snowmen cupcakes. The kids loved them and so did I!
They had fun playing in this snow that Christy gave them while I made dinner. This is so fun, but I stored it with the cover on and it got moldy, so sad! So when YOU make it, don’t be like me and cover it….
This is picture is from Chrismas day the last time Isaiah had a fever.
Don’t worry Lego men! I’ll save you from the snowdrift!
On Day Four We:
Made melted snowmen out of glue. We went outside to collect pine needles and sticks for the arms. They turned out pretty cute.
Isaiah’s silly meted snowman.
Samuel wanted his snowman to have a glitter beard and he had to be round, unlike I Isaiah’s.
I expected them to dry clear and they have since curled up from the heat.
Breaking out in random Christmas songs was not unheard of this week. Neither was getting funny looks as Isaiah sang Jingle Bells while swimming in the pool. I LOVE Texas!
That brings us to this blustery, O.K. not really blustery, but it’s really windy so we can hear it inside and pretend. I decided to have a fun snack of homemade hot chocolate and snowman popcorn cups.
I have to thank my friend Christy for the super-duper fun edible markers. I am having so much fun with them. While we do try to use all natural dyes in our house, I’m allowing myself to use these in small doses on occasion. Those marshmallows are ADORABLE!
Isaiah saying YUMTASTIC!
Samuel does not care for candy canes, marshmallows or popcorn. He’s such a good sport.
After snack we whipped up a batch of “snow paint’ (1 cup salt, 1 cup flour, 1 cup water) and made some art projects. Samuel had the great idea to add food coloring and some essential oils and this made a fantastic sensory project. It was REALLY messy which translates to REALLY happy boys.
Ooooey gooey mess.
Adding food coloring and orange essential oil.
Adding snow paint on top of his landscape picture from another day.
They turned out pretty cool didn’t they?
Samuel’s symmetrical picture with no name.
Samuel also made me a new diamond ring to go with the superhero bracelet he made me with sonar power out of puzzibits.
Samuel Captain Color was in need of super color power so we made some rainbow snowflakes out of coffee filters. I found these cute, scented stampers in the dollar section at Michael’s and used them for stocking stuffers. Best purchase EVER!
Isaiah was frustrated it wouldn’t go through all the layers of the folded filter.
Samuel was strategizing his pattern.
They look pretty in the window. We even turned the wipes we used to clean up the table into snowflakes! Pretty frugal, huh?
A Winter Wonderland.
No two snowflakes are exactly alike.
We moved on to lunch time where they used their cutting skills to make baked snowflake tortillas sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. (brush on melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, Bake@ 350 for 5-7 min.) I wanted one of these so badly.
Cutting the tortillas with kid scissors is no easy task!
Ready for the oven.
We paired it with flavored snowball drinks. I have fond memories when ever I pull out the snow cone maker. When I was pregnant with Samuel I craved snow cones like crazy. My friend Laurie gave me this wonderful kitchen gadget and I used it almost everyday…several times! She has since moved to West Virginia where she gets to enjoy real snow!
I reused the snowman popcorn cups.
Samuel liked his cinnamon tortilla, Isaiah was not a fan.
Before Isaiah’s came off his ibuprofen high, we made glittery slime. This stuff is so awesome! I used this recipe: http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2012/08/slime-baskets-messy-bath-play.html
I made this contraption to pour the 2 cups of glue in my bowl. If you’re like me, waiting for five 4 ounce bottles of glue to pour in a bowl makes you a little nuttier than you already are.
My homemade glue bottle holder.
I was able to load the dishwasher while this handy-dandy contraption holding the glue for me!
Mixing the glue with the water in one bowl, and the borax with water in another bowl.
When you mix the two bowls together the transformation starts happening immediately. The boys where very intrigued.
Isaiah kept wanting to add MORE glitter!
After 2 hours I finally had to tell them to take a break from the slime for rest time. I can see this is going to be another great tool to keep them busy when I’m making dinner! You can NEVER have enough dinner prep time distractions!
It feels so silky.
Can I have some play dough tools? Why yes, yes you can.
So squishy and it makes fun sound
Samuel figured out how to make a pocket to blow bubbles into the slime.
He kept finding ways to make them bigger and bigger.
Isaiah couldn’t quite figure out and Samuel was NOT touching his germ filled straw for anything!
He decided to bury his hand instead.
Isaiah crashed after this and was ready for a nap. He was insistent he was going to sleep with his slime…uhmmm…NO! The boys are sad Texas snow week is over, but they have no idea what other fun things I already have planned for next week….please feel better little zoodle!!
Here are some of the books we read this week:
Looks like you guys had so much fun! We’ve had a few days of snow here, but it’s always gone by the afternoon. Nanna Gail sent us a snowball maker scoop, but not sure we’ll be able to use it this year. Glad you were able to experience your own snow! Great stuff, Deb!