Family Storytime: Snowmen

We started off our snowman storytime with our opening bean bag song and then got started with our first story, Snowzilla by Janet Lawler. This is a story about building the biggest snowman ever. The kids enjoyed this one and we talked a little bit about the concept big and small.

Our first activity was making our own snowman together on the flannel board. Everyone got a piece to complete our snowman and since the kids were so proud of it, we left it on the flannel board for the rest of storytime.

Our next story was All You Need for a Snowman by Barbara LaValle. This is a good read because it explains what makes a snowman and was a nice transition from the flannel board to this.

For our next activity, we each had a snowman piece to put into our magic envelope. Once we said "Abracadabra" our snowman magically was put together. This is a fun one that the kids really love because it is surprising. My magic was having two envelopes with one of the envelopes having a snowman already made.

Our final book was 100 Snowmen by Jen Arena. What a way to get the kids counting and following along. Loved all these books for our theme!

Our craft was making a snowman using paint, construction paper, and markers.

Other Snowman and Snow Books:

When the Snow Is Deeper Than My Boots Are Tall Jean Reidy

The Biggest Snowman Ever Steven Kroll

The Snowy Day Ezra Jack Keats

The Most Perfect Snowman Chris Britt

Waiting For Snow Marsha Diane Arnold

Dinos in the Snow! Karma Wilson

Pip and Posy The Snowy Day Axel Scheffler

Snowballs Lois Ehlert

Snowmen at Night Caralyn Buehner

The Biggest, Best Snowman Margery Cuyler

The Smiley Snowman M. Christina Butler

Here Comes Jack Frost Kazuno Kohara

Hello, Snow! Hope Vestergaard

Mouse's First Snow Lauren Thompson

There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow! Lucille Colandro

Big Snow Jonathan Bean

You Make Me Smile Layn Marlow

A Very Special Snowflake Don Hoffman

When the Snow Falls Linda Booth Sweeney

Into the Snow Yuki Kaneko

I See Winter Charles Ghigna

Best In Snow April Pulley Sayre

Mine, All Mine! Claire Hawcock

Sugar White Snow and Evergreens Felicia Sanzari Chernesky

Snowballs Lois Ehlert

Little Penguins Cynthia Rylant

The Reader Amy Hest

Family Storytime: Hats, Mittens, Scarves

We started off our hats, mittens, and scarves storytime with our bean bag song to get some of the kids' sillies out and then we dove right into our first book, Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London. This is a perfect book for a warm clothes storytime and gets the kids laughing everytime.

Once we were done with our story, we used the flannel board and matched colored mittens. They loved being able to put a mitten on the board and we each counted them all at the end.

Our next book was another adorable book, Little Owl's Orange Scarf by Tatyana Feeney. This book always seems to keep the kids engaged and has simple illustrations.

We used the flannel board to count winter hats using a fun rhyme. We talked about their colors and everyone followed along well.

Our last story was A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke. This is another silly story that kept the group's interest.

For our craft, we made snowmen with ear muffs and scarves using styrofoam cups, pom poms, construction paper, and pipe cleaners.

Other Books:

A Mountain of Mittens Lynn Plourde

Do You Have a Hat? Eileen Spinelli (about all hats, not just winter)

Where's Mary's Hat? Barroux (about all hats, not just winter)

Knitty Kitty David Elliott

Whose Hat? Margaret Miller (about all hats, guessing, older pictures)

One Mitten Kristine O'Connell George

Smitten David Gordon

Song Activities:

Johnette Downing Scarf Activity Songs Track 3 "Shake Your Scarves" longer song

H.U.M. All Year Long Track 2 "The Mitten Song" short song with a few movements

Night Train 57 Track 10 "Hats" Short random dancing song

Optional Craft: Decorating cut-out mittens

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.

Toddler Art: Winter Time

I was excited to see some new faces for Toddler Art at the beginning of this year. They made such great additions to the group! It was snowing in the morning so we had some fresh snow on the ground to go along with our snow and winter time theme!

I briefly introduced myself and went over the format for the program for those who were new. Then we started off by reading the classic The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. A couple of the kids were a bit antsy, but it was still a good reading time.

For the first craft, we made A Snowy Day scene using homemade puffy paint. I explained that they could leave tracks in the snow just like Peter does in the book. The puffy paint was made out of equal parts Elmer's white liquid glue and shaving cream. This is an easy way to make white paint that's a bit more interesting and sensory. The group enjoyed playing with the paint. 

For the second craft, we made a melted snowman using construction paper shapes that were cut out previously. I went over the shapes with the group and it gave the parents some incentive to practice shapes with the older kids. 
 
Most of this group was afraid of the sensory snow and didn't want to get dirty, but I did have a few young ones play with it. 

This was a fun one that went really well and I hope to see the new families at the next program in February.
 

Preschool Picasso: Winter Time

It was so nice to see all my families back for more Preschool Picasso this year. We had a winter theme complete with some real snow on the ground outside. 

After we talked a little bit about winter and the new year and everyone got settled in, we read Snowzilla by Janet Lawler. This is a rhyming picture book about a girl who with some help, builds a gigantic snowman and how the town feels about it. 

After mentioning our youth Tumblr page and asking for suggestions on content and promoting a later storytime, I explained each craft.

We started with some process art paintings. The group created winter scenes using blue and white paint, liquid glue, and Epsom salt. I explained to the group that this craft is very fun and the focus is on creating, not the end of the craft. 

Blue paint is painted onto card stock or other thick paper any way they would like and then white paint is added, making different shades of blue and our winter scene. Once they are finished painting, it's time to add a lot of glue (the kids love this part) and sprinkle Epsom salt on top to make snow. We talked about the different color blues and the texture of the salt. They had a fun time painting and sprinkling their salt onto their art.

After they were done with their process art, we let them dry and it was time to make a snowman like the snowman in our story. We had different shapes, felt scarf pieces, and white and black paint in q-tips to make snowflakes and snowman faces.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

 

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!