Activities - 01/01/2002

Baby, It's Cold Outside!
Warm up with these activities for the New Year!

MITTENS

Thumbs in the thumb place.
    (Stretch out thumbs.)
Fingers all together.
    (Put fingers together.)
This is the rhyme
We say in mitten weather.
When it is cold
    (Wrap arms around self.)
It does not matter whether
Mittens are wool
    (Hold out left hand.)
Or made of finest leather.
    (Hold out right hand.)

MITTEN MATCH

Cut mittens of like color out of construction paper. Write uppercase letters on some of the mittens and lowercase letters on others. Children take clothespins and clip mittens with matching capital and small letters together.

You can also tie a string between two chairs so children can "hang" the mittens on the line. *Adapt this game for matching numerals and number words, pictures and beginning sounds, antonyms, and other skills you are working on.

MITTEN ICE MILK
(You have to wear your mittens when you make this!)
Whole milk
Sugar
Chocolate syrup
Crushed ice
Salt
Heavy duty zip bags (sandwich and gallon size)

Each child takes a sandwich bag and pours in 1 cup milk, 1 heaping spoonful of sugar, and a squirt of chocolate syrup.

Zip shut. Insert this bag in a larger bag. Put in two handfuls of crushed ice and sprinkle with salt. Zip shut.

Children toss the bags with their mittens on for 5-10 minutes until it freezes.

(Usually they get bored before it gets firm, so we just call it a "mitten milk shake" and drink it with a straw!)

* To make vanilla ice milk, omit the chocolate syrup and use 2 spoonfuls of sugar and several drops of vanilla.

GLORIOUS GLOVES

(I don't know who will enjoy these more - you or the children!)

You will need an inexpensive pair of cloth work gloves and two yards each of red, yellow, blue, green, and purple ribbon.

Cut the ribbon in half. Stitch a different ribbon to the tip of each finger on the gloves.

Put the gloves on and do a "hand dance" by moving your hands in circles, arches, up-down, and all around to music.

Children mirror your motions with their own hands. Choose different children to wear the gloves and be the leader as their friends follow along.