January 15: Toddler Storytime: Snowmen

(Reminder note: When it is time to read a story, I read the titles of three books and then display them. The children pick which one we read. The ones listed below are the ones they picked. The rest of my recommended titles are at the bottom of the post.)

Opening song:                                                               (Tune: The Farmer in the Dell")

             We tap hola like this

             We tap ho la like this

                 Hi-ho cherry

             We tap hola like this

               Continue with other verses:

                  We drop hola like this...

                   We circle hola like this...

                 We spin hola like this...

                We toss hola like this..

                 We roll hola like this....

                     We stomp hola like this...

A few days ago, some of the children saw snow for the first time. We talked about some of the activities we can do in the snow such as sledding, making snow angels, and making a snowman.

Book: "Mouse's First Snow" by Lauren Thompson

I gave each parent a copy of the words to all the songs that went with the theme. 

Movement chant:

“The Snowman Song”

Here is a snowman big and white (Make large circle in air) 
Isn't he a lovely sight 
Let's make a snowball (Pretend to make a snowball) 
And throw it at his hat (Throwing motion) 
Off it goes, just like that.

Shaker song:  (Before singing, I put a picture of a snowman in the middle of the circle.)

“Ring Around the Snowman”
(Tune: "Ring around the Rosie")

Ring around the snowman, 
A pocket full of snow, 
Snowflakes snowflakes, 
We all fall down!



Movement song:  

“A Chubby Little Snowman”

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

     

Book: "The Snow Rabbit" by Georgiana Deutsch

Movement song using clip art: (Before beginning the song, I gave each child a set of clip art containing two boots, two mittens, a hat, a scarf, a coat, and a snowsuit. Click here for the document.)

"Snowey Pokey”


You put your right mitten in,
You take your right mitten out, 
You put your right mitten in, and 
You shake it all about. 
You do the snowey pokey, and 
You turn yourself around. 
That's what it's all about.

You put your left mitten in,
You take your left mitten out, 
You put your left mitten in, and 
You shake it all about. 
You do the snowey pokey, and 
You turn yourself around. T
hat's what it's all about.

Continue with additional verses:
You put your scarf in 
You put your right boot in 
You put your left boot in 
You put your hat in
You put your snowsuit in 
You put your snowself in etc

Goodbye Song:

 (Tune: "The Farmer in the Dell")

We tap adios like this

 We tap adios like this

Hi-ho cherry

  We tap adios like this

Continue with other verses:

We drop adios like this...

   We circle adios like this...

  We spin adios like this...

   We toss adios like this...

  We roll adios like this...

           We stomp adios like this...

Craft Time: Egg Carton Snowman
Idea modified from https://www.iheartartsncrafts.com.

Materials:

1. Egg cartons cut into sets of three cartons
2. Pipe cleaners in variety of colors
3. White paint
4. Brushes
5. Paper plate or container for paint
6. Orange construction paper for nose
7. Black permanent marker
8. Felt in variety of colors for scarf
9. Pom poms in variety of colors
10. Glue gun

          

My example

*All photos are with parental permission.

You can find additional winter craft ideas for toddlers here.

I always let the children pick which three books I read from the ones I bring with me. These are some additional suggested books that the children didn't pick:

1. "Snowballs" by Lois Ehlert
2. "Frosty the Snowman" by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins
3."The Smiley Snowman" by M. Christina Butler
4. "Pablo in the Snow" by Teri Sloat
5. "There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow!" by Lucille Colandro

January 16: Preschool Storytime: Snowmen

(Reminder note: When it is time to read a story, I read the titles of three books and then display them. The children pick which one we read. The three fictional ones listed below are the ones they picked. Additional picture book ideas are listed at the bottom.)

Opening song:                                                     (Tune: "The Farmer in the Dell")

                         We tap hola like this

                         We tap hola like this

                          Hi-ho cherry

                          We tap hola like this

                          Continue with other verses:

                          We drop hola like this...

                          We circle hola like this...

                          We spin hola like this...

                          We toss hola like this...

                           We roll hola like this...

Held up S and s
Talked about sound of Ss
Talked about things that start with s
Make a lowercase s in the air
Put the alphabet chart on the floor. Let each child take the pointer and point to the letter Ss.


