Winter Role Play ideas? Antarctic, igloo etc

Hi,

Anyone got any ideas for a winter role play area. I would like to do a snow cave or an igloo. Has anyone done something like this or have another idea. If so what resources have u used. Material etc. It is for a yr1 class.

Thanks x

 

Hi,

Anyone got any ideas for a winter role play area. I would like to do a snow cave or an igloo. Has anyone done something like this or have another idea. If so what resources have u used. Material etc. It is for a yr1 class.

Thanks x

 

I am planning on having an igloo just before Christmas. We will use a pop up tent from ikea and cover it in a white sheet. We will have winter clothes in there, also a fire made from logs and tissue paper, a pond where children can fish, some sausages and a pan to put on the fire. We will also have a plastic sledge. Any more ideas would be great though!

 

I had an igloo when i was in reception it was great. I hung a hoop from the celing and drapted a very large white cloth over it, i taped paper over the wooden home corner dividers (not sure what there called!!) and painted on silver ice bricks with penguins peeping through the window. It was great the children loved it. I had artic clothing, soft artic animals, plastic sledge, bucket with numbered fish inside with magnets to catch, artic maps for boat trips with note pads for writing shipping details. Camp fire area with pad for writing an artic cook book. Go for it your children will love it - OFSTED did the lady said in 7 years of being an inspector she'd never seen one!!

 

there is a picture of a winter role play at this link

http://www.johngaunt.norfolk.sch.uk/reception.htm

 

i bought an igloo from ikea last weekend. £4.99!

 

If you go to www.wsgfl.org.uk and to Curriculum - English - Planning - Winter Unit Plan for Reception / Year 1. There is a powerpoint presentation with plans and photographs with the sort of things you mentioned!

 

I'm sorry to bring this crashing down but where does an igloo fit with prior experience?? and who lives in one anyway?

When do we get enough snow to make any sense of creating snow buildings.

 

http://www.**********.co.uk/gallery/gal206-210/gal210.htm...

SB

 

Thanks to all of the 'positive' replies to my post. It's great to hear about your roleplay areas. It was great to hear about yours spice0012. I wonder what the igloo from ikea is like? As for igloos fitting into prior experience I know plenty of children who have never been to a castle but enjoyed a castle roleplay area. Can't children enjoy things using their own imaginations anyway???

 

I'm going to do santa's grotto again i think - the materials can be for what is best to wrap the presents in! my yr2 class loved it last year and wrapped lots of gifts to give to other children in the class, they were very good at understanding that they had to put them back at the end of the lesson! only problem was that i put it up in november and it stayed till end of term - christmas lasted too long!!!

 

Fairy7- we used the IKEA igloo tent for our 'cold places' corner as well- this followed on from our 'rainforest' area for 'hot places'- the children had no experience of either place but amazingly!!!! learnt a great deal! That was a really unfortunate comment- what about 'Space' or 'Castles' are we really never to introduce the children to anything!
By the way we used a HUGE white 'tarpaulin' that came with camoflague nets from TES supplies and it looked great- good luck!

 

Thanks for your post vbjb42!

 

I love this role-play idea.
We extended it last year into the builders tray - put lots of sugar and penguins/polar bears/seals/sledges/people/etc. then as Christmas approaches Santa and his sleigh appeared - the children loved it. Also put ice with penguins frozen into the ice was good too but.
Children have experience of this through stories and through their experience of winter festivals.

 

Hey..
we have a cardboard igloo from a company online... i just wondered where you got artic maps?
i have picked up your campfire idea i will use that my other half is making us a ice hole and i have lots of fish and sharks with numbers and shapes on... i really like the idea of making the class an ice palace too i saw that in a reception she had turned everything in to ice by covering everything in white the cooker the shop everything ...
jo

 

Got some winter camouflage netting off eBay (£15) - it's substantial and very effective hung from ceiling to make ice/snow area plus Ikea "igloo"!

 

Nicely hijacked by the 'positive replies'. Are you teaching about igloos because IKEA has one available for 4.99 or are you really expanding your children's interests and experiences. Personally I'd put a lot of warm clothing including textural fabrics like fur and duvets/thick blankets and let the children get snuggly in the cold, rather than pretend to be frozen.... unless you are investigating the lifestyle of an inuit??

 

Stop being so miserable! The chidlren LOVE winter AND our £4.99 Ikea igloo! We also put warm clothes and blankets etc into the role play area to use to keep warm in the igloo as well as a 'pond' and magnetic numbered fish for them to catch and put in their bucket. For writing opportunities we get chidlren to write a list of the things they might need for their arctic expedition. We also made and igloo outside with milk cartons (don't ask me how my TA did it! I could never do anything as artistic!) We put binoculars in the igloo and painted huge cardboard polar bears, seals and whales for the children to spot with their binoculars and draw pictures of and label what they saw. The children love it! Writing opportunities both inside and outside. Last year when it snowed properly, the children had sledges to pretend they were on a proper Arctic expedition. And as for pretending, that is one of the ELGs isn't it?!

 

We bought our IKEA igloo last year after the children had shown their interest by building igloos in the snow. But children love any kind of " tent" structure so you can't go wrong.