Indoor Snow Play

I can't take credit for this activity...but just had to share it because we had so much fun! I was blog-surfing during naptime trying to come up with a fun 'project' when I came across this idea; bring the snow inside! Because I have an infant, I haven't been willing to bundle all three of us up to head outdoors but had been sad that James couldn't play in the snow. So I got out a thick beach towel, a few bowls, some of his toys, and went outside to scoop snow.

first thing, James began dumping every single toy into the snow pile

I made a snowman which he immediately claimed...and attempted to eat

his little fingers were absolutely freezing but he never complained once!

I used a small tupperware to make snow 'bricks' we could stack

James thought they were the perfect pedestals for his cars...of course!
I also packed a few of his figurines in the middle of his snow bricks to dig out and then got out the hair dryer to watch snow melt.

I saved the snow ice cream for last. (don't worry, I used 'clean' snow :) I used a bowl of un-played-with snow and added milk, sugar, and vanilla. James was in love! I thought it tasted pretty good, too, until he began to add chunks of played-with snow. I stopped eating it after that...but James slurped it all down! At one point he exclaimed, "Jackson, Sarah, Levi, Jason like this special!" He was wishing he could share this "special" activity with some of his cousins! If the snow lingers a few more days, we might have to do this again. We spent ONE HOUR playing with snow and it was FREE and clean up consisted of picking up a saturated beach towel. Can't beat that! I'd recommend this one for anybody with a toddler! :)
P.S. I have no idea what happened to his pants in that last picture...seriously!