We’ve been waiting so long and it’s finally arrived:  snow!  It may have only been 2 inches and it may have mostly melted by the time we got outside, but snow is snow and we’ll take it!  The Tugboats were so excited to get outside and play in the wet, slushy mess this morning.  We got outside at around 11 AM, but which time most of the snow had turned into soggy, muddy ground.  We did find a large patch of unmelted snow in the shadow of the Route 1 overpass, so we clambered over and let the fun begin!  The kiddos made snowballs (to throw at the wall, not each other) and snowpeople (albeit very, very tiny ones.)  More than anything, they just loved running and jumping with both feet into little piles of snow!  I think the slushy, nearly melted consistency was super soft and squishy, which is certainly appealing to most 3- and 4-year-olds, and was exactly what they wanted.  I’ll admit… it was pretty fun!

Once we returned inside, dried off and got back into our “indoor clothes,” we did a fun project to continue our exploration of the letter N: necklaces!  The children used string and Fruit Loop cereal to make themselves a colorful piece of jewelery that also serves as a delicious snack!  Each child was given a sorting tray of their own while the group shared a large tray of cereal in the middle of each table.  They selected the colors they wanted for their necklaces, sorted the colors on their personal trays, and finally began stringing the cereal onto their strings.  Some children organized their necklaces by grouping colors together.  Others made patterns by alternating their favorite colors.  Others still enjoyed simply placing the cereal at random.  Each child seemed to select their color strategy to their own challenge level, which is one of the wonderful things about projects like this one.  All children benefited from the fine motor development, as lacing a narrow string through the center of the cereal is not such a simple task!