The Cotton Ball Experience (Pinch, Transfer, Pour... EXPLORE!)

Caleb has been excited about the Christmas experience. He loved getting his Christmas tree and decorating it. Now he is obsessed with Christmas trees! We've also enjoyed putting together a gingerbread cookie train. Since we're here in sunny Florida, we won't be getting any snow, but Caleb has been talking about it as he's seen fake snow at Stone Mountain and we've been reading about it in books. I have a surprise coming for him soon, but until then, we've been playing with cotton balls. Although they're not nearly as sensational, we've been enjoying our "snowball" fights, sensory bin explorations, singing about snow, crafting, and fantasy play with cotton balls.

• We used cotton balls to have a snowball fight in the RV the other day. It was a lot of fun! 

• I put together a sensory bin with cotton balls, a bucket, tongs, and a measuring cup. He loves using his tongs! He pinched the cotton ball and placed them in the measuring cup until it was overflowing with white. Then, he poured them in the bucket. This was a great way for him to learn the concept of full and too full!

• We sang the following song to the tune of "It's raining. It's pouring," while I poured snowballs over his head. 

It's snowing. It's snowing.

It's snowing all over Caleb.

He went to bed. Then he said,

It's snowing. It's snowing!

• We created snowflake ornaments for my family with popsicle sticks. First, I had Caleb paint the sticks white. Then, I glued the sticks together to make a star-shaped snowflake. Then, I added small glue dots to the ends of each stick and had him pull apart small pieces of cotton ball to place on the glue. It added a third dimension to the snowflakes. Then, he added a foam snowflake sticker to the middle of the snowflake and I added a string on the back for hanging. They turned out great!

• A few cotton balls, a truck with a trailer, and an excavator was entertaining for me to watch, but also engaging for Caleb's imagination.

We had a great time exploring and learning with cotton balls. I can't wait to share his surprise with him next week! He is going to have a blast!

God Bless your learning experiences!