Let It Snow

Last week in my Minnesota classroom, it was snowing. Not real snow mind you, but snow that we created inside.

I found a recipe for this "snow" on Pinterest. The ingredients I used were baking soda, glitter, and white shampoo. I was supposed to to buy conditioner, but I accidentally grabbed shampoo. The good news is that it turned out ok!

Here are two of my elementary school groups that are working on describing and following directions.The snow came in handy for articulation groups, language groups, and even social skills groups. Here are some of the targets and activities that were compatible with this "snow day."


-Following directions
-Articulation (/s/ especially)
-Describing skills
-Sequencing
-Retelling events
-Making predictions
(what do you think we're making)
-Compare/contrast
-Practice with the EET
 (expanding expression tool)
-Following a group plan (social skills)

Surprisingly, this winter has been very mild in Minnesota. We had only rain until last Tuesday. As soon as I saw some snow accumulate on the ground, I scurried outside and scooped up a cup of snow to help my students compare and contrast the snow we made with real snow.

For my articulation students and groups, we either wrote letters to share with families or created books retelling the events in speech/language today. I underlined words containing speech sounds for easy identification and practice at home.

Here are a few things I learned during this snow making adventure.

-This project is super messy! Make sure you have a broom ready to go. I'm planning to bring in treats for our custodians after all the baking soda they cleaned up last week.

-This activity was perfect for the week before Christmas. At the school where I work, we are not allowed to celebrate the holidays or do Christmas based activities. Since my students had energy and limited attention spans, this was a great culturally sensitive activity.

-This requires more baking soda than I would have guessed. I ended up going through almost 5 boxes. A tupperware container helped keep the snow fresh as I added more and more batches as students created snow in their sessions.

 -One more thing I learned - Don't wear black pants on days where you are creating this snow!

Wishing you a white and blessed Christmas and a happy New Year!





Clipart within photos used with permission from Krista Wallden