Sunday, January 11, 2009

Snowman/Snowmen

Book Ideas:



Snowball by Lois Ehlert
Some children create a family out of snow. Children will love poring over Lois Ehlert's bold, funny illustrations and identifying the common (and not so common) objects she uses to decorate her snowy family.


All you need for a snowman by Alice Schertle
Lists everything that one needs to build the perfect snowman, from the very first snowflake that falls.




Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Beuhner
Snowmen play games at night when no one is watching."




The biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll

When the mayor of Mouseville announces the town snowman contest, Clayton and Desmond claim that they will each make the biggest snowman ever. But building a huge snowman alone is hard! They work and work, but their snowmen just aren't big enough. Soon they have an idea. As the day of the contest approaches, Clayton and Desmond join forces to build the biggest snowman ever.





Frosty the Snowman by Bedford and Malvern
Who can resist the tale of children enjoying the fun of building Frosty, when suddenly to their astonishment, he comes alive! The children in the neighborhood have never had a better winter of sledding, ice skating, and building snow houses, until one day, a warm wind blows. What will happen to Frosty?



The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
It is a wordless story about a boy who builds a snowman and has a series of adventures with his new friend.



Songs and Rhymes:



Snowman

A chubby little snowman
Had a carrot nose;
Along came a rabbit
And what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny,
Looking for his lunch,
Ate the snowman's carrot nose...
Nibble, Nibble, Crunch!



Melting Snowman
Here’s a snowman round and fat; (make circle with arms)
Out comes the sun and melts his hat. (touch head)
Here’s a snowman with a scarf of red’
Out comes the sun and melts his head. (touch chin to chest))
Here’s a snowman, fit as a fiddle;
Out comes the sun and melts his middle. (touch stomach)
Here’s a snowman who waits for dawn;
Out comes the sun and he’s all gone!


I’m a little Snowman
(I’m a little teapot)

I’m a little snowman, short and stout,
Sticks for arms and a carrot snout.
When the weather warms up, gosh, oh gee!
I melt and there’s no more of me!


Snowman
(Sung to “I’m a little teapot)

I’m a little snowman, round and fat
Here are my buttons, here is my hat.
When the sun comes out, I run away
Before I slowly melt away.


Five little Snowmen
5 little snowmen standing in a row.
Each had a hat and big red bow.
Out came the sun and shone all day.
1 little snowman melted away.
(continue until you have no snowmen left)


Snow friend
Pack a snowball.
Make it round.
Roll it, roll it, along the ground.
Make one big ball, and one of middle size;
Then roll a smaller ball. Add a nose and eyes.
Give him a broom and a scarf of blue.
Now there’s a friend to play with you!


Frosty The Snowman
Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul,
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal.
Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale, they say,
He was made of snow but the children
Know how he came to life one day.

There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found.
For when they placed it on his head
He began to dance around.
O, Frosty the snowman
Was alive as he could be,
And the children say he could laugh and play just the same as you and me.
Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpety thump thump,
Look at Frosty go.
Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpety thump thump,
Over the hills of snow.
Frosty the snowman
knew the sun was hot that day,
So he said, "Let's run and we'll have some fun
Now before I melt away."
Down to the village, with a broomstick in his hand,
Running here and there all around the square
saying,"Catch me if you can."
He led them down the streets of town
Right to the traffic cop.
And he only paused a moment when
He heard him holler "Stop!"
For Frosty the snow man
Had to hurry on his way,
But he waved goodbye saying,"Don't you cry,
I'll be back again some day."
Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpety thump thump,
Look at Frosty go.
Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpety thump thump,
Over the hills of snow.

Once there was a snowman
(LDS children’s song book #249)

Once there was a snowman, Snowman, snowman
Once there was a snowman, Tall, tall, tall
In the sun he melted, melted, melted
In the sun he melted, small, small, small.



Activity Ideas:

Idea #1:Roll-a-Snowman Game

Read one of the snowman books and then play a dice game. You will need paper pencils and some dice.
Make a Roll-a-snowman reference paper as seen in the photo so that you can refer to it as you play.

Give each player a piece of paper and pencil. Take turns rolling the die. The first one to roll all six numbers and draw a finished snowman is the winner.




Idea #2: "Magic" snowman pictures
Read one of the book titles and then explore with chalk, making chalk-transfer pictures.


You will need half a piece of dark blue or black paper, one full sheet of paper(any color), and a piece of white chalk. Fold the full sheet of paper in half. Using the chalk, have your child color
the inside half of their folded sheet of paper (as seen in the photo). Place the dark sheet of paper inside the fold and have your child draw a snowman on the outside cover, pushing hard so that the chalk will transfer on to their dark paper inside.


Their drawing will "magically appear" on their dark paper. Let them explore using this new technique as many times as they want.



Idea #3: Build a Snowman outside

If you live in a place that snows, read one of the book titles and then build your own snowman outside. If you live in a warm place, build one out of sand or use your imagination and pretend to build one by acting it out.

Idea #4: Popcorn Ball Snowman

Read one of the book titles and then make yummy popcorn ball snowmen together.


Popcorn Ball Recipe:

15 cups popped popcorn
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 10-oz. packages of marshmallows
Pretzel sticks, raisins, candy, fruit roll-up (for a scarf) etc..

Pour the popcorn into a large bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the marshmallows, stirring constantly until melted. Pour over the popcorn and stir to coat. When cool enough to touch, rub butter on your hands and form popcorn balls.

Idea #5: Snowman Math Estimation

Read one of the books and then have your child guess how many "snow balls"(cotton balls) it will take to fill in the snowman outlines.


Draw one small and one medium sized snowman outline on a piece of paper. Leave space to write the words "Guess" and "Actual #" next to each outline so that your child can record the numbers.


Starting with the smaller snowman, show your child the cotton balls and ask them to guess how many snowballs he or she will need to fill the inside of the snowman. Write their guess down. Then have them glue the cotton balls down and count the actual # of cotton balls that it required. Record your findings. Repeat the process for the larger snowman.


Idea #6: Marshmallow Snowman/snowgirl

Read one of the book titles and then make a snowman using paper, mini marshmallows, pretzel sticks, and candies.

First you need to draw the basic snowman outline on a piece of construction paper. In advance, cut-out a paper scarf and hat.




Then, Glue down the paper scarf and mini marshmallows on the snowman outline.

Next glue, on all the face, arms, buttons, hat etc... with anything you have around the house.


My older daughter wanted to make a snowgirl. She added angel hair to hers.


If you want to add a finishing touch, dip the end of a marshmallow into white paint and stamp falling snow onto your paper.

2 comments:

Kahilau said...

thanks for the great ideas!

Unknown said...

Greetings Amy and readers!
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I just didn't mean to miss the point, I loved your creative work, it is such a huge inspiration in order to have a nice time!
Regards