BOOK #1: "The Biggest, Best Snowman" by Margery Cuyler

I passed out copies of the words to all of the songs about winter. I told the children to find a letter Ss on the page and show it to his/her parent. I put out clip art of five snowflakes before starting the song.


MOVEMENT SONG: (We sang the song first all in English. Then we sang a few of the words in Spanish.)


“Snowman”
Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman.
Once there was a snowman tall, tall, tall/alto, alto, alto. (Gradually move body higher.)
In the sun, he melted, melted, melted
In the sun, he melted small, small, small/pequeño, pequeño, pequeño (Move body smaller).

ACTION SONG: 

“I’m a Little Snowman”

I’m a little snowman short and fat.
Here are my buttons, here is my hat.
When the sun comes out, I can’t play.
I just slowly melt away!

I’m a little snowman short and fat.
Here are my botones, here is my sombrero.
When el sol comes out, I can’t play.
I just slowly melt away.

BOOK:"Snowman at Night" by Caralyn Buehner

     

     

Before singing, I put out clip art of five snowmen. Find the document here.

ACTION SONG using clip art:

“Five Little Snowmen”

Five little snowmen/cinco pequeños snowmen standing in a row,

Each had a hat and a big, red scarf.

Out came the sun, and it shone all day,

1 little/un pequeño snowman melted away. 

Four little snowmen/cuatro pequeños snowmen standing in a row,

Each had a hat and a big, red scarf.

Out came the sun/el sol, and it shone all day,

1 little/un pequeño snowman melted away. 

Three little/tres pequeños snowmen standing in a row,

Each had a hat and a big, red scarf.

Out came the sun, and it shone all day,

1 little/un pequeño snowman melted away. 

Two little/dos pequeños snowmen standing in a row,

Each had a hat and a big, red scarf.

Out came the sun, and it shone all day,

1 little/un pequeño snowman melted away. 

One little/un pequeño snowman standing all alone,

He had a sombrero and a big red bufanda.

Out came el sol, and it shone all day,

1 little snowman melted away. 

No little/ pequeños snowmen, no little hats, 

No red scarves.

All the snowmen have melted away.

Goodbye song:                                                    (Tune: "The Farmer in the Dell") 

                         We tap adios like this

                         We tap adios like this

                          Hi-ho cherry

                          We tap adios like this

                          Continue with other verses:

                          We drop adios like this...

                          We circle adios like this...

                          We spin adios like this...

                          We toss adios like this...

                           We roll adios like this...

Craft Time:  

I modeled the rainbow writing page for letter Ss, the Ss dot page, and the craft before the children starting working on them. Before starting the craft, the children write the given letter using 3 different colors of crayons. I have attached a link to the free rainbow writing letters I used. Completing the dot page is optional.

You can find free rainbow writing letters here. Since they are free, they lack a dot for where to start. print one off, add the dots with a black marker, and then make copies of that one. You can find the dot pages here. 

Click here for a link for letter formation prompts for capital and lowercase letters. Children need to spend more time working on the lowercase letters than on the capital letters.


Craft: Name Snowman Craft
Idea modified from https://fun-a-day.com/name-snowmen/

Materials:
1. 2 inch circle template
2. foam snowflakes
3. Pipe cleaners for arms and ear muffs
4. Felt for scarf, hat (instead of earmuffs), and/or arms
5. Cotton balls for snow on ground 
6. Stickers, beads, buttons, etc for other decoration options
7. Orange construction paper for nose
8. Dark blue and light blue construction paper for background
9. White cardstock for circles
10 Glue
11. Scissors

*While I model the craft, I always tell the children not to try to make their snowman look like mine. I encourage them to be as creative as they want. 

Instructions:
In advance, run template on white cardstock. Give each child one page of circles. If the child is not able to cut yet, the parent will cut out one circle for the head in addition to one circle for each letter of the child's name.

My example

*All photos are with parent permission.

I always let the children pick which three books I read from the ones I bring with me. These are some additional suggested books that the children didn't pick:

1. "The First Day of Winter" by Denise Fleming
2. "Winter is For Snow" by Robert Neubercker
3. "All You Need for a Snowman" by Alice Schertle
4. "Making a Friend" by Tammi Sauer
5. "The Biggest Snowman Ever" by Steven Kroll
6. "How to Build a Snow Bear" by Eric Pinder
7. "Pip and Squeak" by Ian Schoenherr
8. "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith