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Plenty of suggestions for the setup of a special reading corner and fun arts & crafts ideas too. This theme shows you how to use books for outdoor activities, relaxation, motor skills, and so much mo 
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SPECIAL TOOL
This special tool was created in response to a special request received. (Open motivation chart-Hand washing) Each time children wash their hands, let them stick an illustration on their chart.
CIRCLE TIME
Collect pictures or figurines which represent the Arctic. Deposit all the items in the centre of your circle. Select one item at a time and invite children to tell you everything they know about it. You may also use a book to talk about the animals which live in the Arctic permanently and those who migrate to the Arctic.
PICTURE GAME
The pictures may be used as a memory game or to spark a conversation with your group. Use them to decorate your daycare or a thematic corner. (Open picture game-Ice) Print, laminate, and store the cards in a Ziploc bag or in your thematic bin.
WRITING ACTIVITIES
(Open writing activities-I like ice) Print for each child or laminate for use with a dry-erase marker.
Stationery-Ice
Use the stationery to communicate with parents, in your writing area, or to identify your thematic bins. (Open stationery-Ice) Print.
ACTIVITY SHEETS
Activity sheets are suggested for each theme. Print and follow instructions. (Open activity sheets-Ice)
OBSERVATION SHEET
(Open observation sheet-Number 7) Print for each child or laminate for use with a dry-erase marker.
Educa-nuudles-Ice
(Open educa-nuudles-Ice) Print for each child. Encourage children to color the page and use Magic Nuudles to give it a three dimensional look. Variation: You don't have Magic Nuudles? Have children fill the spaces designed for Magic Nuudles with bingo markers or stickers.
To purchase Magic Nuudles
LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES
Word flashcards-Ice
(Open word flashcards-Ice) The word flashcards may be used to spark a conversation with your group, in your reading and writing area, or to identify your thematic bins. cold, water, iceberg, snow, icicle, skating rink, to shiver, ice floe, freezer, frost, ice storm, cold weather
Sequential story-Ice
(Open sequential story-Ice) Print and laminate the illustrations. Let children manipulate them. Encourage them to place them in the correct order.
VARIOUS WORKSHOPS
Have fun with these wonderful workshops created by Caroline Allard.
Construction/building blocks:
Arts & crafts/drawing:
Role play:
Manipulation:
Reading/relaxation:
Sensory bins:
Science/kitchen:
ACTIVITIES FOR INFANTS
Ice floe mobile
Hang a wintery mobile above your changing table. Children will admire it during diaper changes.
It's frozen
Freeze yogurt tubes. Let children manipulate them without opening them. They will explore the cold sensation. If you prefer, you could also freeze small amounts of water in Ziploc bags.
Ice melts
Deposit a large block of ice (for coolers) in a container. Invite children to play on the ice with figurines. Show children how ice melts quickly and becomes water.
Frozen exploration bottles
Fill transparent bottles with water, glitter, and tiny wintery objects. Seal the bottles with hot glue and deposit them in the freezer. Once the contents of the bottles are frozen, let babies manipulate them.
SPECIAL ACTIVITY
(Open perpetual calendar-Polar day)
Greeting: Wear a tuque, a scarf, and mittens to greet children in the morning.
Circle time: Have children manipulate two "ice packs", one hot and one cold, during circle time so they can understand the difference between the two temperatures.
Lunch and snack: Ice cream, frozen yogurt, frozen bananas, frozen grapes, popsicles, etc. can be served as a snack. For lunch, serve a cold meal or a comforting meal which feels good on cold, winter days such as chicken noodle soup or vegetable soup.
Special activities: Why not spend the day outside? Follow the tracks children make in the snow, build an igloo, make a snowman, try snowshoeing, etc. Indoors, you can use sugar cubes or marshmallows to make various sculptures or paint with white poster paint on black or dark blue paper. Offer a container filled with snow and mittens too!
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS
Hockey
(Open hockey game) Print and assemble the various pieces and hang the net on a wall. Children must, like in pin the tail on the donkey, stick the puck as close to the centre of the net as possible.
Lacing penguin
(Open lacing-penguin) Print, laminate, and punch holes all the way around the penguin shape. Children can use a shoe lace, string, or ribbon to lace the penguin.
Igloo
Drape a white sheet over a table to create an igloo for your group. Add a container filled with snow or ice and figurines. You may also include books about polar animals. Children will love playing under the table, in their igloo.
Skating obstacle course
Create an obstacle course in your daycare. Use cones and other obstacles children must go around. Offer felt soles (used for shoes and boots), wool socks, or empty tissue boxes. Children use them to skate throughout the obstacle course. Play music as they skate!
