With snow on the ground and super low temperatures, we have been busy with all kinds of indoor snow activities. This week we have painted snow and even did our spelling in the snow!  One thing I had really been wanting to try was water beads in the snow, and I have to say it was a huge hit!

To start with, I got out our largest sensory tub (a large, under the bed storage container) and put a couple inches of clean, white snow at the bottom.

Then I scattered a several handfuls of colorful water beads across the snow’s top.

Tip for messy sensory play:   I like to place a plastic sheet under any sensory bin containing water (or in this case snow).  I also always put several towels within hand’s reach that the kids can use to wipe up spills.  It really helps contain the mess to a minimum!

The kids could not wait to get started with this winter sensory activity.

I purposely didn’t get anything else out to add to the sensory bin; I wanted to see what they would do on their own. Before I knew it, they had out spoons, bowls, and salad tongs.

I loved watching them scoop up the water beads using the tongs!  (Great for increasing hand strength and coordination needed for writing skills.)

The water beads were so bright and colorful against the white snow, and such a different texture.  I wondered what would happen to the water beads in snow, and was happy to see they retained their unique, slippery, slightly squishy feel.

My 5 and 7 year-old played with the water beads and snow for over an hour.  This winter sensory was definitely a hit. And it is perfect for keeping kids busy when stuck indoors during the winter.

You may also like:

• How to Avoid Cabin Fever This Winter
• Spelling Practice with Water Beads 
• Matching Hearts Valentine Sensory Bin

The post Water Beads in Snow first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

We also love heading out for plenty of snowball fights and sledding.

Not only is sledding fun, but with each giggle and grin as the kids fly down the hills, there’s also an opportunity to talk about the science of sledding.

Yep, you can tell I’m a homeschool mom.  I use every opportunity to teach the kids, including our time outside sledding.  (Shhhhh!  My kids think all moms do this.)

When it comes to winter science activities for kids, sledding provides so many fun ways to learn!

Your child will also love this fizzing snow activity. 

Physics of Sledding 

Sledding is perfect for discussing physics and energy.

As your child sits on their sled at the top of the hill, they have potential energy.

With a push it suddenly changes to kinetic energy as the sled starts to fly down hill.

Sledding is also a wonderful opportunity to talk about Newton’s first law of motion.   This simply states that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted on by an outside force.

This is easy for even very young kids to understand as they sit at the top of the hill, waiting patiently (or not so patiently) and not moving until mom or dad gives them that little push.

I repeated Newton’s law several times for my children as they waited for that push on our last sledding excursion.  By then end of the day they were quoting it right back to me.

Newton’s first law also states an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force.

I asked the kids what they thought could make the sled stop.  They both mentioned that running into something would make it stop.  (One of my son’s favorite ways to stop, no doubt.)

We talked about how the grass poking up from the snow could also affect the sled.

Which brings me to friction.

Sledding is a perfect hands-on opportunity to talk about friction!

They both noticed that the sled stopped faster if it ran over a lot of grass or the rope that was tied to the sled versus just running over the smooth snow.  It wasn’t hard for them to figure out that the snow caused less friction than the grass.

You could easily take it a step further and challenge older kids to try to find ways to further reduce friction on the sled.  

Could rubbing wax on the bottom of the sled help?

Make Sleds Go Faster

After discussing energy and friction, challenge your child to come up with the best position to sit on the sled to make them go the fastest.

Will the sled go faster if you lay down or if you are sitting up?  

The sled will go faster if you cut down on wind resistance by laying down.  Now your child is learning about wind resistance, which is another form of friction that occurs when sledding.

Where does the center of your mass need to be on the sled in order for it to go the fastest?  (In other words, where should the majority of your body be on the sled?)  

What else can they do in order to make the sled go faster?  

The next time you have snow, be sure to check out some of the science of sledding with the kids.  

You may also enjoy these posts:

• Melt the Frozen Heart Science Activity 
• STEM Activities for Kids 
• Snowman Crafts 

The post Science of Sledding first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Wishing for some of that white powdery stuff this winter?  No matter where you live, you can have a bit of snow for some fun sensory play…thanks to magic snow!

While shopping at a book store, I came across packets of Snow Wow.  For less than $2 a packet, I picked up several as gifts for kids we know.

Of course, we had to try it out ourselves!

Just a couple tablespoons, mixed with cold water from our refrigerator (follow package directions for correct amount), made over 2 cups of fluffy snow!

It was amazing!

The boy is a little obsessed with the Titanic right now, and, as you can see in the picture above, his miniature Titanic had to experience the snow, too.  Then the Hot Wheels came out to play.

As for the girl… Elsa and Anna from Frozen were soon walking in a winter wonderland.  (Sorry, though, Anna and Elsa weren’t able to use it to build a snowman.)

And, lest you think this stuff is just for the little ones….

Grandma couldn’t keep her hands out of it!

Looking for a unique stocking stuffer idea, or just something to entertain the troops over break?

There are several brands of “magic snow” available.  And while I couldn’t find the brand I bought on Amazon, they do have something that sounds just like it called Insta-Snow.  With just a little bit of water, you can have your own fluffy snow to play with, too!

(I’ve also heard that this is very similar to what they put inside disposable diapers….  So if you have a few spare on hand, you may want to rip open a few, add water, and see what happens.)

This was not a sponsored post…  We just had so much fun with this stuff that I wanted to share it with all of you!

Have you ever played with magic snow?  We are always looking for new ways to enjoy our sensory bins, I’d love to hear what you’ve done with it!

The post Magic Snow: Sensory Fun for Everyone! first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Before you know it, the kids will be home for winter break.  Sure, the first few days they’ll be happy playing with toys and just hanging out, but what happens when they get bored?  How will you help the kids avoid cabin fever this winter?

How to Avoid Cabin Fever in Kids

Plan an indoor camp-out with the kids, complete with s’mores!

Have a few jingle bells on hand?  Build this cute indoor obstacle course with a Christmas twist!

Use a ball of yarn to weave your own spider web maze for the kids to crawl under and through.  (Older kids will love creating their own web!)

Make craft stick catapults and see how far you can fling mini-marshmallows or paper wads.

Grab the recycling box and check out the junk drawer to make your own invention box!  (The kids may just learn something in the process!)

Raid the sock drawers and have an indoor snowball fight that will leave them giggling.

Make snow!  This simple taste-safe cloud dough looks like snow, without freezing little fingers.

How about a STEM activity?  Can your kids build a plastic cup pyramid without touching the cups?

Science is always a hit with kids!  There are tons of winter science experiments kids can try using ingredients you probably already have at home.

Break out the board games, or even better, let older kids design their own board game for the family to play.  (Check out these great math games and sneak in a little learning, too!)

Gather up your “treasure,” hide it, and send the kids on a scavenger hunt to find it.

Challenge your kids to make Styrofoam structures.

Turn on the tunes and have a dance party!

Try your hands at straw weaving and make colorful bracelets to wear.

Grab a stack of sheets/blankets and build a blanket fort.

Have a bunch of large boxes left from the holidays?  Make a cardboard box castle or fort.

Host your very own candy cane hunt.

Hand the kids some dry-erase markers and let them decorate the windows.  (This is always a hit here!)

Kids love science.  Make fizzing snow for tons of fun indoors or out.

Pop some popcorn, grab a blanket, and snuggle up to watch the movie of your kid’s choice.

Still looking for ways to avoid cabin fever this winter?

• Find over 30 awesome STEM activities in my ebook Up.
• Try out a few Christmas crafts and activities to do together.
• Get out the Nerf guns for math fact practice.

The post Ways to Avoid Cabin Fever over Winter Break first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

This week we had our 12th snow day of the school year.  Since so many of those snow days have occurred on days where it has been too frigid to go outside to play in the snow, we’ve been finding ways to have a little fun with snow inside.  At least it’s one way to avoid cabin fever this winter.

This time around, instead of just bringing the snow indoors to play, we got a bit creative and did Snow Painting!

I set up 2 stations for our snow painting.  The kindergartner asked to paint in the bathroom sink, which really made clean up a breeze!  I filled up a couple buckets of snow and dumped them into the sink, pressing them down a bit to make them more flat.

For paint I added several drops of food coloring to 3 different containers of water, stirring them to mix each color well.

In no time she was creating a masterpiece!

The preschooler asked to paint at the table.  I pulled out a large cake pan and filled it with snow, pressing it flat at the top.  I used one of our ice pop molds to hold his paint — a great use for those molds when it’s too cold for icy treats.

Along with his paintbrush I gave him a baster to add color to the snow.  It took a little while, but soon he was squeezing it to pick up his paint and add it carefully to his creation.  (Okay, so he filled the baster up and squeezed it all over the snow, laughing all the while, but he had fun while building those hand muscles!)

As the kids created their artwork, we realized something.  It looked a lot like snow cones!  So, as a special treat, we made snow cones with some of the snow that was piled on our back picnic table.  No crushing up of ice required!  We just added a scoop of snow and a bit of snow cone flavoring and enjoyed!

Painting Snow is a simple way to help kids avoid cabin fever this winter.  

For more ideas:

• Ways to Avoid Cabin Fever  — Over 20 fun ways to keep kids busy this winter.
• Fizzy Snow Science Experiment  — Kids love making things bubble and fizz.
• Melting Snowman STEM Activity  — A great use for those packing peanuts.

The post Painting Snow first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Okay, I’m just going to say it:  I am done with single digit temperatures!  (And the windchills below zero.)

With the temperatures down so low, we decided to do a couple experiments with freezing water.  Winter science is a great way to avoid cabin fever!

Winter Science Experiments

For our first experiment we carefully measured out 1 cup of water into 3 separate containers.

We placed one container in the refrigerator.  (Sometimes the kids’ piddly amounts of water will freeze if they put their cup towards the back, so we wanted to test this out.)

We put another container in the freezer, and we stuck one container outside on the porch.

The I asked the kids which container would freeze the fastest.  Knowing how cold it is outside right now, with below zero windchill factors, they went with the one outside.  Smart kids!

We checked our containers every 10-15 minutes.

After an hour, the water in the refrigerator was very cold, but not frozen.

The one on the porch was almost completely solid; the one in the freezer had a few more water bubbles in it.

Since the windchill is really the factor right now, we did one more experiment.

I got out 2 old kitchen washcloths and got them wet.

We put one wet washcloth in the freezer and hung one over the porch rail outside.

Within 5 minutes the one on the porch was frozen!  

The kids were fascinated by how it held the shape of the rail it had been hanging on.  The one in the freezer was not frozen yet.

By then this mommy was finished with going outside to check on our winter experiments; it was time for hot chocolate for everyone!

For more fun experiments:

• Melting Snowman STEM Activity
• Fizzing Snow
• Fun, Foamy Elephant Toothpaste
• Amazing Rising Water 
• Teach about the Power of Air with This Simple Activity 

The post 2 Simple Winter Experiments first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.