The Great Outdoors!

Time for another great theme with Poppins Book Nook- this month we have been exploring The Great Outdoors.

Since it is winter here in New Zealand, I envisioned playing in the snow, making snowmen and maybe even going skiing. However, Mother Nature had other ideas and so far our June has been nice and sunny! I still focused on our winter outdoors theme though, as I came across a beautifully illustrated book called Snowman. This book kept both Lucas and Adam entertained with short sentences, funny ideas and beautiful pictures.

The first idea we got from this book was from the sentence "I'd paint the dottiest snow paintings". We looked at the illustration next to this sentence, and discussed what a snow painting would look like. Lucas saw that there were white dots over a navy painting, and so we set to work creating our own dotty snow painting. We also used cotton balls instead of a paint brush to create a "fluffier" look. Things got messy but the boys enjoyed themselves.



The next thing we did was have a snack- snowmen on a stick! Lucas concentrated on threading marshmallows on a skewer, and also made a pattern of pink,white, pink, white. Then he was able to eat his very own snowman on a stick. This was great as he got to practise fine motor and pattern skills, and he was happy to get a treat at the end of it.



The next snack we had was a bit healthier- snowmen bananas with pretzel arms, craisin buttons, a carrot nose and a sprinkle of coconut for snow.



Since we couldn't get it to snow outside, we made our own snow in a bag. I simply put some shaving foam in a ziploc bag and the boys loved squishing it and making patterns in the bag.





We also had fun experimenting with ice. I froze some plastic monkeys in a container overnight, then let the boys get to work melting the block of ice with warm water and a syringe. This kept Lucas entertained for a good hour!



Even Adam enjoyed watching the monkeys escape, and touching the ice to see that it was cold.



I always love activities that keen both boys entertained and working together.



The last activity we did was to make glue snowmen. I saw this activity over at 123 Homeschool 4 Me and thought it was a great idea.

We made the snowmen out of craft glue and decorated them with stickers, snowflake die cuts and pipe cleaners.



Even Adam made a snowman, although he enjoyed making lines in the glue with a pipe cleaner more than anything!



Then we put them on a baking tray to dry. Originally I did put them in the oven as suggested, but the fumes started to get to me so I thought that air drying would be a safer option.



We had so much fun exploring snow and learning about snowmen! I would love to see how you are inspired by The Great Outdoors this month, so please feel free to link up with us.

Clip art by Melon Headz.

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