Frozen sculptures
Wet towels and facecloths and hang them outside for a few hours on a very cold day. They will harden somewhat, but it will be possible to bend and fold them. Children can use them to make a variety of sculptures.
Ice fishing
(Open models-Fish) Print. Have children color the fish. When they are done, laminate them and cut them out. Add a paperclip to the back of each fish. Tie a string to the end of a broomstick or branch and tie a magnet to the other end of the string. Children stand behind a couch and go "fishing". This activity can also be done outdoors. Simply hide behind a snow bank and attach the fish to the end of the fishing line.
Frozen towers
Fill a platter with ice cubes. Divide your group into small teams. Each team must try to build the highest tower possible using ice cubes. This activity can be repeated... until the ice cubes melt away!
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Icy treasure hunt
Prepare a large quantity of colourful ice cubes with your group. Hide them outside. Children will love searching for them. If your group is old enough, you may ask them to search for a specific color.
My castle
Fill several margarine tubs with colourful water (spray them with cooking spray first). Leave them outside overnight. The next day, children can use the ice blocks to build colourful castles.
Snow painting
Fill a few spray bottles with colourful water and let children use them to paint on snow. The water will freeze and the colourful plaques will turn into ice. ***To ensure the "paint" is washable, use the tips of washable Crayola markers. Dip them in the water for a few minutes. You can use old markers. Even when markers stop writing properly, there is enough ink left in them to make the water colourful! Use pliers to remove the tips of the markers.
Icy sidewalk chalk
Use your sidewalk chalk to draw on ice patches (or hardened snow) in your backyard. The results are quite impressive!
COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES
Educ-math-ice
(Open educ-math-ice) Print and laminate for durable, eco-friendly use. Children must count the objects in each rectangle and circle the correct number.
Educ-same and different-Ice
(Open educ-same and different-Ice) Print and laminate for durable, eco-friendly use. Children must circle the illustration which is different in each row.
Game-big and small-Ice
(Open educ-big and small-Ice) Print and laminate. Children must place the cards in the correct order, from smallest to biggest, using Velcro or adhesive putty.
Educ-pattern-Ice
(Open educ-pattern-Ice) Print and laminate. Children must correctly place the cards to complete the patterns.
Hunt and seek-Ice
(Open hunt and seek-Ice) Print and laminate. Children search for the items in the picture.
Snakes and ladders-Ice
(Open snakes and ladders-Ice) Print and laminate. Use a die and figurines as game pieces. The object of the game: children must all reach the final square.
EARLY SCIENCE
On the ice floe
Purchase two ice cube bags (used for camping) and empty them in a sensory bin. Add penguin and polar animal figurines and let children explore the cold ice.
Skating rink
Fill your sensory bin with water and leave it outside overnight. The next day, children will love making figurines skate on their very own rink.
Ice crystals
Use three pipe cleaners to make a ball or a cube and fasten the ends together. Dip the ball or cube in water and hang it outside. Study the formation of ice crystals with a magnifying glass.
Discover what is hiding...
Fill a variety of plastic containers with water. Hide different objects inside and deposit them in the freezer or outside until they are completely frozen. Remove the ice blocks from the containers and place them in a tray on a table. Invite children to guess what is hiding in each block of ice. Watch the blocks of ice melt away and verify children's hypotheses. They will love discovering the treasures!
Globule wonders... how many different forms of water are there?
Experiment: Water, in all its forms
Hypotheses:
Ask the children the following questions: How many forms of water can we observe? What is ice? How does water turn into ice? Can you name the other forms of water (snow, vapour)?
Material:
One ice cube per child in a small plate
A plastic ice cube tray
A kettle
Water
Manipulation:
Explanation:
All substances belong to one of three categories: solid, liquid, or gas (vapour). Substances can change. You observed this during your experiment. For a substance to change category, the temperature of the substance must vary. Water (liquid) at room temperature became ice (solid) when it became cold in the freezer. Water (liquid) at room temperature was heated and became vapour (gas). The vapour dissipated in the air. You can easily observe rain changing to snow outside. Snowflakes are miniscule ice crystals, the solid state of water.
Globule wonders... How can we catch an ice cube in water using only a piece of string?
Experiment: The magic of salt
Hypotheses:
Spark children's interest with a magic trick. Ask them how they could catch an ice cube which is floating in water without using their fingers. The only tool they have is a piece of string. Let them come up with several possible solutions they can try.
