beat the january blues

IIt's January 2nd, the holidays are over and it's time to jump back into things. But it seems like everyone is just dragging their feet! I'm all about going with the flow and following the learners' lead. So how do we ease back into academics after winter break? Here are some of my favorite activities to beat the January blues.

Feed the snowman

This friendly little guy can be used for number recognition, 1-1 correspondence, sight words practice, and more! We used cotton balls and rolled a die to determine how many snowballs the snowman wanted to eat.

Have some sensory fun

Sensory activities are a great way for kids to take a break from noise and other sensory input that might be putting them on edge.  If you join in the fun like I do, you know the joy of running your hands through dry rice, beans, or playdough.  It's so relaxing!  Make a cloud dough, set up a sensory bin, or get out the kinetic sand and give your little ones freedom to explore.

Add a math element

For this sensory bin, we used dyed rice, snowflake erasers, and some shape matching cards.

Read a story

After reading Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner, we had some fun building cotton ball snowmen.

Study snowflakes

In 1885, Wilson Bentley took the first photograph of a snowflake. He used a microscope, but today our phones do just as well! Read Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin with your little learners then head outside with a piece of black fabric and snap your own photos! After warming up with some hot cocoa, make some coffee filter snowflakes to decorate your classroom or home!

Do something completely unrelated

Sometimes the best thing to do is forget the snow and focus on something else!  We love learning about animals and unique places. You could even go all the way to outer space and explore the moon or solar system! You can read more about our outer space adventure here.