A wonderful way to explore magnetism during the holidays!
Out of all the different holiday activities I have made for the children to play with, the magnetic bows and cookie sheets have been one of the most played with activities so far…
Preparing the Activity
To make this activity, all you need to do is glue a small magnet onto the back of several Christmas bows. I used pretty small magnets and I removed the stickers from the bows. In the process of play, I have had only one bow fall apart…
For the “gift boxes” I wrapped metal cookie sheets (that I bought earlier this year from the Dollar store) with wrapping paper. When I first shared these with the children, I HAD to show them that the only thing under the wrapping paper was the metal cookie sheets that they play with all the time in our classroom. This prevented most unwrapping of the cookie sheets but we had a few children that just couldn’t help but still take a peak:)
The children placed the magnetic bows on the paper covered cookie sheets and then walked around giving each other gifts every single day…
Exploring Magnets through Pretend Play
The dramatic play was endless. I listened in to two little girls pretending to have an entire Christmas party. They each took turns giving the other all the gifts and pretending to open them. I heard, “Oh, I got a baby” and “Oh, I got another baby!”….
You will notice that the big magnetic board was out too for the children to add their magnetic bows on…
A fun and Simple Process!
Lot’s of choices, lots of dramatic play, lots of fun with this simple activity!
