Arctic Archives - Jenny Irvine

So after warnings of blizzard conditions….we did in fact get a “snow day”!! Not quite the storm they projected us to get, but none the less fun for the kids. It has certainly been enough to give those who work outside the home a headache, and those like myself plenty of creative ‘play-time’ with my kids. Being the planner that I am…my prep started as soon as the warnings went out;

*First I stopped at the library (making sure I had plenty of “new” books on hand)
*I planned several Sensory Bin Activities (which also included going to buy new bins at the dollar store!)
*I planned a fun craft for the little guys (check…)
* Homeschool continues as usual yes, even during snowstorms! So we will continue our study of Arctic (with emphasis on Alaska) and of coarse all of our ‘daily’ work too!!

I even completed my “Winter Storm Prep” with a surprise trip to our local Toy/Hobby Shop. (My favorite Mom and Pop Shop around!!) I then let the kids pick a toy using their gift cards from Christmas. I love doing this with them because they get to choose what they want and it costs me nothing (well very little sometimes). I show them how much they have and proceed to walk around the store looking at the price tags with them. I am a firm believer in teaching little ones about money and spending within his/her means (yes, even at 2 and 5 they know what money is). For more on our “Snow Fun” be sure to stay tune as I will be posting all of our Winter Adventures here shortly!!

This Winter we are trying out some new activities in our home. One of which is Ice Skating. Not sure we are ready for the Olympics but we are certainly enjoying our time spent at the rink.

I recently found a post on how to make this cute little “Ice Skating Rink” complete with an ice skater. I of coarse had to do it since it coordinated so well with our new hobby. If you make one…be sure to leave me a comment with a link back to yours so I can check it out!!

Supplies Needed:

White Card-stock
Blue crayon
Blue Water Color, paintbrush, water
Salt
Cotton Balls
Green Construction paper for trees
Glue & Scissors
Choose your Skater
Crayons (for coloring your skater)
Cardboard (optional) we used this as the base and then glued our pond on top for sturdiness

How to;

First color a pond shape onto your white cardstock. Then, cut and glue to your card board for sturdiness. Taking the blue water color paint…paint over your colored drawing. Sprinkle with salt to give your pond a glistening affect.

To create skating marks in the ice while it is still wet take anything pointy but not too sharp (a retracted pen, the end of kids scissors, etc.)

While the pond is drying color your skater, make trees (out of green construction paper), and glue cotton balls around the outside edge of your pond (making snow).

Lastly cut and glue your skater and trees in place (careful to leave a tab on the end of both for folding…this is so they will stand)

Voila…you have your own indoor skating pond!

We have also been busy learning about the Arctic, Polar Bears, and Penguins…so I made these yummy treats last night!!

You Need;
Ice Cream
Ice Cream Sandwich
Whip Cream
Chocolate chips

These were super easy and very yummy!! 1 scoop of ice cream on each plate, cut an ice cream sandwich for ears, form the face using whip cream (as much or little as you would like)…you could also use coconut for fur but my kids won’t eat it. Using the chocolate chips give your new friend some eyes and a nose!!

Boo says…”mmmm…thats good Mommy”!!

Arctic

Snow Day!

Ice Skating, Ice, Ice, & More Ice!!