There wasn’t much snow, but I had to document Cian’s first experience of touching snow. When I showed his big brothers later, it led to some interesting discussions about the world.

Resources

  • Sprinkling of snow
  • Waterproof clothes

Method

On the walk back from school, Cian was keen to get out of the pram and touch the snow. To start with, he knelt down on the pavement and tasted it.

Then he decided to have a go walking on it. He bent down to feel it again, then walked round in a large circle. Once he’d spotted his footprints, he walked round the loop again and again.

He was a bit unsteady, with all his layers. When he fell over, he just rolled around shrieking and giggling.

When Ioan and Finn saw the picture of Cian on the grass, they each wanted one of their own. The following morning we took Ioan’s in the sunshine as we were leaving for school, then Finn’s when we got back from school drop off. By the time we took Finn’s the rain had started so he wore his sun glasses, convinced the mixture of sun and rain would make a rainbow appear.

Comparing the pictures gave us a good talking point as they discussed how much the weather can vary in just 24 hours. They then went on to talk about what types of weather they would expect in each of the four seasons.

When Finn mentioned about the leaves falling off the trees in Autumn, they then moved on to Ioan explaining the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees, and that they are opposite each other. Deciduous trees shed their leaves seasonally and evergreen trees keep their foliage throughout the year. Deciduous trees are adapted to tolerate cold and dry weather conditions by shedding their leaves while evergreens do not.

Not bad for a quick picture on the front lawn!

DfES Early Learning Goals (2017)

Understanding the world

ELG 14 – The world:

Children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes.