A Winter Dance Story: The Most Perfect Snowman

Hello, and Happy 2020!

I have created a new dance story around one of my favorite picture books: The Most Perfect Snowman, by Chris Britt. This is a fun and lively mid-winter activity, perfect for story time!

This beautiful story is about generosity, kindness, and selflessness, and is told in a gentle way. The lovely illustrations and language portray the story of a lonely snowman, Drift, who only has two skinny stick arms, and a mouth and eyes made of coal.  He has no hat, scarf, or mittens.  He sees the parade of other stylish snow people go by, laughing, dancing, and playing, and he longs for company and to be like the other snowmen. Most of all he wants a nice carrot nose. He thinks that if he were stylish and had a carrot nose, he would be perfect.

Drift spends his days slipping and sliding through the woods all alone.  Three children see him and feel sorry for him.  One child gives him a hat.  Another gives him mittens, and a third gives him a scarf.  Then, one of them gives him a wonderfully big carrot, and says that now he is a perfect snowman. Drift is happy and plays with the children.

A furious storm blows in. Drift thanks the children and waves good-bye to them.  The wind blows his hat and mittens away, and he tries to find them.  He searches everywhere. He's sorry to lose his new clothes, but is happy that he still has his long, warm scarf, and his fancy carrot nose.

He hears a little whimper in the middle of the howling wind.  It is a small bunny who is trying to survive the cold winter night.  Drift gives the bunny his warm scarf.  Then he hears the bunny's tummy growl with hunger.  He gives the bunny his carrot, and this makes him "the most perfect snowman of all."

Now, let's dance the story!

THE MOST PERFECT SNOWMAN

Dance Story

Read the story aloud, then use the following prompts to inspire the children to retell the story through movement.  Call out each one, and give the children plenty of time to respond through movement. This activity takes about 15 minutes, and works best in a large space.

Play a quiet instrumental selection in the background, such as "Just Before Dawn," by William Ackerman, from the album "A Winter's Solstice," Vol 4.

Begin the Dance Story:

• Imagine you are Drift, the snowman. You have eyes, a mouth, and two stick arms.  

• You spend your days alone, slipping and sliding through the woods, slowly and sadly.

• Here comes a parade of fancy, stylish snowmen.  Can you parade around proudly, showing your hats, mittens, and scarves?

• Have an imaginary snowball fight.

• Now do a snowman dance!

• Swish and slide through the woods, like Drift, watching the other snowmen play. 

• Suddenly, you see three children.  Wave hello to them.  Maybe they will come over to you.

• One of them offers you her hat.  Put it on your snowman head!  What color is it?  How does it feel?

• Another offers you mittens.  What do they look like?  Put them on your stick arms.

• And now one gives you a long, warm scarf.  Can you wrap it around yourself?

• What is the little girl holding now?  A carrot!  She gives it to you!  Put it on your face, just like you have always wanted.  You are the perfect snowman! Play with the children in the snow.

• Imagine you are a snowflake flying around in the storm. What shape are you? Blow side to side, up and down, as the strong wind swirls you around.  

• Now imagine you are Drift, and suddenly your hat blows away.  Oh no!  Try to find it.  Now your mittens blow away.  Slide through the woods and try to find them too.

• It's time to hunker down for the night and wait out the storm.What do you hear?  Listen carefully. Do you hear a small voice?  Look all around. 

• Look down and see a tiny, shivering bunny who is lost.

• Now, imagine you are the bunny.  How does it feel to be very, very cold? The snowman is giving you his warm scarf! Wrap up in the soft scarf. 

• The kind snowman is giving you his wonderful orange carrot nose! Munch softly on the carrot as you snuggle up next to the most perfect snowman of all.

MOVING IS LEARNING!

Keep on dancin',

Connie

www.movingislearning.com

Christmas Story and Dance Activity

Cheers! 🎄

I have a special blog post today.  I wrote a short (247-word) Christmas story for Susanna Leonard Hill's Holiday Writing Contest for children's writers.  Since this blog is about dance and movement, I have also created a movement activity for children three to six years old, to go along with the story.

I hope you enjoy reading the story Sparkle the Snowflake, and then dancing the story with your little ones!

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Sparkle the Snowflake

by Connie Bergstein Dow

Everyone knows that no two snowflakes are alike, but Sparkle was extra special.  She shone and shimmered a little brighter than all of the other snowflakes that lived in her cluster of clouds.

