DOOR 2 DOOR STORYTIME

EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY SKILLS:  Narrative Skill & Letter  Knowledge

BOOKS TO DISPLAY

The Best Snowman Ever by Margery Cuyler
Magical Snowman by Catherine Walters
Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright
Sam the Snowman by Susan Winget
A Really Good Snowman by Daniel J. Mahoney
The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll
Snowmen at Christmas by Margery Cuyler
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
Just a Snowman by Mercer Mayer
Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buehner
Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner
Snow Family by Daniel Kirk
All You Need for a Snowman by Barbara Lavallee

BASIC TIMELINE

1. Intro
2. Hello Song
3. Read-a-Loud Book
4. Flannelboard
5. Read-a-Loud Book
6. Action Rhyme
7. Rhyme
8. Read-a-Loud Book
9. Flannelboard
10. ASL Goodbye Song
11. Craft

READ-A-LOUD BOOKS

Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
Just a Snowman by Mercer Mayer
Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner

ACTIVITIES

Flannelboard: “Snowman” (via A Librarian’s Notebook)
First the body (two white balls of felt to make the snowman’s body)
Then the head (add another ball to make his head)
A stove pipe hat (add a black top hat)
And a scarf of red (add the scarf)
Two buttons for his eyes (add eyes)
And a carrot for his nose (add orange carrot)
Then add some raisins standing in a row (add a mouth)

Action Rhyme: I Built a Snowman (via Perpetual Preschool)
I built a little snowman (make a large circle with arms)
He had a carrot nose (point to nose)
Along came a little bunny (hold up two bent fingers)
And what do you suppose? (shrug)
That hungry little bunny (make bunny again)
Looking for his lunch (hop bunny around)
Ate that snowman’s nose (pretend bunny is eating nose)
Nibble! Nibble! CRUNCH! (pretend to be eating a carrot)

Rhyme: Once There Was a Snowman (via Surlalune Storytime)
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.

Flannelboard: Five Little Snowmen  (via Arfelt)
Five little snowmen made of snow,
Five little snowmen all in a row.
Out comes the sun and shines all day,
And one little snowman melts away.
Four little snowmen…
Three little snowmen…
Two little snowmen…
One little snowman made of snow.
One little snowman left in the row.
Out comes the sun and shines all day,
And the last little snowman melts away.

CRAFT: Whirlygig Snowman Ornament!

This craft was inspired by an adorable prototype Amanda Formaro submitted to funfamilycrafts.com. This twirling Snowman spinner was fairly easy to create. To make this craft child friendly, each snowman, set of arms, nose, and hat should be pre-cut ahead of time in order to facilitate assembly. I used googly eyes and pom-poms for added flair, but buttons would suffice. I used a small hole punch to create tiny circles for the mouth. However, crayons or washable markers could be used instead.

REVIEW:

At this stage of the game, I HATE reusing old storytime outlines, so I decided to create a new one when I found out I had an upcoming “Snowmen” themed storytime. Changing the theme was next to impossible given the fact it had already been advertised across various library media (Facebook, radio, local newspapers, etc). I used my old Snow themed outlines as a starting point, and then made some changes. I have a love/hate relationship with Lois Ehlert. Snowballs struck out during two of my storytime sessions. Snowmen at Night went over well. The children loved the Action Rhyme: I Built a Little Snowman.

Storytime crafts Door 2 Door Storytime early childhood literacy home school letter knowledge library narrative skill snowmen