Well, winter in Edmonton means a lot of cold, and a lot of snow. We tried to take advantage of that and be optimistic by exploring the sensory and gross motor aspects of this cold, white season. This included a lot of opportunities to explore outside, and a science/sensory experience.
We decided to turn our water table into a polar expedition. First the children helped me pick out cartons of various sizes from the recycling, then we filled them with water, and set them outside. The next day, we threw them in the water table, along with our collection of smurf toys (at the children's request).
One of the children suggested we added ice cubes for variation. This was a fantastic idea, as it showed the children the difference in melting times for various sizes of ice. At first, the kids stacked the ice, and took turns pushing it around the table with their figurines. As it began to melt, a curious thing happened - the water melted from the inside out, so that soon, the children were left with large hollow ice cylinders. It didn't take long to figure out that they could break holes through these boxes and use them in play, as boats or homes, or a variety of different imaginary items.
They also had a first hand experience with temperature, as they would often remark, "My fingers feel so cold!" before pulling them up into their sleeves for a break. We will definitely be repeating this experience again, for as long as the temperature outside is favorable to giant homemade ice cubes (my freezer just isn't big enough, sadly!).