Sparkle and her snowflake friends had an important job to do.  They were to fall to earth on Christmas Eve. They would cover the hills and trees, and especially the rooftops of the houses, so that Santa and his reindeer would leave their footprints on the rooftops for children to see on Christmas morning.

The snowflakes were busy the day before Christmas.  They carefully planned their journey from the clouds. They practiced floating and staying together so they could create a beautiful snowfall that evening. 

Sparkle and all of the other snowflakes snuggled deep into the billowy clouds to get some rest before the busy night.  Soon, Sparkle woke up and looked around in alarm.  It was almost midnight!  “Wake up!” Sparkle called. Then she soared from cloud to cloud, making sure that every snowflake was ready.

Just in the nick of time, they slipped from the puffy clouds and began to twirl and dance in the chilly night air.  The snowflakes landed gently, and waited silently.  When the sun peeked over the hill, the snowflakes heard children laughing as they ran from their houses and saw the glistening snow.  Little did the children know that the snow that had greeted them this Christmas morning was all thanks to Sparkle, the shiny little snowflake.     

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Here is a lively and playful creative movement activity for 3-6-year-olds 

*If available, play some holiday or other music for background as the children dance. 

*Optional props: "snowflakes" --  shower scrubbies or netting strips tied together

Dance the Story of Sparkle the Snowflake

Imagine you are a little snowflake.  What shape are you?  Now try a different one. And now one more.  Which do you like best?

Now think of what it would be like to practice your snowfall,  floating softly through the sky.

Snuggle deep into your cloud.  Pretend to drift off to sleep, thinking of something you like about the holidays, and imagine your are dreaming.  Wake up quickly, sit up, and show what your face looks like when you think you have overslept. Hop out of your billowy cloud as fast as you can!

Soar from cloud to cloud, waking up all of your snowflake friends. Now, imagine you are ready to fall to the ground.  Slip out of your cloud.  Dance in the cold night air!  Twirl, swirl, tumble slowly and quickly, get blown by the wind from side to side, up and down, around and around. Finally, you float gently to the ground.

Now imagine you are one of the children in the story.  Run out of your house, see the snow, and jump up and down.  Play in the snow! 

Have an imaginary snowball fight!  (Use optional snowflake props here). Make footprints in the snow.  Now, imagine you are sledding down a steep hill.  Fall out of your sled at the bottom of the hill and land in the soft snow.

 Roll snowballs and make a giant snow person.  What does it look like?  Now, imagine you are the snow person.  Make yourself into a snow person shape.  Uh-oh -- the sun comes out!  What happens?  Slowly melt to the ground.

The activity ends with a free dance to music.  Prompt the children to dance about ideas from the Sparkle the Snowflake story, the imaginary playtime in the snow, and anything else they like about winter. Use the props again if you have them.  Ask the children to throw them up in the air all together at the end of the dance to make a "blizzard."

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Keep on dancin', and enjoy the holidays,

Connie

www.movingislearning.com

MOVING IS LEARNING!

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Montessori-Inspired Snowman Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now 

I love snowmen ... especially when I'm nice and warm! Now that I live in San Diego, I'm having lots of fun introducing snowman activities to my 2-year-old granddaughter. 

The activities in my post today are mainly for preschoolers through first graders, though, although some will also work for 2 year olds. 

You'll find lots of free snowman printables in my post today at Living Montessori Now. 

Here, I'm sharing some Montessori-inspired snowman activities using free printables for preschoolers through first graders. You'll find many activities for preschoolers through first graders throughout the year along with presentation ideas in my previous posts at PreK + K Sharing. You'll also find ideas for using free printables to create activity trays here: How to Use Printables to Create Montessori-Inspired Activities. 

At Living Montessori Now, I have a post with resource links of Free Printables for Montessori Homeschools and Preschools.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.

Snowman Cutting Strip Practice 



Free Printable: Snowman Cutting Strip Practice from Preschool Snowman Pack by Royal Baloo 

This was a super-easy activity to prepare. I just printed out the printable on cardstock (which is easier for young children to cut than paper). For interest, I added a gift box for the cut pieces of paper. 

Snowman Button Counting and Practical Life Activity



Free Printable: Snowman Button Counting Mats by Perfectly Preschool at Teachers Notebook 

I used a Multicraft tray, craft gems for buttons, and a toast tong for an added practical life activity. I only used 1-5 (with the exact number of "buttons") for this activity, although there are snowman mats for 1-10 if you use small enough "buttons." 

