These fruit & veggie “sushi” roll-ups are fun to make, and even more fun to eat! Whether you have adventurous or picky eaters, this is a great way to get them to try a little something new, along with something already familiar. Making this healthy snack together is fun for the whole family!
Animal Action Cards are a fun and simple way to incorporate nature-based learning with movement. We’ve included 15 animals in this set of action cards – just a few of the many animals that you can find during spring in our Maine wetlands. We hope this activity also sparks an interest in exploring wetlands and learning more about these important habitats.
Winter may be over, but outdoor learning happens in all seasons. WinterKids has launched a virtual training to go alongside our Preschool Guide to Outdoor Active Learning (GOAL) and for a limited time, teachers can get both the training and the GOAL binder for FREE.
In this activity, students will conduct an experiment in order to find which solid melts the fastest: snow or ice. Many thanks to the 2nd Grade teachers at Helen Thompson School in West Gardiner, Maine for sharing this great activity guide during the 2020 WinterKids Winter Games!
In this activity, students make volcanoes with snow and a few other ingredients. While creating their volcanoes, they will explore the states of matter – including solids, liquids, and gasses! Thank you to the wonderful teams of teachers from: Glenburn Elementary in Glenburn, Maine, Bay Ridge Elementary in Cutler, Maine, and Dr. Levesque Elementary in Frenchville, Maine, that contributed to this activity during the 2020 WinterKids Winter Games!
Studies show that getting outside helps children to be more positive, creative, and adaptable, and more importantly, has a strong potential to improve mental health in areas of general wellbeing, resilience, restoration, and cognition. We believe that the shorter, darker, winter days make getting outside more important than any other time of year. So what are you waiting for? If it’s cold where you are, bundle your children up, and give some of these ideas for outdoor winter fun a try!
This is a great activity for connecting a nutrition/healthy foods study to Common Core ELA Standards. Thank you to the wonderful team of teachers at Dr. Levesque Elementary in Frenchville, Maine who designed, implemented, and shared this activity during the 2020 WinterKids Winter Games!
The changing of the seasons each fall means incredible foliage, the return of snuggly sweaters, pumpkin-spiced everything, and best of all, an opportunity for children to spend time outside learning about all things Autumn! We’ve rounded up some fun ways you and your family can get outside this season to celebrate fall.
It’s the perfect time of year to learn about the water cycle and explore ice! This fun and refreshing activity is great for a warm summer day. In this activity, children will develop an understanding of the water cycle as they sing and move along to a song, read stories, and observe water changing from a liquid to a solid, and from a solid back to a liquid. These ideas can be adapted and used in a home setting or classroom setting.
Studies show that sensory table play can be calming, and provide an opportunity for children to work on their fine motor skills, creativity, and social skills- if they are playing at the sensory table with another child. In addition to these, sensory tables can also help develop literacy skills as children retell a story and bring it to life using items at the table! They are great for both home and classroom learning environments!
Step aside, lemonade stand! Enter: bike shop! This activity can provide hours of creative and imaginative fun, while also fostering a love for bikes! Here you will find fantastic children’s books about bikes, steps and resources for creating your own dramatic play bike shop, and our favorite children’s songs about biking. Move, learn and explore!
Exploring the outdoors is a fun learning experience for kids of all ages. This activity will encourage children to observe the world around them by looking for natural items and collecting them in a unique and reusable container. Enjoy getting outdoors in every season, while enhancing your child’s powers of observation with this Spring Scavenger Hunt activity, straight from the pages of the WinterKids Guide to Active Outdoor Learning.
With playgrounds, gymnastics, swimming pools, sports teams, and more currently closed for our safety, we’re having to find other ways to keep our children moving and active. Yoga can be a great option for all ages and levels! No gear is needed, it can be practiced in a small space, or outdoors, solo, or together.
LEARN, EXPLORE, and MOVE with us! These ideas can be adapted and used in a home setting or classroom setting. Follow along for our book recommendations, fantastic resources for learning more about birds, a simple binoculars craft for backyard bird watching, bird-themed Simon Says, songs about birds, and even bird-themed yoga!
