Winter Wonderland Small World Sensory Play

I've been collecting materials for months now to make L (4yrs) a Winter Wonderland Small World Setup. L loves small world play and we've made many, including our Tiny Village,  Pond,  Fairy Garden,  Ocean, Dinosaur Land, Apple Picking, and River Habitat. Our small worlds are a way to expand their imagination, explore different sensory materials, and can be educational as well!

Our Winter Wonderland was probably MY favorite so far! Seriously, they are just as much fun to set up as they are for the boys to play with. :) 

I used our train table as the base and laid some white sheets across it. I put some plastic bowls underneath a few parts to make the terrain a bit more interesting. 

Winter Wonderland "Ingredients"

The small snowballs are styrofoam balls that you can easily find at most craft stores, and super centers such as Walmart. Flora Craft BA6H Styrofoam Ball 6" 1/Pkg (Google Affiliate Ad). 

The large "snowballs" are actually candles that I found at Goodwill. 

Our frozen lakes are blue craft foam disks I bought in a pack at Hobby Lobby. 

I added some blue floral gems to sparkle up the "water" a bit. Darice 472647 Glass Gems 16 Ounces-Ocean Blue (Google Affiliate Ad). 

I bought the large acrylic fake ice cubes on Amazon. See HERE.

I found the smaller acrylic fake crushed ice at Goodwill, but you can find them on Amazon HERE.

I used our acrylic fake diamonds for added sparkle. I find these in the floral section of Walmart. 

I sprinkled half a bag of fake snow across the table.

I added a small bag of snowflake confetti which I also found at Hobby Lobby. 

Lastly, I added our set of Arctic animals which I also bought on Amazon. See HERE.

The polar bears were a big hit with L. 

Love this little penguin family.

I let my oldest son explore the Winter Wonderland on his own for a few hours while my youngest napped.

After my 18 mo old awoke, the setup became more of a sensory table as he pretty much destroyed the setup but he explored all the materials on the table.

Caution

Always use proper vigilance and precaution when younger children are exploring with this sensory material, and use your parental discretion when deciding if this or any activity is right for your child based on their age and developmental abilites.

Have you ever created a Small World Setup? 

I'd love to hear about it!

Here are some other amazing Winter Small World Setups i've found around the web...

Artic/Winter Small World Scene at Mum Central

Antarctica: Learning Through Small World Play with Penguins in the Bath, by In Lieu of Preschool

Our Winter Scene by Sarah Dean at Montessori Alliance

Arctic Small World Play in a Suitcase by The Imagination Tree

To see ALL of our Sensory Bins and Small World Setups, 

click the picture below!

More Ways to Follow the Fun!

Valentine's Swag Shaving Cream Concoctions

I set up a simple Valentine's Day shaving cream sensory activity using dollar store Valentine's swag, glitter, and powdered tempura paint (you could also use washable paint, food coloring, Kool-aid, or Duncan Hines Frosting Creations for color.) The point of this activity is really just good ole messy sensory play. My oldest has always loved mixing and making potions and concoctions, or pretend cooking with real ingredients, and so he really loved this!

"B" (18 mo) got in on the shaving cream fun too! 

I put a glob on his chair and added some powdered tempura paint for him to mix in. 

He was reluctant at first, but the second picture may look like he's saying "eeww!" but he's actually saying "yay!"--no really, it's like his favorite thing to say haha!

The end result was so pretty and lots of the trinkets we were able to 

wash off and save for another time and project. 

If you liked this activity, you may also like...

20 Ways to Play with Shaving Cream

Shaving Cream and Powdered Paints

More Ways to Follow the Fun!

Felt Rainbow Busy Bag

I made a Felt Rainbow Busy Bag with a Learning Template to practice ROY G BIV,  size matching and sequencing, and color word recognition and matching...and because rainbows are fun! 

This is a perfect St. Patrick's Day Activity!

First I found this rainbow template.  I chose this template because it had the colors spelled out on each band, so not only is it fun, but it has that additional learning element as well. I printed it and used it to trace another rainbow on another sheet of paper and then I laminated the printed one. (the one you traced is used next)

I then took the one I traced and cut out each individual rainbow color band (and cloud) to use as a template to trace out on each sheet of colored felt. Then I cut out each traced band of felt color.

You can then use it with the template....

or without....

To see many more in our Busy Bag Collection, 

click the photo below!

More Ways to Follow the Fun!

"Love ya, Sweet Pea!" Valentine's Day Bath

This was the first of our Valentine's Day Fun Baths! 

It was quite simple because it was for "B," my youngest (18 months).  

I cut out several hearts from craft foam and used a pack of craft foam "candy hearts" and stuck them in the water and on the walls of the tub. If you are unfamiliar with craft foam, it's a cheap material that can be bought in sheets to cut as you want or bought as premade shapes in lots of different themes. When wet, it sticks to the tub walls and itself...and windows and walls, etc.

 Craft foam is a very inexpensive way to make bath time really fun!

I also used a few drops of purple food coloring and Sweet Pea scented essential oil in the bath which smelled sooo good! Sweet Pea is one of my favorite scents and I call both of my boys 

"Sweet Pea" all the time :)

I used shaving cream, pink food coloring, sweet pea essential oil, 

and sprinkles (I didn't have any pink glitter) to make some fun bath paint. 

 This bath was perfect for my littlest Sweet Pea! 

To see all of our Fun Baths, Click the photo below!

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