Creative Learning Preschool, Inc, Linwood, NJ 08221

Category: Winter

8 Safety Tips For Preschoolers This Winter

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Winter is a magical time for preschoolers as they witness the world transforming into a snowy wonderland. While the season brings joy and excitement, it also comes with its own set of challenges and safety concerns. This blog provides some essential winter safety tips to help you navigate the frosty season with ease and keep your little ones safe and sound!

Know The Signs Of Frostbite

Even if you don’t have plans to spend a lot of time outdoors this winter, it’s still important to know the signs of frostbite in the event of an emergency. Symptoms of frostbite can include numbness, tingling, pale, cold or hard skin, burning, aching, or blisters within the first 24 hours. If you suspect you or your child are suffering from frostbite, seek emergency care immediately.

Be Careful About Indoor Heating

As temperatures drop, we often rely on indoor heating to stay warm. Be cautious with space heaters and radiators, ensuring they are out of reach and properly supervised. Monitor use of heating pads and blankets to ensure your child isn’t experiencing overexposure. Additionally, use flameless candles on low surfaces to create a cozy atmosphere without the risk of burns.

Layer Up

One of the keys to keeping your preschooler warm is dressing in layers. If your little one is getting ready for playing in the snow or a brisk day at the park, start with a moisture-wicking layer, followed by a layer of warm clothes, and a wind and waterproof layer on top. Bundle your toddler up with a hat, gloves, and insulated shoes to keep warm!

Avoid Playing Near The Road

If your littles are playing outside, make sure they’re far from the road. During the winter, even if it’s not a snowy day, there’s a risk of black ice on the road and other visibility issues that can lead to a car veering off the road. 

Sunscreen Still Matters

It’s easy to forget that sunscreen is needed all year round. If your child is planning to spend the day outside, it’s important to remember to apply sunscreen. Playing in snow or participating in snowy activities like tubing or snowboarding are the most important times to remember sunscreen in the winter.

Don’t Skip Out On Handwashing

It’s never sanitary to skip a handwash, but it’s especially bad during cold and flu season! Teach your preschooler about the importance of handwashing and good handwashing habits. Come up with a song or small game that can help your child stay at the sink washing their hands for a full 20 seconds, with warm water and soap!

You Still Need To Stay Hydrated

Did you know that dehydration risks aren’t only for the summertime? Cold weather can be deceptively dehydrating. Monitor your preschooler and make sure they’re still drinking plenty of fluids. With the lack of heat as a motivator, their bodies might not remind them they’re thirsty as frequently.

Be Mindful Of Over Dressing

While the winter is cold and bundling up is important, make sure your bundling is proportionate to the weather and the activity! If your child will be running around a lot outside, they may not need quite as many layers. Keep an eye on your child to make sure they aren’t overheating from their extra layers of warm clothes.

Cozy Corner: Recipes For Winter Cooking With Your Preschooler

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Winter is a great time to get cozy in the kitchen with your preschooler! While it can be hectic, cooking with children can help teach them household skills and instill a passion for cooking and food. If you’re planning to cook with preschoolers, they can get involved in tasks like stirring, sprinkling, mashing, or rolling. In this blog, we’ll give you a few suggestions for child-friendly savory and sweet recipes!

Savory Recipes Ideas For Preschoolers

Preschoolers can help with age-appropriate tasks like washing vegetables, stirring mixtures (away from direct heat), and adding pre-measured ingredients. 

Homemade Soups & Stews

Soups are an excellent way to pack in vegetables and provide a lot of chances for your child to get involved!

Activity: Your child can help wash and tear lettuce/spinach leaves, add pre-cut vegetables to the pot, and stir the mixture (with supervision). 

Recipe Ideas: Chicken noodle soup, lasagna soup, or hidden veggie mac and cheese.

Mini Pizzas or Flatbreads

This is a great idea for a family that all like something a little different. Everyone in the family can add whatever they like to their pizza or flatbread.

Activity: They can spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle cheese, and add their favorite pre-cut toppings.

Homemade Bread

This is the perfect cozy activity for a grey winter day. Your child can get excited whenever they eat the bread they helped make!

Activity: Kids love kneading dough and watching it rise. They can also help shape the bread before baking. 

Sweet Treat & Snack Recipes For Preschoolers

These recipes often involve fun, no-bake options perfect for little hands. 

No-Bake Energy Balls

A healthy snack that’s fun to make and fun to eat!

Activity: Combine rolled oats, peanut butter, a touch of honey or maple syrup, and add-ins like mini chocolate chips or dried cranberries. Your preschooler can mix the ingredients and roll the mixture into bite-sized balls.

Frozen Yogurt Bark

If yogurt is a big hit in your household, this is a great snack to try!

Activity: Spread plain or flavored yogurt on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and let your child sprinkle on berries, granola, or mini chocolate chips. Freeze until solid, then break into pieces.

Snowman or Reindeer Themed Treats

This is great if your littles are looking to make a sweet treat that also celebrates the winter season.