Material:
A glass of cold water per child
A piece of string per child (approx. 15 cm long)
An ice cube per child
Magic powder (which is really salt, but do not tell children at first, they can try to identify it later)
Manipulation:
Explanation:
Ask children, "What do you think happened? What do you think the magic powder was?" Let children think about it and state their ideas. When they are done, tell them it was just table salt. Salt has special properties. These properties make ice melt. This is why we put salt in our driveways and on roads in winter. Salt is very useful. It prevents many injuries related to slipping on ice and considerably reduces the number of car accidents. In your experiment you used only a pinch of salt. It was not enough to melt the entire ice cube. However, it was sufficient to melt a tiny portion of it which was enough for the string to penetrate the ice. The temperature of the water cooled the portion of the ice cube which had melted upon contact with the salt. The ice cube hardened once again, trapping the string inside.
CULINARY ACTIVITIES
Igloo
With your group, melt marshmallows in a microwaveable bowl for approximately 30 seconds. Give each child a chance to stir. Return the bowl to the microwave for 10 more seconds. Deposit the melted marshmallows in the centre of the table. Children will have fun creating an igloo simply by sticking the melted marshmallows together.
Frozen punch
Deposit small fruit pieces in the compartments of an ice cube tray. Fill them with water or fruit juice and deposit the tray in the freezer. Prepare fruit punch by simply combining different fruit juices (pineapple, orange, grapefruit, etc.) Add your special ice cubes and let children discover the fruit pieces.
Slush
Show children how to make their own slush simply by combining crushed ice and juice. Provide spoons so they can stir their slush themselves.
Creative recipe-Homemade ice cream
(Open creative recipe-Homemade ice cream)
Homemade Ice Cream
Ingredients:
Crushed ice or ice cubes
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 cup of milk
½ teaspoon of vanilla
6 tablespoons of coarse salt
1 medium freezer "Ziploc" bag
1 large freezer "Ziploc" bag
**You may replace the vanilla flavour with another flavour if you wish.
ARTS & CRAFTS
Ice cube painting
Fill an ice cube tray with water, adding food coloring to each compartment. Insert a Popsicle stick in each compartment just as the mixture is beginning to freeze. Give each child a large piece of heavy paper. Let them paint with these very special paintbrushes.
Frozen suncatchers
Give each child a small aluminum pie plate. Have them add glitter, metallic confetti, small seasonal objects, etc. to their plate. Fill all the plates with water and add a piece of ribbon or string, letting it hang over the edge of the plate so you can hang your suncatcher once it is frozen. Deposit everything in the freezer (or outdoors). Once the suncatchers are completely frozen, remove them from the pie plates and hang them in a tree on a very cold day. Children will be very proud of their temporary decorations.
Arctic mobile
(Open models-Penguins) Print and decorate the penguins using glitter, lace, ribbon, cotton balls, confetti, etc. Glue the penguins on either side of ribbon or string. Hang your mobile from the ceiling.
Spaghetti ice sculptures
Provide uncooked spaghetti and miniature marshmallows. Encourage children to create all kinds of sculptures. When they are done, display their masterpieces, just like in a museum.
Modeling dough ice sculpture
Provide a good quantity of modeling dough. Let children create various sculptures together.
Salt dough ice sculpture
Prepare a good quantity of salt dough. Let children create various sculptures together.
Ice sculptures
Deposit a large block of ice (used in coolers) in a big container. Invite children to scrape the ice block with a spoon to sculpt it.
Jell-O ice sculpture
Let children play in a container filled with blue Jell-O using their hands. Add Jell-O cubes which can be used to make sculptures.
Clay ice sculptures
Purchase a block of clay and let children create an original sculpture. Let dry as per the instructions on the package before painting.
Environmentally friendly ice sculpture
Using recycled materials (metal cans, yogurt containers, empty toilet paper rolls, bread ties, etc.), ask children to create a sculpture. Use hot glue to help them hold everything together. This may be a collective or individual project. Display children's work.
COLORING PAGES
Coloring pages-Ice
(Open coloring pages theme-Ice) Print for each child.
Creative coloring-Ice
(Open creative coloring-Ice) Print for each child. Invite children to complete the outdoor skating rink.
SONGS & RHYMES
I like to skate
by: Patricia Morrison
sung to: Apples and bananas
I like to skate, skate, skate
At the pond or the arena
I like to skate, skate, skate
On the ice just like this
I like to spin, spin, spin
Around until I'm dizzy
I like to spin, spin, spin
On the ice just like this
I like to play, play, play
Hockey with my parents
I like to play, play, play
On the ice just like thi
Have fun!
Educatall team
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