This week’s post comes to us from PVP Education Director Jacie Feinberg.
Snow days are upon us and as a mother of twin girls, I know first-hand what it’s like to stay home all day without an option to get out!! So I thought I would take this opportunity to share some ideas of things that I do and have done as the Ed Director and mom of twins when we are cooped up inside. Even if you have just some basic Spanish vocabulary words, try and incorporate as much as you are able to when doing your fun activities.
FOR YOUNG TODDLERS
Streamer Fun:
Toddlers of all ages love sensory experiences. Try putting out streamer paper in different colors all over your house to encourage all sorts of skills for their fine and gross motor development. I tried it out with my twin daughters when they were almost 15 months and they had a blast!! I started by putting small strips on the floor.
The girls quickly started putting it all over their arms and legs. Super fun! They also practiced ripping the paper into little pieces. Then I tied a couple of long pieces across the room to encourage them to REACH for it!
I used to do this with the 12 – 18 month-old group that I worked with years ago and it was always a big success!! We would talk about colors IN SPANISH and sometimes even filled up a plastic pool with streamers too. The ideas are endless and you can pick up the streamers at your local Dollar store. At the end, we made balls of the streamers as we cleaned them up into the basket. So much fun!!
Homemade Bubble Machine:
We often blow bubbles at home, but I wanted to try something different with the girls for another sensory experience. So we made a homemade bubble machine. I added some bubble mixture to a bowl, and grabbed a straw. The girls were immediately interested. As I blew into the mixture, the bubbles just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger! Acadia excitedly grabbed the bubbles and played with them in her hands.
Sedona grabbed the bubbles and took a taste…it’s true with toddlers that they put everything in their mouths first!! 🙂 It was such a relaxing activity and the girls loved it! 
Magic Carpet Rides:
Here is another fun indoor activity to do with those tiny toddlers to keep them entertained, this one while practicing their gross motor skills of balance!! Grab a big blanket and talk to the children about going on a magic carpet ride. You can even pretend to collect some dinero for the viaje.
Once everyone is aboard, make a long “rr” sound as you pull the children around the hallway, gym or classroom!! The children will surely start to emulate the sounds and will also practice their balance as you make your way around the room. It will bring such joy and delight to all of the children as they take turns on the magic carpet!!
FOR PRESCHOOLERS
This past snow storm, I kept the girls busy with a LOT of fun activities.
Apparently the streamer activity doesn’t get old with preschoolers either!! The girls wanted to “decorate” the house so that’s exactly what we did!! I gave them some tape and they brought the streamers all over the place. We also put snow in the sensory table (complete with gloves, spoons and cups), and even did some music making on the piano.
Other activities included Sequence for Kids (I highly recommend this game for children 3 and up). 
We practiced saying the names of the animals en español as they covered them with their chips. We made homemade playdough (this is SOOOOO easy and it makes the BEST playdough that lasts for a long time in an airproof Ziploc bag). We also made homemade mango juice and some heart shaped cards.
All in all, it was a great way to spend some quality time together while riding out the storm!