YOU GUYS… It’s March 6th and currently? It’s snowing. SNOWING!! I can’t even. And so, when you don’t have the power to change the weather, you may as well enjoy it, right? Except for that it’s cold and miserable…. So we brought the blizzard inside. {Just enough to fill a small bin – my kind of blizzard. Hah!} Mixed Sam’s very favourite thing (vehicles, obviously) and created an icy blizzard car rescue that he absolutely loved.
Here’s how I did it…
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First of all, I picked out a few Hot Wheels / Matchbox vehicles from Sam’s collection and placed them into a small bin with just a couple of centimetres of water and two drops of aqua liquid watercolours (one of my very favourite art supplies – they’re super vibrant and super washable). Then I popped the bin into the freezer, arranged the vehicles as I wanted them, and let it all freeze over night.
When it was time to play, I sprinkled some snow on top in order to add to the whole blizzard feel, but if you don’t have snow you could certainly skip this step.
Next up, I set out a few ‘tools’ to assist in the rescue…
- toy tow truck and snow plow for added imaginary play possibilities
- some jars of warm water coloured with liquid food colouring (you could use liquid watercolours to ensure washability) paired with our bulk pipettes and our Learning Resources zig-zag dropper to help melt the ice
- a little wooden hammer for breaking / chipping away at the ice
- some coloured salt (just regular table salt and a couple of drops of liquid food colouring shaken in a reusable bag until uniform in colour), also for melting ice
Here’s the finished play invitation!
NOW… I just purchased this FLISAT table from Ikea {even though we really didn’t need it} and although I’m already so, so in love with it, you certainly do not need a fancy sensory table to set this, or any other sensory play invitation, up. A smaller bin inside a larger bin would work perfectly, as would a blizzard bin with a tray of tools next to it.
When I told Sam that the vehicles were stuck in an icy blizzard and needed to be rescued, he was thrilled.
I briefly ran through the tools with him and he was off!
I feel like ice rescue activities like this one {and this frozen ocean animal rescue and this frozen ocean mermaid excavation} are great for helping kiddos develop grit, patience, and perseverance because they take a good amount of time and effort.
While Sam immediately went for the warm water and salt, he soon moved onto trying the wooden hammer.
What I didn’t anticipate is that he would create his own warm salt water mixture in hopes of that being the winning solution… Clever little nugget!
It took some time {and maybe a tiny bit of assistance from Sister – she just can’t help herself!}, but he eventually got a truck loose.
Of course Miss Chloe was right in on the action as she always is.
One thing I should mention is that the combination of cold and salt can sometimes bother little ones’ hands. Miss G’s never minded – even after ages of play – but after dunking his hands in water and then into the salt, Sam told me that his hands felt ‘hot’. A couple of things you can do to if your little one seems to have sensitive hands: a) let them play with gloves on or b) have a bowl of clean, warm water and a small towel nearby.
Of course as time passes, the vehicles become easier to rescue…
And then it gets REALLY exciting!
This will definitely be done again in our house.
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1. A Crayola Color Explosion mini notepad. I was actually on the hunt for the old-school colouring pads that came with just one white marker when I was little, but no luck on that front. While I don’t normally buy into all of the “gimmicky” products Crayola makes, this was the next best thing. One colourless {and therefore mess-free} marker with only one lid to potentially lose, but with the fun of all the colours in the rainbow? Yes, please. Sign me up.
2. A mini sparkly scratch notebook. Sparkly, fun, and virtually mess-free.
3. A magnetic pipe cleaner sensory bottle. Quiet fun + the easiest thing to put together ever = win!
4. A magnetic paperclip sensory bottle. Even better than the pipe cleaner one, and while it could be a little noisy when shaken, these plastic-coated paperclips don’t make that much noise.
5. Stickers and a notebook to stick them in. Pure magic in our house.
6. A homemade 3-in-1 travel board. Very easy to make and packs a big punch as it provides 3 activities all in one. All I did was spray an extra baking sheet I had on hand with a few coats of paint (this makes it prettier, but certainly isn’t necessary). Then I free handed three coats of chalkboard paint on this side, letting it dry well in between each coat. Afterwards, I conditioned it by rubbing a generous amount of chalk all over the board before erasing it. Voila! This side is not only a perfect lap-sized chalkboard, but it also doubles as a magnet board too.
For the other side, I cut out a piece of felt, glued it onto the baking sheet using craft glue, and cut out some felt dress up girls by modifying the patterns found 
7. Snacks. Lots and lots and lots of healthy snacks, each in small individual containers so they can be handed out one at a time. Dried fruit, nuts, dry cereal, fresh fruit and veggies, healthy bars, and freeze dried treats… All of Miss G’s favourites.