Activity: Use ingredients like marshmallows, pretzels, and mini chocolate chips to create snowman or reindeer faces on cookies or treats.

Whether you’re planning to make a savory or sweet recipe, remember to prioritize food safety, provide appropriate supervision, and focus on the fun of cooking and making memories together! If your preschooler is involved, your recipe probably won’t turn out perfect, but the memories will last a lifetime!

Outdoor Winter Activities For Snowless Days

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While winter is a beautiful season we often find ourselves enjoying it from inside with our littles, except when there’s snow to play in! Snow is so much fun to enjoy with children but it’s not the only thing that makes winter special! There are ways you can enjoy spending time outside with your family in the winter even when there’s no snow in sight! In this blog, we’ll give you some ideas for fun activities that can help you get outside and enjoy the winter season even when there’s no snow on the ground.

Winter Scavenger Hunt

You can find a ton of resources online or you can create your own scavenger hunt that is tailored to the area that you live in! This is a great opportunity to learn about nature and pairs well with a book about what happens during the change in seasons.

Search for Animal Tracks

This is another activity that pairs well with a book! Choose an animal that you know is prevalent in your area. Find a book to read about that animal with your littles then head outside to their local habitat to try and find their tracks!

Bark Rubbings

If you have an artistic child bark rubbing is a fun outdoor activity! All you need is paper and some crayons. Let your child find a tree with interesting bark and then have them place the paper on the bark and rub it with their crayon, leaving a beautiful imprint of the bark’s pattern!

Natural Bird Feeders

If you don’t have any bird feeders in your yard, making some can be a fun activity that gives you an opportunity to talk to your littles about nature! You can make simple natural bird feeders from pinecones covered in peanut butter and bird seed. Hang them up near a window so your family can have a good view of the birds that stop by!

Frozen Bubbles

This is the perfect activity for a very cold day when you need your littles to spend some time outside! Bubbles are a favorite among preschoolers and they can be even more magical in the winter! Pick a cold day and head outside with your bubble wand. Show your littles that when they start blowing bubbles the bubbles start to freeze!

Outdoor Obstacle Course

This is great for days when there is now snow or ice on the ground. Set up various obstacle courses using whatever you have! You can use cones, twigs, chalk, or anything else you can find to create fun obstacle courses for your littles to follow. Keeping your littles moving while they’re outside in the cold will help keep them warmer and having more fun!

5 Wonderful Winter Songs For Preschoolers

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Whether it’s too cold to go outside or not cold enough and you’re trying to create some winter magic in your living room, winter-themed songs are the perfect activity for you and your littles! Pick a wintery song and let your littles sing, wiggle, and dance to the music! In this blog, we’ve picked out five fun songs that your preschooler can sing and dance along to while celebrating the winter season!

Winter Freeze Dance

Sing along and learn with The Kiboomers Winter Freeze Dance song! Get ready to skate, flutter, wiggle, and dance! All your littles have to do is dance when the music plays, and freeze when it stops! This activity also helps your preschooler develop motor skills, listening skills, and social-emotional skills.

I Live Inside A Snowglobe

Laurie Berkner is living a wintery life – inside a magical snowglobe! Shake it up with her and her snowglobe friends – a mouse, a kangaroo, and a monster. Shake, stomp, jump, and roar together!

Wintertime Is Here

Sing along and learn with The Kiboomers preschool songs & nursery rhymes! Here is a great song for the winter season. The lyrics are included in the caption of the video if you need to learn them ahead of time!

Snowflake Song

“Snowflakes” is a fun activity song where children sing, dance, and play along as they explore a snowy winter wonderland. Music combined with movement makes learning about the seasons fun for kids. Music for kids makes learning fun and exciting!

Polar Bear Pokey Song

Join the Fun with the Polar Bear Hokey Pokey! Watch as these adorable kids put their paws in and shake it all about. This catchy song will have you dancing and singing along in no time. Don’t miss out on the fun – subscribe now to The Kiboomers Kids Songs!

5 Wonderful Books for Winter

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Winter is here and there’s no better way to help your little ones learn about the change in seasons and get them excited for winter and the holiday season than by reading a few books about the new season! This list contains five of our many favorite books that take place in the winter and have been released in the last few years!

The Snow Thief

Great for preschoolers and kindergarteners!

Squirrel and Bird are back, and this time it’s winter! But squirrel has never seen snow before. Will he like it? You bet he will! Except, just as Squirrel starts to get used to the snow, it disappears. Is there a snow thief on the loose?

With vibrant art and captivating characters, the magic of winter is captured beautifully on each page as readers tag along Squirrel’s forest adventure. Is there truly a snow thief on the loose, or is something else going on in Squirrel’s forest? A perfect exploration of change―both seasonal, and the anxiety that change sometimes causes.

 

Winter in the Forest

Great for toddlers and preschoolers!

