Like half the country, we’ve gotten quite a bit of snow this week. Today will be the third day in a row that Annalyn hasn’t had preschool in the morning. Three days in a row after two weeks off for Christmas. In case you’re counting.
Actually, it hasn’t been too bad, thanks to PBS Kids and a couple of extra-long naps that I’m pretty sure are fighting off a cold. After spending the bulk of our extra time on Monday taking down our Christmas decorations, I promised Annalyn that we could go outside on Tuesday to play in the snow.
Of course I promised this before checking the weather forecast and learning that Snow Day 2 was going to be WAY colder than Snow Day 1.
Surely we could bundle up and be fine, though. Right? Right.
Just a month or so ago, I read about a fun snow activity in a parenting magazine. The article said to fill a water bottle and add a few drops of food coloring to let your child “paint” the snow. Annalyn LOVES playing with her water bottle, so this was a perfect fit.
Oh, I felt like such a crafty mom. So clever. So FUN.
That is, until the water bottle leaked all over her hand and in the 15 minutes we spent in the backyard, just about gave her little fingers frostbite. That’s right. I had already said that we’d be going inside in a couple minutes when Annalyn said, “No! My fingers hurt! Mommy!”
Please don’t lecture me. I could not possibly feel worse than I already do.
For the record, she did not actually have frostbite on her fingers. And she was wearing gloves! But her fingers WERE very, very cold.
When I first took off her gloves, I thought for sure I’d broken her for good. Then I remembered that the water she’d been spraying all over the backyard was purple. Thanks to my days as a Camp Fire girl (and a couple First Aid courses), I knew to wash the purple coloring off with lukewarm water.
Don’t worry. She’s back to normal, all appendages working properly and returned to their natural pale color. Thank God! And we will not be playing outside today.
You might be thinking, “Why don’t you do a craft together?”
Well, I’ll tell you. Last week I read a blog post about making snowflakes out of coffee filters and muffin cups. It really couldn’t get any simpler! All you need are coffee filters and/or muffin cups and scissors! SURELY we could manage this project.
Or so I thought.
It turns out that Annalyn’s safety scissors are basically worthless, not even cutting through <i>a coffee filter.</i> So after several frustrating attempts to coach her through not only holding the scissors correctly but then using them to cut something, anything, <i>not my fingers</i>, I decided to move on to Plan B. I told Annalyn to go get her crayons, and she went to town coloring the filters. Then I cut them into snowflakes. My mom was so proud of my art project.
*sigh*
It seems that whether we’re playing in the snow or making our own snow, I am destined to make a mess of it! We need a heat wave around here – or some better ideas for passing the time on a snow day. All I’ve got planned for today (so far) is cleaning my kitchen, making oatmeal cookies and cleaning my kitchen again.
Obviously, I need some ideas. What do you do on a crazy cold snow day?
(And again, no fingers were permanently damaged in the making of this snow day disaster, I promise. Her fingers were not actually frozen, and she really did enjoy painting the snow despite the cold! See photo evidence below…)
How much snow have you gotten in your town? Have you missed work or school? And what are you doing with the extra time at home?
She sure is a cutie and inside crafts are better this time of year. We’re in sunny Florida and enjoying 37 degrees so staying inside too. Stay safe and warm.
We have eight inches…more to come…and it’s Iowa, so we ship off our kids to school unless the school doors are blocked with snow.
We do lots of color/paste projects and play doh!
Your daughter is adorable. Basically perfect : ) I love your blog name. SO creative.
Thank you!
We are among the few places that hasn’t had snow. We had some flurries last night and today we have “too much ice” to go to school. Seems silly to me but I’ll take a lazy day with my three kiddos. Love the idea of the coffee filter snow flakes and the colored snow. Very clever! I hope we get some snow so we can try that.
Oh, I say ice is way worse than snow! At least it always is here. I hope you get some snow to play in soon, though!
Well, we aren’t having a snow day here in northern MN. I don’t think we’ll get one unless we have 3 feet of snow at one time, and even that’s questionable. We’ve had storms of 10+ inches, but no, we head to school the next day!
