For starters, I made homemade hot cocoa and big breakfast, which was very nice. I have incorporate food, first!
For circle time, we started with our snow songs. Our first is one that we sing about clothes that we put on when it's cold. We act out putting on the items as we sing,
"I put my hat on my head when it's cold outside, when it's cold outside. I say, BRRRR!"
(and go through with different items for different parts of the body - scarf on my neck, boots on my feet, mittens on my hands, etc.) They love saying "BRRRR!!!" and pretending we're so cold!
Our next song is to the tune London Bridge, and it's called "All the Snow is Falling Down". They don't care that it's sunny and definitely not snowing. They just love singing about the snow!
All the snow is falling down, falling down, falling down,
All the snow is falling down, all around us.
Bend down low and scoop some up, scoop some up, scoop some up.
Bend down low and scoop some up, and make a snow ball.
Toss it up into the sky, to the sky, to the sky.
Toss it up into the sky, and all fall down!
We use that song throughout the year, and change it according to the season (i.e. All the Leaves Are Falling Down, etc.)
Then, we read books about snow and, as always, children's books allow me to more fully enjoy the moment that we're celebrating. On the last snow day we had checked out some books from the library that I would highly recommend - This Place in the Snow by Rebecca Bond, and Snowball Soup by Mercer Mayer. Both were great for preschoolers, and after a few times through, River was able to read Snowball Soup (a my first read book).
This morning we had fun reading The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats, which is such a great snow day book. Here's a great resource for a few activities to go with this book and some other snowy stories. Then we finished with Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffers. I love this version of Stopping by Woods, because the pictures make it enjoyable and understandable for my preschoolers! Both are great books to explore winter time themes.
We started making Snowmen Cookies, but only made the dough. You can learn from my mistake and make the dough the night before. I didn't read through the entire recipe to see that you have to let the dough sit in the refrigerator for 8 hours. So, tomorrow, we'll continue that activity and finish up our snowmen cookies. I'll type up the recipe and put it on with the picture tomorrow.
For our craft time, we made some paper snowflakes. I just took white paper and traced a large cup (or coffee mug will work, too) to get the size of circle I needed. Then, after your circle is cut out (if you have an older preschooler, they can cut their circle to work on cutting.) let the kids help you fold the paper in half, and then in half again, and then again (so that it looks like a tiny pizza slice). Then, using kid scissors, help them cut, or let them cut different patterns into the snowflake. When you open it up, it's a beautiful snowflake! If you want to be fancy, use some silver glitter glue (I had some from Dollar Tree on hand) to decorate flakes, then, loop a piece of yarn or ribbon through the top, and hang from a window for a beautiful window decoration! You can also just put a piece of tape on the back and tape to the window for the same effect. I love reminding my kids how no two snowflakes are alike, just as no two children are alike. We each have differences that make us exactly who we are. We talked about how God made us each differently and how each one of us is a beautiful masterpiece! You can even bring in Ps. 139:14 to tie in a Bible verse to your lesson.
For an extra easy craft, I found this cute website with tons of ideas and free coloring sheets, and printed off the snowman picture they had so that we could color a fun snow day picture.
Here's hoping your snow days are filled with fun!
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