On Friday, January 8th, Westshire kindergarteners used their 5 senses to explore the winter environment. We saw snow, ice crystals on plants and lots of animal tracks: all things that are hard to find outside at other times of the year. We made snow angels and used our senses to feel the snow on our backs and the sensation of movement, hear the swishing and scraping of our arms in the crunchy snow, and see the patterns we created. We listened for winter sounds like crunching snow, birds that are still here in winter, the wind and the river flowing nearby. We also heard silence! The snow muffles a lot of sounds so winter is quieter than other times of year. We used our senses of touch to feel rough bare tree branches, cold snow, soft mittens and warm sun on our faces. Finally, we made sugar on snow with maple syrup and tasted a sweet treat to end our hike. See below for the recipe!
Students using their senses of hearing and touch as they make snow angels in the crusty snow.
A student examines mouse tracks up close. We also saw tracks of fox, raven and wild turkey.
Sugar on snow is a sweet end to our walk.Yum!
Recipe for Sugar on Snow
You will need:
Real maple syrup (about a tablespoon per person)
Tray or bowl of powdery snow you collect outside ahead of time
A candy thermometer
A small pot
Plastic forks or popsicle sticks (1 per person)
Directions:
In a small pot, heat the desired amount of syrup (about a tablespoon per person)
Using the candy thermometer (a meat thermometer will work too) heat the syrup to 233 degrees
Once it reaches 233 degrees, remove from heat and wait for bubbles to stop
Pour the hot syrup onto the powdery snow in the tray. It should make a chewy taffy.
Use the forks or popsicle sticks to twirl the taffy up like spaghetti
Enjoy!
NOTE: If you don't heat the syrup enough or don't heat it at all, it will make a snow "slushy." If you heat it too much, it will make a hard candy instead of taffy. Both of these are still delicious, so you can't go wrong!
