With the chilly temperatures of January comes a wonderful world of icy magic in your outdoor area. With this in mind we've hopped to it with some fun winter mud kitchen activities at Cosy HQ. Here's a lovely idea to work on with your children - icy winter ornaments! A great way to explore the changing properties of water, as well as working on fine motor, expressive art and design, and so much more.

This quick EYFS winter idea is a super straight forward activity with lasting learning. Here's how to go about making yours:

  1. Collect your materials! You can use a variety of different items here. Firstly, you'll need some kind of bowl or dish for your ornament. We recommend our Balti Dishes, which are just the right size with little hands for little hands, but you can use anything! Then, go about collecting a nice variety of leaves, twigs and natural items. You'll also need some string.
  2. Encourage young children to lay out their resources in their dishes, then add cold water to the top and lay a string across the edge.
  3. Next, the fun bit! Leave your decorations out in cold weather overnight and prepare for eyes filled with wonder. Children can gently release their icy creations and explore what ice has done to the natural items inside.
  4. Hang up your decorations on trees, mud kitchens, or outside the classroom. What will happen when the weather warms up? Another great opportunity for discussion around changes, temperature and weather.

We hope you enjoy crafting these clever wintery wonders. Make sure to tag us @cosydirect if you give them a go, we'd love to see.