Number Snowman Hide & Seek

Free Printable: Numbers 1-10 Snowman Hide & Seek by Maureen Prezioso at Teachers Pay Teachers 

This is a cute way to help children understand the different ways to represent each number. 

I used a Montessori Services rug for the layout. You could simply have the child search for all the snowmen that represent the same number.


Snowman Beginning Sound Sort



Free Printable: Snowmen Beginning Sound Sort from Snowman Literacy Centers by Lorie Duggins at Teachers Pay Teachers 

Snow scenes and snowmen are available for s, t, p, and r. There are 4 snowmen for each letter sound, although you could use 2, 3, or 4 sets. 

The child simply sorts the snowmen and adds them to the correct snow scene. You can find resources on how to introduce Montessori phonics in my DIY beginning Montessori phonics post. 

Build a Snowman CVC Words 


Free Printable: Build a Snowman CVC Words from Let It Snow! Winter Mini Unit by Chevron and Centers at Teachers Pay Teachers 

This is a fun extension to the Montessori movable alphabet. The letters aren't one color for vowels and another for consonants, although most children who can spell the words won't have a problem with that.



Compound Word Snowmen



Free Printable: Compound Words Snowman by Anna Navarre at Teachers Pay Teachers 

This activity is for advanced preschoolers through 1st graders ... a creative way to reinforce the idea of compound words.

 

More Free Snowman Printables  

Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free snowman printables from around the blogosphere: Free Snowman Printables and Montessori-Inspired Snowman Activities. 

More Montessori-Inspired Snowman Activities 

You'll find more Montessori-inspired snowman activities in my "Montessori-Inspired Winter Activities."

If you'd like to focus on manners with children, please check out my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy! It's written for anyone who'd like to feel comfortable teaching manners to children ages 2-12. I'm also one of the coauthors of the book Learn with Play – 150+ Activities for Year-round Fun & Learning!

Happy winter!

 

Deb Chitwood is a certified Montessori teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England. Deb taught in Montessori schools in Iowa and Arizona before becoming owner/director/teacher of her own Montessori school in South Dakota. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who lives in San Diego with her husband of 40 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and toddler granddaughter live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.

BRRR- IT'S COLD OUTSIDE! LET'S SING & MOVE!

Hi!  My name is “Miss Carole” Stephens of Macaroni Soup – Active Music for Active Learners! 

Yes, yes – you’ll get new Songs for Winter Weather in this blog – but first, in this season of thankfulness, I want to highlight a few reasons I feel so blessed to do the work that I do, share the life that I live and wake up every day excited about what it may hold!  These people are what keep me going:

1. THE CHILDREN 

- My own (Camden and Greg) who have been great companions on this eventful journey. I am proud of the adults you have become!

- My students – the thousands of little ones who have sung, danced and played with me in 25 years of teaching. I am pleased to say that it’s been a privilege to touch my toe to my nose with you during “Sticky Bubble Gum”, and mix up a pretty “Stinky Cake!”

Touching my toe to my nose - I've still got it!

Stinky Cake - ewe!

2. MY COLLEAGUES – the legions of teachers who come (and keep coming back) to my workshops, the EC educators who work with me in schools, the incredible Children's Music Network and my fellow presenters at conferences who welcome me into the fold.

3. MY HUSBAND – yup, Jim didn’t know what he was getting into 9+ years ago – but I’m so thankful that all this whacky music-making didn’t scare him away!

OK – enough sappy stuff – I THANK EVERYONE who has encouraged me to keep doing what I do!  Now come’on, Miss Carole – let’s get singing!

   Here in Chicago we expect cold and snow – but not really for Halloween (really, Mother Nature – that was nasty!) Pulling out the gloves and ear muffs before Thanksgiving?  Not amusing! SO, let’s get even, and be ready with songs and movement activities that will warm up the coldest day, brighten up the dreariest skies and put a smile on everyone’s faces!

    ALL of this month’s songs can be heard on my “Season Sings” cd – hear the clips to get started – or you can order the cd on my website.

WE’RE MARCHING IN THE SNOW!

    The tune is familiar to many – “The Farmer in the Dell”. It’s a zipper song – sing the verse over and over, but zip in a new movement each time!  Easy and fun!

LYRICS:  We’re marching in the snow

            We’re marching in the snow

            Hi Ho! The wind will blow!

           We’re marching in the snow!

I love to add these verses: skating on the snow, running in the snow, rolling in the snow, tiptoe-ing on the snow – and you can add your own verses!

HAT AND JACKET, PANTS AND BOOTS!

