Teriffic Snowballs

On Friday, I was working with one of the toddlers who is moving up to the preschool next week. This past week, he has been spending the mornings in the preschool room and then going back to the toddler room. Unfortunately, their schedules conflict so he hardly had any outside time. It was exciting for the kids on Friday because it had snowed really for the first time this winter. It was the first time they could actually play in the snow so we decided to take him out with the toddlers. We spent an hour out there just playing. At one point, I decided to make a snowball. B got very excited and wanted to carry the snowball around with him the whole time even while he was on the swing. I wanted him to hold on to the swing so I offered to hold the snowball. Then we talked about how the snowball might melt a little bit in my hand. When he was done swinging, we noticed that the snowball had gotten smaller so we added more snow to make it bigger. When it was time to go in, he threw it and watched it fall apart.

Some other things we did in the snow were follow each other’s footprints, brush the snow off all the picnic tables and drive trucks in the snow. I think every toddler and preschooler ate some of the snow too.

Later that afternoon, we went back outside and since there weren’t that many kids, the toddlers and preschoolers were together. B was there and wanted me to make another snowball, but he wanted it bigger this time. I found some clean snow on the roof of one of the houses and made him a snowball which he carried around until his dad got there. While I was making his snowball, the preschoolers became interested in what I was doing and they wanted me to make snowballs for them. After I started making them, I realized they were throwing them at my co teacher. We laughed when she realized I was the one making them. She didn’t mind the snowball fight so we kept making them until it was time to go inside. When B’s dad came, B decided to give his snowball to one of the preschoolers to throw. Once we got inside, S who is one of the new preschoolers I work with said, “You made terrific snowballs!” That’s what she talked about for the rest of the afternoon and even told her dad all about it. I was glad to be apart of something that they really enjoyed and that they finally got some real play time outside.