Family Storytime: Snow

We kicked off our storytimes with a snow theme, despite having no white on the ground outside. It gave us a chance to use our imaginations and bring some "snow" into the library. This is always a good theme for winter with so many books to choose from and enjoy.

I always start my storytimes with a bean bag dance. This allows the group to get some of their energy out before we start reading together. They really enjoy following along with the song and putting their bean bag on certain parts of their body while dancing along the whole time. I've used different songs in the past, but our favorite is "Bean Bag Rock" by Georgianna Stewart. Here's a link to a variation of the song on YouTube.

After I have the group guess what theme we will be reading about by looking at my storytime book display, it's time to jump right into our first story!

First Snow by Caldecott Medalist Emily Arnold McCully. This is an adorable story about a mouse family who go sledding in the snow and one little mouse who is too scared to go down the hill.

To break up storytime a bit, I added a flannel board activity next. The group built a felt snowman on the flannel board. They always enjoy bringing their pieces up to the board and this activity allows for participation, patience, and excitement. We went over some of the snowman's colors and where his boots and gloves go.

Our second story was also titled First Snow, but is by Bomi Park. I chose this one because it was new in our collection and covered all the fun things we can do in the snow, like making snowballs and snow angels. I also liked the simple illustrations using mainly black and white, with a pop of red. The group seemed to have really followed along with this one.

I always try to have another activity after the second story and for this theme, I used a "Ten Warm Hats" flannel board rhyme. We counted all the hats and began taking them away. We also went over their colors. My storytime is for all ages up to age 8, so my older attendee ended up helping the younger ones with their counting.

Our last story was Mouse's First Snow by Lauren Thompson. Another cute mouse story in the snow. This time, Mouse makes a snowmouse. We enjoyed the cozy story, but were anxious to get to the craft.

What better craft for a snow theme then making a snowman? We made snowmen out of construction paper, complete with a carrot nose, scarf, and some buttons. The group did a great job with their snowmen and each got a snowman face sticker for being such good listeners!