Today in my preschool class, the kids had a blast with Kool-Aid playdough. Not sure if you’ve done this, but it was a great inside day activity.
Here’s what you need:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
3 tablespoons oil
1 pkg. unsweetened Kool-aid mix
1 cup boiling water
Mix dry ingredients together. Add oil and mix. Pour in 1 cup boiling water. (And it has to be boiling water). I tried to use very hot tap water once, and it DID NOT work. I guess it pays to follow the directions.) Mix together in bowl or by kneading on the table. Playdough MAY be very warm after adding the water, so be careful when giving it to kids. If you let it sit for a couple minutes, it should be cool enough for them to handle. Smells wonderful and its texture is very easy for kids to play with.
Enjoy! I’d love to hear if you try it and how the kids like it! :-)
we had the same recipe when my kids were young and they loved helping to make it as much as they loved playing with it!
This sounds great, Heather! I’ve got it saved for the next time we need an activity. Thank you!
We’ve had an inch or 2, but the chill factor is in the teens! YIKES! This Texas girl is shivering to the bone. As for a snow day idea, when my children were younger they loved to sit in the living room in front of the fire place. They would build with legos and blocks or color pictures while I read aloud to them from novels they were too big to read themselves but with story lines they enjoyed so much that they’d ask me to keep reading.
I know…sounds dorky, but they really did enjoy it. It was such a slow paced family activity that they still talk about.
I think it sounds lovely, not dorky. :)
I liked your wording, “I thought for sure I’d broken her for good.” That’s how I would’ve felt too! Glad she’s OK. :) As for snow day ideas, I’m no help. I love my snow days but that’s because I don’t have to plan anything. ;) Maybe Martha Stewart has some ideas. ;)
Oh, and P.S. I made (a variation of) your chicken nachos last night (and am tonight too, hehe — but that’s because I always have to have things a couple nights in a row if I want to use any fresh ingredients. But they’re good anyway!:)
Yay! Glad you liked them!
Glad Annalyn isn’t scared {physically or emotionally!} from her snow experience. No snow here, but having just come from Iowa, I actually have a store of ideas for snow days. Fort building, snowball ice cream, bowling {we have a kid’s bowling set} and having hot chocolate. I kinda miss the snow… I don’t want it all the time, but for a week it’s be nice.
I like how we usually get snow here in the midwest – a big pile of it, then it goes away. If I lived somewhere further north where snow lingers for months, I’d go nuts!
We’re going on day four tomorrow and they’ve already called it for Friday. Joy!
Ideas…
1. Bring some snow inside and put it in the sink and let her play in it there. Or in a flat storage tub.
2. Make shakers out of empty (dry) water bottles and rice or beans. Be sure to tape them shut and then play games matching rhythms or just dance around the house.
3. Make indoor snowmen. http://houseofhills.org/2010/01/24/indoor-snowmen/
4. Play name that tune. You play a snippet of one of her favorite CDs and see if she can tell you what song it is or continue singing it.
5. We connected as many straws as we could together and then blew bubbles in cups of water. It was fun.
That’s all I’ve got. Good luck!!
Bring the snow inside! YES! I should have thought of that!! But since I didn’t, I’m glad you suggested it! :)
Snow. So jealous. I know you have to find things to do when you are stuck inside and freezing but, snow. WOWZERS. Not that there will be snow in Africa, right?
Yea, my husband planning my trip to Uganda. He is the best. Thanks for stopping by my blog, leaving your comment and helping to make my SITS day wonderful!
We had two snow days off from school this week. But this time I was prepared. After battling cabin fever the last few winters, I decided to amass all kinds of fun activities that we (and especially I) could look forward to doing this month. I am posting at least one winter activity a day this week on my blog. Come join in the fun with us!
These are such cute pictures, Really the painting in the snow sounded like a really neat thing to do. Sorry that it turned out the way it did.
Thanks! I’ll know better next time…