Small World Play: Winter Lake

In our last post Minnie enjoyed lots of messy fun with paint & pine cones, & the finished results were beautiful creations like these.

We thought they looked like mini fir trees & would be great as part of a winter small world play scene.

I had some rice & glitter mixture left over from the 'snow' in our winter discovery bottle & poured it into a large foil dish.  (This is a high sided dish which I thought would help contain the rice when Minnie was playing with it. Plus the foil helped create a silvery, icy backdrop.)

For a frozen skating lake I added holographic card. The foil base of the dish would make a great lake too, but the card just gave a smoother shinier surface. The reflections were pretty neat too, reminding me of the aurora borealis (the Northern Lights).

Then it was time to add the pine cone forest (using the pine cones we'd collected on our woodland walk).

And for some frugal play people we added cake toppers & Christmas tree decorations. (If you don't have any to hand, go raid your mums/grandparents baking cupboards I bet you'll find some) ;-)

The snow (rice) held the wooden cutouts in place, & enabled the figures to stand on the surface, sink into it & be buried underneath it. Great for exploring the effects of deep snow.

Then it was time for Minnie to explore. To say she was excited is kind of an understatement.;-)

Soon she was playing 'hide & seek' with the figures, creating snowstorms, & building snow ramps by pouring, patting, sprinkling, & moulding the rice.

And the texture was obviously too good to just explore with hands, soon arms were being buried in the 'snow'!

Minnie squealed as she slid the figures around the frozen lake, & soon a narrative was forming. She was transported to a whole new wintry world! Fantastic!

Minnie then added a small slide to her play, & sprinkled over of handfuls of rice. The grains bounced & flew in all directions, revealing new sounds & movements to explore.

I think the snowmen appreciated it too! ;-)

And for that freshly fallen snow look Minnie sprinkled the rice over the pine cone trees. The grains rested along the spines creating snow covered trees!

This play scene is set up in our kitchen, mainly because I'm guessing the rice will slowly find its way onto the floor. ;-) The dish has worked really well containing the rice, & we've found it easy to move when necessary.

Much imaginative & sensory play has already taken place, & I wonder what new adventures lie ahead for this small world play scene.

Shared with Sunday Showcase, Monday Madness, ABC & 123 Show & Tell