December is a great month to refresh your curriculum with seasonal activities that encourage children to use all of their senses to explore the uniqueness of the winter season. By inviting toddlers and young preschoolers to squish, squeeze, and explore a variety of textures, we help ignite their curiosity and interest. In this article, we share some winter-themed sensory activities that encourage young children to explore and investigate all of the colors and textures of the season.
image and activity from
A Little Pinch of Perfect
Using sealed Ziploc bags is a great way to keep interactive sensory experiences mess-free. To create a wintry-looking sensory bag you’ll need hair gel, blue and purple glitter, and mini marshmallows. Add additional items such as tapioca pearls, snowflake confetti, and glitter pom-poms, to make the winter scene even more interesting!
To set up this activity, simply place all of the items into the bag, seal the bag shut, and add extra tape to the top to ensure the contents stay inside. If you have extra time, you might also pop the bags into the fridge so that they will feel cold and wintry to the touch. Then, give the bags to the children so they can squish, squeeze, and explore!
image and activity from
The Best Ideas for Kids
With this simple activity, you can create fake snow using only two ingredients– 1 bag of cornstarch and 1 cup of hair conditioner. Mix the two together to create a fun, snowy mixture that young children can enjoy.
The snow can be set up in a sensory bin with small toy animals, blue sparkles, and pinecones. Invite children to scoop the snow, make mini snowmen, and more!
image and activity from
Little Bins for Little Hands
This easy-to-make sparkly snowflake slime is a fun, squishy, squeezy sensory activity. The slime is created by mixing together clear school glue, liquid starch, and water. You can add sparkles and decorations such as snowflake confetti, silver glitter, buttons, or anything else you have available.
Offer slime to the children in your care on individual trays and encourage them to discover the feeling and appearance of the slime as it’s squished between their fingers.
Infants and toddlers love looking at books with their adult caregivers. Touch-and-feel board books add a sensory dimension that is particularly engaging for little ones. Each of the winter-themed touch-and-feel board books below features a variety of interesting textures for children to experience.
