Since playing with our Alphabet magnetic Christmas Tree Adam has been fascinated with magnets. His natural curiosity has led him to play with the metallic chips and magnetic wand from Imagido several times in the past few weeks. He enoys seeing how many chips he can pick up at once with the wand. Adam has also enjoyed playing with his Elf Small World Suitcase as well as his penguin story stones. I wanted a way to combine magnets within a small world. Within a few moments I created a magnetic skating penguin small world.
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I had the perfect metal penguin suitcase/lunchbox I had purchased from Tiger Stores UK. We fell in love with the penguin design which is on both sides.
I used the lunchbox as a template to cut out two circles of blue sparkling glitter craft card and white felt
. The blue sparkly card was placed on the inside of the lid and at the bottom of the lunchbox. The card stayed in place by itself and didn’t require any glue. With the white felt circles, I cut away the inside and placed them on top of the blue card. As the glitter on the blue card was bumpy it meant the white felt attached itself without the need for any glue.
We had our penguin ice skating rink. Next we needed some ice skating penguins. Our Hiku penguin storytelling stones were the ideal size albeit a bit heavy for fast ice skating moves. Our penguins were incredibly easy to make and have been used regularly in Adam’s free play ever since.
In order to get the penguins to skate I needed to attach a magnet. Our metallic chips from Imagido were the perfect size. I squirted superglue on to the blue metallic chip, placed a penguin stone on top and let it position itself upright. The glue was completely dry within half an hour and the penguins were ready to go ice skating.
We placed the penguins on the ice and positioned our magnetic wand from Imagido underneath. As we moved the magnet wand around the penguins skated around on top. There was a certain knack to getting the penguins to stake in a circle but Adam soon figured it out.
It worked best when only one penguin was on the ice rink. Adam soon discovered that when there were more than one penguin they ended up hugging rather than skating.
Our skating penguin small world has introduced Adam to the scientific world of magnets. He experimented to see why the penguins wouldn’t skate without the magnetic wand and why the penguins didn’t move when they were upside down.
Once Adam had finished playing the lid of the lunchbox could be closed, the magnetic wand “stuck” to the side of the tin and the penguin small would could be transported around. Our skating penguin small world makes a great busy bag that can be used time and time again.
Equipment:
* Penguin lunchbox – we purchased ours from Tiger Stores Uk
* Blue sparkling glitter craft card
* Small penguins – click here to see how we made our own penguins
* Metallic chips from Imagido
* Magnetic wand from Imagido
Are you looking for a story to accompany the skating penguin small world? Take a look at Parker Wants To Fly. It is written by my brother! Click here to find out more.
Click on the links below for more Winter/ Snow inspired Kindergarten fun!
Chocolate Snowflake Pretzels by Something 2 Offer
Magic Masking Tape Snowflake Paintings for Kids by Crafty Mama in ME
Beaded Snowflake Addition and Subtraction Practice by Thriving STEM
Snowflake Numbers 1-5 Handwriting Practice by Simple Fun for Kids
Let’s Go On A Sight Word Snowflake Scavenger Hunt by Raising Little Superheroes
5 Snowflake Rhyming Games by Books and Giggles
Sight Words Winter Tic Tac Toe Game by Sugar Aunts
Skating Penguin Small World by Adventures of Adam
Stick Man Story Sack by Play & Learn Everyday
Winter Writing Prompts by Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading
You May Also Like:
- Hiku Penguin Story Stones
- Penguin Sensory Bin
- Arctic Sensory Bin with Coconut Scented Play Dough
- Elf Small World
- Alphabet Magnetic Christmas Tree
- Magnetic pipe cleaner hearts
I love this! It reminds me of a set of magnetic dogs that I played with as a child.
Magnetic dogs – now that is an idea!
This is totally awesome! And those penguins are the cutest. Scheduling to share and pinning.
Thank you. We are certainly finding lots of uses for our homemade penguins.
This is so cute it hurts!!! I can’t wait to do this with my kids!!!
They will LOVE it – you too 🙂