Brrrrr—it's a blustery day with about 10 inches of snow here in Chicagoland. Our dog Jade loves the snow as much as our grandsons. When I head out to face the winter weather I wear gloves. I wish I could say the same for these boys.
If they can’t stay out and play we play, listen and learn in the snow while staying warm. The boys believe I have the most magical winter mini-toys. The children receiving auditory verbal therapy couldn’t agree more. Please don’t tell my grandsons but this is an activity I’ve included in therapy way before they were born.
We fill a bin with packing styrofoam peanuts and two little shovels from the summer sandbox. Then, I hide the toys one by one under the “snow”. The child listens to a description through hearing alone.
They think and make a guess. If correct they use the snow shovel to uncover the winter-themed toys buried in the snow. The vocabulary grows and well as the exciting back and forth conversations.
Reading aloud P. D. Eastman and Roy McKie’s Snow book shares the kind of fun only a wintry-white day can bring from snowball fights and skiing to fort building and snowman-making. The youngest listeners listen and learn from my favorite author Anne Rockwell and the story, The First Snowfall .