Explore winter in the forest with this lively, interactive Lift-a-Flap Surprise board book! Little ones will love learning all about wintertime fun in the forest while following two adorable little raccoons as they trek around the snow-covered woods soaking in all the sights and sounds and meeting new woodland friends. The birds are chirping, the owls are hooting, and the deer are frolicking in the snow. The little raccoons snuggle in their tree enjoying the winter days before spring arrives. What a wonderful snowy day to be two little raccoons! A perfect way to celebrate the holiday season with your toddler!

Candy Cane Fiasco

Great for preschoolers and kindergarteners!

What parent hasn’t struggled with a sticky child? Parents will laugh along with the kids in this over-the-top adventure loosely inspired by real-life experiences with a sticky kid. .

My Gram gives me a candy cane, and that’s when things get tricky.

Now from my toes up to my nose, I am a wee bit sticky.

Who would have thought a candy cane, and bath for our dear kitty…

would be the reason we end up so high above the city?

The Grumpy Reindeer

Great for toddlers and preschoolers!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! But not for one grumpy reindeer. He huffs and puffs and scares all the other reindeer off. But when Santa asks for his help, grumpy reindeer soon realizes that sometimes being on your own isn’t fun after all… With the most festive illustrations, adults and children will love to read aloud and follow the story of this reindeer to see if his frown turns upside down!

Penguin Huddle

Great for preschoolers and kindergarteners!

All day long the penguin colony plays and plays, and when the sun goes down and the night grows cold and dark, they squeeze and squish together to stay warm and snug. But one morning, after a freezing gale, the penguins find themselves stuck, frozen together like a giant penguin ice pop. When no one in the Antarctic can unstick them, Pipsqueak, the smallest penguin of all, leads his fellows out of their snowy home to a city across the sea in search of help. Whimsical adventures ensue in this global giggle-fest teeming with colorful details—a warm, wintry treat for fans of penguins, playful antics, and celebratory cuddles.

6 Holiday Sensory Activities For Preschoolers

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The holiday season is here and the official start of winter is right around the corner! If you’re looking for ways to incorporate the festivity of the season into activities with your little ones that will actually keep them engaged, sensory activities are the way to go! Sensory activities engage your children’s senses, help develop their fine motor skills, and can provide additional learning opportunities. In this blog, we’ll go over a few winter and holiday-themed sensory activities that your preschooler will love!

Snowman Ice Melting Activity

Whether it’s too cold to play outside or the weather isn’t feeling wintery enough for your little ones, this melting snowman activity is a fun sensory experience and can be used to talk about shapes and colors. Customize your melted snowmen however, you want with items like googly eyes, foam shapes for their carrot nose and coal buttons, stickers shaped like gloves and scarves, glitter, and more!

Winter Sensory Bins

Sensory bins are a great way to create a contained sensory experience that can be tailored to what your child likes! Messy Play Kits has a ton of ideas for winter-themed sensory bins whether you want to create a themed bin for winter, Christmas, Hanukkah, the New Year, and more! Depending on what goes in your sensory bin, it’s a great option if you want to make something once and always have it on hand for when you need a last-minute activity!

Christmas Water Play

If your preschooler or toddler loves water play but it’s a little too cold for outdoor play right now, this is a sensory activity that they’ll love! All you need is a tub, a clear plastic ornament, and food coloring if you’d like. Use the food coloring to color your water to a festive color of your choice. Then, all you need to do is give your little ones a plastic ornament and let them scoop the water with it. Find ornaments that are clear so they can see the water inside. You can add glitter or shimmer dust to the water and use different-shaped ornaments to add another element of fun to this sensory experience! 

Melting Snowman Experiment

This is a great activity if your little one is excited for winter and is interested in watching things change like water boiling or making bubbles in the bath. This activity does need to be prepared in advance so keep that in mind. You can create the snowmen with your children then put them in the freezer to cool. The longer they sit in the freezer the longer they will take to melt! Once your snowman is fully frozen adding the vinegar mixture to your snowmen will cause a reaction that will “melt” the snowman. This is not only a fun sensory activity but can provide an opportunity to introduce new STEM concepts to your child.

Easy Christmas Decorations Sensory Bin

This activity is great if you’re planning to put up holiday decorations and have a little one that really wants to help. You can completely customize this sensory bin to utilize whatever spare decorations you have or aunty items your little one absolutely loves. Fill the bin with items like beaded garlands, ornaments, tinsel, fake snow, and more. This activity will not only be an enjoyable sensory experience for your child but can help you decorate without interruption!

Winter Ice Castle Sensory Bin

This ice castle bin is a great way to put some miscellaneous decorations to use. Start with a base of kinetic sand or fake snow. Then, you can give your child an ice castle by using blocks or any pieces of a winter village you may have that aren’t fragile. You can also add leftover items from potpourri, like pinecones, or extra decorations, such as bottle brush trees. Not only is this an opportunity for sensory exploration but it’s a great opportunity for imaginative and creative play too!

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