Family Storytime: Snowmen

This is one of my favorite winter themes and it did not disappoint. I was able to read four short snowman books and do three activities with the craft. 

After our bean bag song, we read The Most Perfect Snowman by Chris Britt. What makes this snowman perfect is his willingness to share. Besides sharing, this is also a good picture book for reading for bullying and differences.

Our first activity was to make a snowman as a group using the flannel board. Everyone was given a piece and a chance to put theirs on the board. We went over colors and some numbers using the colors of the scarf and the number of buttons and gloves.

The next book I read was Pip and Posy: The Snowy Day. This is a cute book and shows that Pip and Posy could work together to make their unique snowman. 

Our next activity was a cut-and-tell. I haven't done one of these in awhile and this one was perfect for this storytime and fit well with our cutting craft. I told a story of a snowman that kept melting because of the change of seasons from winter to spring. The kids recognized that the snowman was getting smaller until he became a puddle. 

You Make Me Smile by Layn Marlow is a book about a snowman that is given a smile.

Our final activity is always a hoot with the kids. This is a sort of magic trick where I give everyone a laminated snowman piece and they have to put theirs in the envelope. Once everyone is done putting their pieces in the envelope, we all say abracadabra! and a full snowman is pulled out of the envelope. The kids can never figure it out, but there are two separate envelopes glued together. 

I probably could have ended right there, but decided to read 100 Snowmen by Jen Arena. It's a simple math based picture book that goes really quick. I think I was pushing the group a little bit with this last story, but it was over quick and we made it to our craft.

We made S is for Snowman crafts and the group got their cutting practice in. The parents really liked that part of the craft. I added some originality to it but having the option of choosing what color the stripe on their snowman's hat should be. 

This is a great theme for winter and would also work wonderfully for older kids because there are longer picture books out there that were written so well.