Snowmen at Night!

Snowmen at Nightby Caralyn Buehner is just plain fun!  I read it to students aged 2-10 and they all love it.  It rhymes, it sparks imagination, and it gives children a little bit of a fairy tale to believe in.  Read on to see what I do in class with this book! (For a version of this lesson plan geared towards ages 6-12, click here).

What do you know about winter weather?  It’s COLD!  I want to see you all shiver.  Shiver your right arm.  Can you shiver just your left foot?  Shiver your whole body.  Can you shiver very very fast?  low?  heavy?  light?  etc.

Read aloud the book Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner.

• Stop at first page (before title page). What is the little boy doing?  Rolling up a HUGE snowball to make a snowman.  I bet that snow ball is very heavy.  What can you roll?  Head, eyes, shoulders, feet, entire body, etc.  Show me some heavy rolling.
• “They gather in a circle…”: Gather in a circle and go through your normal stretching routine.  Pike stretch, butterfly stretch, etc.
• “…for his turn in the snowman races”: I want to have a snowman race! Everybody go stick to the wall!  (Or line up on a line, etc.)  Let’s do our animal races.  Pick a card and do that animal’s movement all the way to me!  Give me a high five, and go back to the line! (For detailed instructions, visit this post).
• “skating tricks on ice”:  All of the snowmen are doing their own “trick” on the ice.  What is your favorite trick to do?  Can you jump and spin in the air?  Can you kick really high?  Can you do a cartwheel?  Think of your best trick.  Practice it 5 times while the music is on.  Then, show your trick to a partner.
• “world’s best snowball fight!”  During a blizzard, it looks to me like the clouds are having a snowball fight! Everyone take a scarf (2 foot long piece of tulle), and freeze on a blue square (dance spot, in your place, etc.).  When I turn on the music, can you make a blizzard with your scarves?  Wave it this way and that way!  Turn it in a circle.  Spin the scarf around you.  Toss and catch the scarf.  Shake it.  Run and let it fly behind you!
• “snowmen’s biggest thrill!”: Roll or slide down a wedge mat if you have one.  Or, you can roll on your belly across a few exercise balls.  Or, go sliding on your bellies across the floor.
• “getting sleepy…so one by one they go”: Everybody lay down and go to sleep.  It’s time for the shoe dance!  (Details for The shoe dance, aka Last Last Night, are here!)
• Finish the story.  Look at the final page of the book.  What are those snowmen doing?  They’re swinging on a bar!  If you have a swingable bar, go swinging under the bars.

I hope you have fun with this book!  Let me know how it goes in the comments below.