Worlds of Learning in January

Our "winter" display. 

This was a fun month but we were stuck inside so much, we used up all my plans too quickly. Note to self - January is boring! Keep those kids occupied so they don't drive me crazy!

So our new year started off like most of yours probably did - with news of a big storm coming. So what did we do an hour before the snow was expected to start? Go hiking!


It was a bit chilly but we knew we'd be cooped up, so why not? The most important part of this hike is that Jonah did almost the entire 0.8 miles himself! The only times we picked him up was when he was too engrossed with the rocks to keep walking. And while I'm normally all about stopping and smelling the roses playing with the rocks, there was a storm coming so we really need to keep moving. But seriously, 0.8 miles? What a little hiker!

Then the storm hit and the kids and I were stuck at home while Craig was stuck at work so we did a whole week's worth of activities in those two days. 

Over the month we read Katy and the Big Snow, Zin, Zin, Zin a Violin, Stopping my woods on a Snowy Evening and The Snow Children. I mixed and matched the books and activities according to the weather so they don't match up one to one but nobody seemed to mind.

We  made a "map" of our town. Coincidentally, the week before this she had gotten all excited about directions and asked me what direction we were traveling any time I turned. We mostly drew the big highway and whether things were North or South of our house.

So she did really well with directions but not so much with scale :-) "Anna's house" is actually much bigger than ours and both are larger than a 4 passenger vehicle. And let's not even get started on the goat on the road...

We brought some snow inside to play with.

Tasty!

Made "snow balls" from dates, nuts and coconut. They might have looked a little more snowy with powdered sugar but coconut is yummy and healthy. 

Our next book was Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. We made snowy woods with contact paper and watercolor and salt. Originally the contact paper was going to be painters tape but I couldn't find ours. That was a good thing because contact paper worked really well and was much easier to cut into tree shapes than tape probably would have been. 

I wasn't sure the salt was doing much as we painted but once they dried, you could see the effects and it was quite pretty.

Craig and Lucy had a special Daddy daughter date to go see Peter and the Wolf. The next day we read Zin Zin Zin a Violin and she told me and Jonah and anyone who would listen all about what a symphony is like. We had attended a music class the week before so I skipped the homemade band. I still want to do that sometime though. 

Of course, we did lots of playing in the snow, 

built a super cool snow fort. 

and Craig taught the kids important life lessons - like how to properly finish a snowman.

We also did a scavenger hunt of sorts where I would tell her what direction, how many steps and what kind (jumps, big, tip toes, twirls, etc). I was planning on "being a compass" with my arms but after the first time, she knew what I meant so I didn't need to. 

Hot chocolate snowlady waiting to be found!

And to go with our hot chocolate - tortilla snowflakes. I wasn't sure if she would be able to cut these herself but folded in quarters wasn't too thick so she could. Yum!

And that's what we did last month! Whew, no wonder I'm so tired.