Your child is not like any other child. Yes, they may have familiar similarities or may be right on target with other children their age on the development charts but they are all unique little people. It fascinates me to listen to the children as they explain a thought, watch as they work with the play dough, and see their creativity as they explore the materials in the outside play area.
Even though two snowflakes may form in the same cloud, their different journeys to the ground will affect their shape and size, giving each snowflake its own unique identity. You may never find an identical pair of snowflakes, but they can be grouped by similarities in their patterns.
https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-are-all-snowflakes-different
And just as two children are interacting with similar materials at preschool they will have a different interpretation of that item or activity and how it effects their world. Enjoy those special qualities that make your child a ‘snowflake’ – unique and one-of-a-kind!
This second week in January we will be talking about snowflakes. The children will be dipping snowflake shapes in watercolor to make “rainbow” snowflakes. We will be using magnifying glasses to look and make tiny things look bigger.
The Science of Snowflakes: Facts and Activities for Children
Laure Latham
December 9, 2015
Six is the magic number for snow – did you know that? If you had a big magnifier and stepped outside with your children on a cold winter day to watch snow fall from the sky, here is what you might observe – six-sided hexagonal crystals, needles or flat six-sided crystals, and a wide variety of six-sided shapes. All snowflakes are a combination of the number six for simple chemical reasons – they’re all variants of the water molecule. Despite all snowflakes having six sides, not two snowflakes are exactly identical. How crazy is that? Here are a few more fun facts about snowflakes as well as simple science activities you can do with your children.
Where Do Snowflakes Come From?
As obvious as this may sound, snowflakes—or more scientifically, snow crystals—are formed in clouds. However they are not frozen raindrops, as that’s called sleet or hail. Snowflakes are a different cold weather phenomenon formed from water vapor that condenses around a tiny particle—the seed crystal, usually a speck of dust—in clouds. Cloud droplets condense around the seed crystal and freeze on the surface of the particle, patterns emerging as the crystals grow.
The shape of snowflakes is determined by the altitude and temperatures at which they are formed. When several crystals stick together or create puffy white balls, they become snowflakes. Once the snowflakes are heavy enough, they fall to the earth. The average snowflakes fall at an average speed of 3.1 miles per hour!
Songs:
Snowflake Song
Snowflakes, snowflakes, dance around.
Snowflakes, snowflakes, touch the ground.
Snowflakes, snowflakes, in the air.
Snowflakes, snowflakes, everywhere.
Snowflakes, snowflakes, dance around.
Snowflakes, snowflakes, touch the ground.
Five Little Snowmen
Five little snowmen riding on the sled (pretend five fingers are sledding),
One fell off and bumped his head (pretend one finger falls off…rub head).
I called Frosty and Frosty said (dial imaginary telephone),
“No more snowmen, riding on that sled” (say in a deep voice)!
Four little snowmen…etc.
Winter Song
Way up high in the snowy tree,
Lots of little snowflakes smiled at me.
So I shook that tree as hard as I could.
Down came the snowflakes
Brrrr
They’re cold!
Snowflake Week