After the Christmas decorations finally get stowed away, we like to focus on winter play. Since we live in Canada, winter is characterized by cold, snow and ice and January is the perfect time to explore many of these concepts.
Our Approach to Rotations
We don’t do a full toy rotation anymore. This is mostly because many of our toys are open-ended and continue to be played with in different capacities. However, it is fun to recognize the month and season we’re in with a few special and fresh items. Instead of a full toy rotation, we rotate one shelf monthly to reflect the play themes we’ll be exploring in the upcoming weeks.
I like having all of our resources out and available, so they can easily be added into activities. The kids like to also add the seasonal figures and pieces into their play with our open-ended toys.
Why Rotate Toys and Books?
Rotation helps keep things fresh and interesting. By putting away items for a few months and then bringing them back out, it generates new excitement and interest for kids. Even though the toys aren’t new, they seem new and novel. My kids will recall fond memories of playing with the toys in the past and want to replicate those experiences. They love rediscovering old favourites.
January Toy Rotation
So what did we bring out for January? Here are some of our winter favourites.
Small World Play
❄️ Felt Winter Cottage – Sewing Seeds Play (✨code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
❄️ Wooden frozen pond – The Maple Mouse Sensory (✨code ‘houseofplay10)
❄️ Papoose Winter Trees
❄️ Tenderleaf Toys Polar Bear
Book Play
❄️ The Mitten – Schleich animals and a mitten from our closet
❄️ The Gruffalo’s Child – story blocks by The Maple Mouse Sensory (✨code ‘houseofplay10’), Zooble Toys felt caves from Wonder + Kind Shop (✨code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
Building
❄️ LEGO Frozen II Elsa’s Jewelry Box
Games
❄️ Vilac Eddy Bear balancing game
Puzzles
❄️ Crocodile Creek Arctic Animals
❄️ Londji Let’s Go to the Mountain
❄️ Janod Snow Party
January Book Rotation
Along with winter toys, we like to bring out our wintertime stories. There are so many great children’s books about winter, snow and animals that live in cold climates. Here are 10 of our favourites.
⭐️ The Mitten – Jan Brett
⭐️ Winter in the Forest
⭐️ Thomas’ Snowsuit – Robert Munsch
⭐️ The Snowy Nap – Jan Brett
⭐️ I Have to Go – Robert Munsch
⭐️ The Gruffalo’s Child – Julia Donaldson
⭐️ Winter Sleep – Sean Taylor
⭐️ One Very Big Bear – Alice Brière-Haquet
⭐️ Bear Snores On – Karma Wilson
⭐️ A Thing Called Snow – Yuval Zommer
What’s your favourite winter themed book?