Here are a few tips before you begin:

• Be prepared for a mess.
• Cover your work area with newspaper or a drop cloth.
• Use your kitchen or a tiled area to make cleanup less stressful.
• Have your child wear a smock or an old t-shirt to protect her clothes.
• Remember your own childhood and relish the FUN!

Snow Art

1. Spray shaving cream on a table or placemat.
2. Let your child finger-paint with the shaving cream.
3. When your child has completed a design, press a piece of dark construction paper over their shaving cream masterpiece.
4. The result is a snowy scene!

*Children should have adult supervision throughout all activities.

What you need:

• Sheets of colored paper or craft foam
• Ribbon or small adhesive magnets
• Small photo(s) of your family or child
• Glue stick
• Child-safe scissors
• Washable markers
• Pencil
• Single hole punch
• Decorative “winter” craft accessories of your choice

What to do:

• Use a pencil to trace your child’s hand on a sheet of paper or craft foam. Trace each finger individually or around their four fingers together and thumb separately to make a mitten shape.

•  Carefully cut out the hand or mitten shape, and then trim your photo to fit in the “palm” of the cutout. Glue the photo in place.

•  Here’s the fun part! Encourage your little one to get creative with washable markers and “winter” craft accessories to add their own decorative touch!

•  When your child is happy with their masterpiece, either punch a hole in the top and tie a ribbon through it for hanging or attach small adhesive magnets to the back for hanging on the refrigerator.

*An adult should oversee all activities.  Activities may not be appropriate for all ages.

Like a scavenger hunt, create clues that will send the treasure hunters from one hint to the next, eventually ending at the “buried” treasure! Have fun and be creative when writing your clues—use riddles or rhymes—but don’t make them too hard for young children to figure out quickly.

Once you’ve created your clues, set up your landmarks for the treasure hunt. You could use stuffed animals and pretend they’re “wild dingos,” build a totem pole out of empty boxes or fill a small kiddie pool with sand (outside, of course) and encourage the children to dig for their next hint. The possibilities are endless! Be sure to set boundaries, and keep all landmarks and treasure chest within your home or backyard where you can easily supervise.

Cardboard treasure chests can be found in most party stores, but if you’re feeling adventurous, you could make one using a few supplies from your local craft store.

Ingredients (for one snowman):

• 3 Thick slices of banana

• 1 Pretzel stick (broken in half)

• 1 Apple wedge

• Several mini chocolate chips or small raisins

On a plate, line up the banana pieces to build the body of your snowman. Add one half of the pretzel stick to each side of the second banana slice for arms.  Place the mini chocolate chips or raisins for eyes, a nose and buttons, then top off your snowman with an apple wedge hat!

Get creative with other pieces of fruits and veggies and decorate your snowman with a scarf, mittens and even boots!

*An adult should oversee all recipes and activities.  Recipes and activities may not be appropriate for all ages.

Be sure to encourage creativity and imagination when it is time to decorate! Festively colored frostings, sparkly sanding sugars, pre-cut fondant in holiday shapes (or make your own), gumdrops and more are perfect for little fingers, and make for wonderful holiday cookie decorations. Don’t forget to taste test your creations! Giving and sharing provide a feeling of joy that you can reinforce by having your children deliver a plate of cookies to a neighbor or the local senior center.

Stick to simple board books with one picture per page and contrasting colors for the youngest readers (Infant to One Year). Make exaggerated faces to express emotion, change your voice, describe everything and point to the items on each page as you make your way through the book. Watch your child for clues as to what part of the book is his/her favorite.

As children grow, so can their stories. Progressively move to longer books and allow your child to interact by pointing to items, turning the pages and even reading some themselves, if developmentally appropriate. Continue to make faces and change your voice for characters or make sounds for objects and animals. If they’re still learning to sound out words, help them along by annunciating sounds in a normal tone and prompting them to repeat after you.

Together, you and your child can learn, laugh and create fond memories as you beat the winter blues, book after book.

Some great winter books to check out: Biscuit’s Snowy Day by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, Welcome Winter by Jill Ackerman, Winter Friends by Carl R. Sams and Jean Stoick and Winter by Gerda Muller.

• Check local Web sites and activity guides for places you can hike, ski, sled, ice skate or snowshoe.
• Romp in the snow and enjoy an exciting snowball fight.
• If it’s too cold to be outdoors, consider indoor activities such as swimming, karate and dance.
• Limit TV, video game and computer time to encourage your children to get active.
• Set a good example. If you’re telling your children to get out and play, make sure you do, too!

Bring the ‘snow’ and fun indoors while your children work on their fine motor and counting skills!

Materials

• 12 cotton balls per child
• 1 marker
• 1 egg carton per child

Instructions

• Label each egg carton cup 1 through 12.
• Hide the cotton balls around the room (12 cotton balls per child).
• Have the children walk around the room, looking for the hidden ‘snowballs’.
• Encourage each child to put the ‘snowballs’ in order when they find them (1 through 12).
• Once all the ‘snowballs’ have been found, count them together!

Materials:

• Clear dishwashing liquid
• Pre-mixed tempera paints in a variety of colors
• Aluminum foil muffin pan
• Paint brushes

*Children should have adult supervision throughout this activity.

Directions:

1. An adult should mix about 1 Tbsp. of dishwashing liquid with 1/2 Tbsp. of paint. The mixture should have a creamy consistency, like house paint.
2. Pour various paint colors into the wells of a muffin pan to create a pallet.
3. Children can paint ‘sunny day’ scenes on windows and sliding glass doors. Use a different brush for each color.

TIP: Keep paint away from windowsills and woodwork. To remove the artwork, or to fix a mistake, wipe with a moist paper towel.

TIPS:

• When using glue with young children:  Pour the glue into a shallow container (egg cartons are great for this!) and allow your child to use a paintbrush to apply the glue to a surface.
• Be prepared for messes.
• Cover your work areas with newspaper.
• Use your kitchen or a tiled area to make clean-up less stressful.
• Put your child in a smock or an old t-shirt to avoid costly messes.
• Remember your own childhood and relish the FUN!

Icicle Painting

1. Freeze a tray of ice cubes with a popsicle stick in each cube.
2. Cover a table with newspaper.
3. Use either watercolor paper or wax paper as your surface.
4. Let your child rub their icicles across the surface.
5. Let your child sprinkle dry paint over their icicle painting.
6. Watch your child enjoy the art that appears.
7. If you actually have icicles, your children can use them instead of ice cubes.  Make sure they wear their mittens for this project.

Snow Painting

1. Accumulate a few inches of snow.
2. Prepare paint (watercolor, tempera, or food coloring) in containers for outdoor use.
3. Bring the paint, paintbrushes, and children outside.
4. Let your children paint the snow freestyle.
5. Build a snowman and paint him too!

Snow “Spritzing”

1. Accumulate a few inches of snow.
2. Fill empty squeeze bottles with a combination of water and food coloring.
3. Bring the spray bottles and children outside, and let the “spritzing” begin!

Snow Art

1. Spray shaving cream on a table or placemat.
2. Let your child finger-paint with the shaving cream.
3. When your child has completed a design, press a piece of dark construction paper over it.
4. The result is a snowy scene!

Snow Balls

1. Prepare a workspace with construction paper, markers, glue, cotton balls and scraps of paper or fabric.
2. Ask your child to draw a winter hat or mittens on his/her construction paper.
3. Let your child warm the picture up with cotton balls and fabric or paper scraps.

*Children should have adult supervision throughout all activities.