Arctic Animals

I saw this really cute snowy owl and knew we had to make it!  We have an abundance of pine cones so any excuse to use them in a craft is great.  Eva began by pulling apart a few cotton balls and stuffing the bits into the pinecone.

When he was snowy enough we added a foam beak and googly eyes.  So simple and so cute!

Last year we also made some North Pole pals.  You can check out our torn paper polar bear,

a sock seal,

and a snowy owl puppet.

Eva also made a polar bear puppet at story time this week (those ladies at Barnes and Noble must know what themes I have planned!).

(that's the polar bear's heart and mittens- he didn't just finish a meal)

Mitten Prints

We dug out a few of Eva's outgrown mittens for this fun craft.  First, Eva chose three different paint colors- pink, purple and turquoise- and I poured a little of each on small plates.  Eva then pulled on a mitten, dipped her hand in the paint and stamped onto a sheet of paper.

Such fun!

We sang a favorite winter song while painting too:

The Mitten Song

Thumb in the thumb hole,

Fingers all together

This is the song 

We sing in mitten weather!

The Arctic

Wow!  This month has flown by!  We will be wrapping our visit to the polar regions with some time in the Arctic.  We'll mainly focus on the animals that live near the North Pole, along with a few activities relating to winter wear.

Crafts
Mitten Prints- what happens when you finger paint with mittens on?  you'll have to stop by and see!

Snowy Owl- we'll transform a pinecone into an adorable owl

Activities
Tracks in the Snow- we'll head out to the park to look fro animal tracks and make a few or our own

Polar Bear Fat- we got to do this cool experiment at the zoo a while back and we will try to reenact it at home

Camouflage Experiment- how does a polar bear's white fur help him hunt?  we'll play around with colors to see how animals' fur helps them hide from predators or prey

Mitten Matching- using Eva's supply of mittens, we'll find matches and hang them on a little clothesline

Books:
Arctic Animals:
            
Winter Wear: