Goodbye Winter. Really. Leave. Now.

I'm just going to put a disclaimer in here that I am well aware that it is almost April and we're celebrating Easter in less than two weeks. Apparently Virginia doesn't agree, and I'm pretty sure that's why my mood has been less than stellar. I know everyone else has probably packed away all of their winter activities, but not us at the Kuda household! We're holding on strong for some more snow...

Yesterday we had more snow fall and stick than I think has happened all year. Seriously. This is what it looked like:

Pathetic

A couple of weeks ago, we were predicted to get a FOOT of snow. How awesome! Mr. Kuda had his shovels ready. Miss E was waiting patiently, ready to shoot outside as soon as she got the go ahead.

Except that it never happened. The picture above is all I have from this winter. Having lived in Boston for five years (and I spent a good portion of my childhood outside of Chicago), this is just down right depressing.

I digress... Anywho, as an homage to the fading winter, or maybe in hopes to bring on one last storm, for Tot School last week, we decided to add some winter theme into the mix. We didn't have a ton of time for structured lessons (because said winter won't leave us alone, neither will sickness!), but of what we did do, I think we were pretty successful!

One of the things Miss E is starting to really get into is matching. I printed out these snowflakes, cut them in half, and she had a blast matching the pairs. We talked about the different colors, and why certain ones may not match (due to different patterns/colors). I love this activity because she can do it herself, but I can also join in the fun.

The first time we did it, I set it up for her, placing one half on the ground,
then giving her another half, one at a time.

Admiring her work. And of course, the horse joined in :)

See? So fun!

Next up was the craft of the week. I have this crafty-rific friend who can basically make up a craft in .5 seconds with no materials except the shirt on her back. We did this activity with a group of kids a month or two ago, and I was waiting for the perfect time to complete it with Miss E... What better way to say goodbye to winter than to make faux snowmen?

Tube sock snowmen! I mean, seriously, how cute are those?! I'm telling you, my friend is a genius. Not only was it a fun craft that lasted all through Mr. C's morning nap, we worked on all sorts of concepts, including counting, big/small, long/short, colors, comparing/contrasting and fine motor skills. Here's the step by step:

Collect any size tube socks. I like longer ones because they make bigger hats while also giving you lots of room to work with. We had two different sizes. Take some batting and stuff it into the sock. You can put some dried beans into the bottom to give it a solid base to balance on, but we didn't have any and it worked out just fine.

Tie the open end in a knot, then fold that end over itself to make a hat for your snowman. It's not needed if you have a big "hat," but it's probably a good idea to use your glue gun (or fabric or craft glue) to secure the edges of the hat down.

Here are the rest of the materials you'll need:
buttons, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, ribbon, and of course,
your glue gun or fabric glue

After you have your hat ready, tie a ribbon around the top third of the puffy part for your snowman's head. After that, decorate to your heart's content!

We used pipe cleaners for the mouth and arms, though I'm sure more crafty folks could get really crazy. Maybe even use real sticks for arms! Crazy, I tell you! We just used buttons for everything else, apart from puffy balls for the top of his hat, and voila! Fun little decorations for you to put up during the winter months. Or in our case, in the spring months, too.

That was pretty much it for Tot School last week. We definitely did our share of reading, too. I'm actually really happy with the outcome with our last ditch effort to say goodbye to winter. Miss E has been asking when Spring will come since we've done this activity, so I think it stuck!

So excited for Tot School next week! I've been planning it for awhile, and it's a perfect way to start off the (almost) first week of Spring. No hints this time!

Until next time,

Mrs. Kuda