This month, the toddlers have shown a growing interest in colour exploration and excitement for snow play. Building on these interests, educators created a rich sensory experience that combined snow, watercolours, and hands-on exploration both indoors and outdoors, allowing the children to deepen their learning through play.
The experience began by bringing snow into the classroom, transforming it into an inviting sensory space. The toddlers were introduced to watercolours as a new type of paint. The educator added a small amount of water to the paint and invited the children to choose the colour and brush they wanted to use by themselves, supporting choice-making and growing independence. Knowing the children’s love for sensory play, snow was placed inside the tuff tray. The toddlers painted directly onto the snow, eagerly exploring how the colours spread, mixed, and changed on the cold, white surface.
As they played, the children showed curiosity and excitement. Robbie demonstrated early language development by naming the colour he was using, saying “green.” Zoey and Brantley repeatedly said “snow,” showing recognition and enthusiasm for the material. Emmie explored the paint using her hands and as she mixed the colour together, while Dante expressed delight as he felt the cold, wet texture of the snow. Benjamin explored the materials differently from switching the use of brush bristles to the handle, showing flexible thinking and curiosity.
The exploration extended outdoors, where the toddlers continued working with snow in group. Together, the children built a snow castle with the help of the educators, strengthening cooperation and shared play. The educators then introduced spray bottles filled with water mixed with food colouring, inviting the children to add colour to their snow creation. At first, some children experimented by shaking the bottles, turning them upside down, or spraying toward themselves as they figured out how the bottles worked. Through trial and error, observation, and gentle guidance from educators, the children learned to squeeze the handles and aim the spray.
Dante, Zoey, Owen, and Robbie successfully used the spray bottles, watching as the coloured water transformed the snow castle. Many children named the colours they were using, demonstrating growing language awareness. As more children joined the activity, they shared materials, took turns, and communicated with peers, strengthening social connections.
The snow and colour exploration supported the toddlers’ fine motor development through painting, squeezing spray bottles, and manipulating materials. It encouraged sensory exploration, creativity, problem-solving, persistence, and confidence. The experience also fostered language development as children named colours and materials, and strengthened social skills through cooperation and shared play. Overall, this learning journey highlighted the children’s curiosity and growing ability to learn together through meaningful, play-based experiences.