    Yes – another familiar tune: “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes”.  I suggest making pictures of each piece of clothing to string together to “read” left to right before starting to sing this one!  Then tap the part of the body that each piece of clothing is worn on as you sing.  Clap your hands on the beat during “When it’s cold and we go outside to play.” 

LYRICS:  Hat and jacket, pants and boots-

               Pants and boots!

               Hat and jacket, pants and boots-

               Pants and boots!

               When it’s cold and we go outside to play,

               We wear hat and jacket, pants and boots-

               Pants and boots!

    Start singing this song slowly, speeding up with each repetition!  It’s a favorite!

BUILDING A SNOWMAN (Part one of the “Snowman Trio”)

    This little movement piece should be done in a teacher led/child echo style.

LYRICS:  Head ball!     (echo)

               Belly ball!     (echo)

               Bottom ball!  (echo)

               DONE!     (echo)

               Building a snowman…(echo)

               Is SOOOO much fun! (echo)

MOVEMENTS:           

Head ball – stretch arms overhead, fingertips touching

Belly ball – swing arms down to cradle tummy

Bottom ball - drop hands to floor

Done! – Straighten up, clap hands once.

Building a snowman – roll hands in front of body

Is SOOO much fun – wave hands wildly overhead!

    We can never do this just once in my classes – there’s always “again!” The second time around, you might build a SNOWGIRL!  We do!

OK – now you’re ready!  You can do these songs in Florida or Southern California – no snow needed! Hey – send me a picture of your kids doing one of these songs!  I’ll post it on my FB page: Macaroni Soup with Miss Carole. LIKE me there, please!
    I've just returned from Dallas and this year's NAEYC Conference!  It was a stupendous experience - hugs to the hundreds of teachers who made my workshop one for the memory books!  Can't wait til next year!

    Stay warm - keep moving - and singing!
Yours for an-awfully-early Winter-y Song!
Miss Carole
MacaroniSoup.com

The Biggest Best Snowman!

This week we did a mini-unit on Snowmen. I don't know who had more fun, me or the kiddos!! We started the week off by brainstorming materials needed to build a snowman. Here is the list that my kinders came up with:

 

The next day I read the book The Biggest Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler. I really do love this book...for several reasons. But if you haven't read it, be sure to pick it up and check it out.

 After reading the book, I asked students to tell me what steps we would take to build a snowman. As I called on the students, I wrote down each step in turn. They were pretty detailed in their directions.

 After building the list, I noticed that they had used the same words throughout their directions, so we went through and circled the reoccurring words that were new to us. These words then became our new sight words for the week and the directions became our new poem for the week. The best part about it, the kiddos WROTE this POEM!!! They were so proud to take ownership. They wanted to change the title though. Instead of "How to Build a Snowman"...they changed it to "I Made a Snowman".

On Wednesday, we did a following directions activity. I gave each student a white piece of paper and students drew a snowman based on the directions I gave. Step by step, just like the students had told me the day before, I gave them directions. I also talked about using all of the space that they are given, meaning, don't make a teensy tiny snowman when they have a whole sheet of paper. This is how some of their snowmen turned out:

Thursday, I had students work together with a partner to make a snowman on a large piece of poster board. Again, I stressed the importance of an artist using the whole canvas to make their masterpiece, not just a tiny corner. When assigning partners, I pulled names out of our pick-sticks and the two names that I pulled out at the same time were partners. This was probably my favorite activity of the whole week. I watched them work so well together to design very unique snowmen/snowwomen!

When they were finished, I had the pairs stand up and talk about the snowman/woman that they drew. The one on the left has Santa in his sleigh being pulled by two reindeer. Very creative and they must be missing Christmas ;)

 Then today, Friday, students worked by themselves to build their own snowman with construction paper. The only materials they could use were scissors, glue and construction paper.

 Then lastly, I typed up the poem that the students wrote, and we illustrated them to help us remember the words. We also highlighted the new sight words that were learned this week. Then students glued the poems in their PIG (Poetry Is Great) folders and took home to read to their family.

And to top it all off, we ended our week with snowfall and more in the forcast for tomorrow! So, hopefully students will be able to go out and build their own REAL snowman with the freshly fallen snow this long three day weekend!

 Carie is a kindergarten teacher from Illinois who writes on the 17th of each month. She shares her experiences and ideas from her classroom, reading, writing, math, Art, and several other fun and exciting things!

Carie also writes her own blog: 

Kindergarten Hugs

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