Exploring white

Exploring white

Activities for toddlers and babies

A week's worth of white items to explore with your group.

AREA SETUP

White balloons falling from the sky
Inflate several white balloons and hang them from the ceiling, within your daycare.

White sky
Hang a large white bed sheet from the ceiling to represent a white sky. Use a needle to hang several long pieces of heavy thread or string from your improvised white ceiling and use them to create a dreamy décor by attaching soft clouds (see arts & crafts) to the end of each piece of thread or string.

White flower
Purchase a beautiful white flower and use it to decorate your daycare.

ROUTINES AND TRANSITIONS

White lunches
Serve as many white food items as possible throughout the theme: milk, ice cream, rice, vanilla yogurt, cheese, whipped cream, etc.

SENSORY ACTIVITIES (touch)

White sensory bin
Fill one or two manipulation bins with white items. Encourage little ones to manipulate the contents of your bin(s). Constant supervision is required.

• Indoor snow bin.
• Puffy cereal bin.
• Cotton ball bin.
• Flour bin (requires cleaning).

SENSORY ACTIVITIES (touch)

Searching for white
With toddlers, walk around your daycare and encourage them to identify all the white objects they see. You can give each child a small square piece of white paper to help remind them which color they are looking for.

ARTS & CRAFTS

White creativity
Use wide adhesive tape to stick a square piece of black felt on a table for each child. Invite children to paint on their piece of felt with white paint. Once the paint is dry, help them stick their piece of felt on white paper to create a frame.

Painting on a white bed sheet
This creative activity is great for promoting cooperation within your group. Hang a white bed sheet on a wall or drape it over a table. As a group, paint on the bed sheet. If you prefer, you can also hang the bed sheet from the ceiling, in the middle of your daycare. This will allow children to paint on both sides.

White clouds

On a beautiful day, go outside with your group and encourage them to observe the clouds in the sky. Afterwards, let children play with cotton balls (supervision required). Encourage them to realize how the cotton balls look a lot like the clouds they saw in the sky. Type the word "cloud" in the educatall club search engine. You will find a simple cloud shape. Print it and use it to trace cloud shapes on white cardboard. Have children glue cotton balls on their cloud. When they are done, hang the clouds from the ceiling.

MORAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

White everywhere
Select a day and ask parents to dress their child with a white sweater or t-shirt. What a great way to promote a sense of belonging within your group! Encourage children to notice how they are all wearing the "same" color to introduce them to the concept of same/different.

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

I am learning to count sheep
Type the word "sheep" in the educatall club to find illustrations that can be printed and displayed on a wall for babies to admire. Invite toddlers to decorate sheep with yarn, buttons, and other accessories. Display the sheep on a wall, writing a number on each one. Have fun counting the sheep together to slowly introduce your group to numbers.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

White toilet paper roll
Rolling a toilet paper roll out is always fun for little ones! Babies who are learning to crawl will love following the roll as it unravels on the floor. Toddlers will love to wrap different items within your daycare with the toilet paper. Let them tear it, crumple it up, toss it around, etc. You can deposit a square of toilet paper on each child's face and encourage them to blow on it to send it flying through the air (or simply lift it).

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Snowflakes
Show children how they can catch snowflakes on their tongue or on a black piece of construction paper. Photograph children as they are playing in the snow.

LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

Print the pictures taken during the previous outdoor activity. Display them on a wall or in a special photo album and admire them with your group. Help them notice how the snow is very white.

Chantal Millette
Early childhood educator

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