Well, today was about 72 degrees so I feel strange posting about my story time on snow, but here it is…
Opening Song
My Hands Say Hello (Click here for a previous post on this song w/ words)
Books
Snowmen at Night is a book I use pretty much every year because it’s really fun to read. The story is about – you guessed it – what snowmen do at night. Which is snowball fights, sledding, skating and drinking cold cocoa, of course. This explains why snowmen might look a bit “saggy” the next day (aka – they were partying all night.)
Millions of Snowflakes is a quick counting book where you – yup – count the snowflakes. It’s good for a younger crowd and gets them involved in what’s going on. They love it when I need their help to count things in books!
The Snowy Day is of course the classic story of a little boy exploring the snow. It’s a quiet book, and while I love it, it may be better for an older or smaller group.
Songs & Activities
I like to use the Raffi song Shake My Sillies Out in the middle of the story time – sometimes between books if the kids are getting a bit antsy.
I’m a Little Snowman (to the tune of “I’m a Little Tea Cup“)
I’m a Little Snowman – short and fat Here is my scarf, here is my hat When the sun comes out I melt Away But when it’s cold I’m here to stayWalking, Walking (to the tune of “Frere Jacques“)
Walking, walking Walking, walking Hop, hop, hop! Hop, hop, hop! Running, running, running Running, running, running Now we stop Now we stop.The kids LOVE this. I usually do it at the end, before we go sit down to do our craft. I have the kids line up behind me and we start walking in a circle. Then we hop like bunnies. Then we run (more of a slow jog) and then we stop and freeze. This is the point when several kids crash into my butt. They think it’s hilarious. Sometimes the parents join in too.
Funny anecdote: A few weeks ago a little boy stood in front of me with his arms up as we started this game, silently insisting that I pick him up. So I did this whole thing (3 times) with a very heavy one year old in my arms. He also refused to get down or go to his mother after, so I had to do the whole craft one handed. No wonder moms have great arms! 🙂
Craft
I happened to find a bunch of foam snowflake stamps in the story time storage closet. No idea where they came from, but I knew they’d come in handy someday! I put out white paint, the stamps and dark & light blue construction paper. Also, I put down newspaper. I quickly realized that in order for the snowflake shape to come out, the kids needed to dip the stamp in the paint and then stamp it on paper towels a few times before stamping the paper. After we figured this out, it was great. It was also super easy, which the parents liked. I keep old button-down shirts and small aprons in case anyone has nice clothes on. The mess was pretty minimal for both groups.