MSU Extension Child & Family Development

The Snowy Day

By Ezra Jack Keets

A little boy wakes up one morning to discover the ground covered in snow.

BEFORE READING:

• Show the children the front of the book.

• Ask them to guess what the book is about.

• Count the footprints in the snow on the cover together.

WHILE READING:

• Stop at any time if there is something you or the children would like to talk about.

• Ask them questions so that they can connect what is happening in the book to things they already know about. Try some of these ideas:
  • What do you see when you look out your bedroom window? o Have you ever made a snowman or snow angels?
  • What do you think the snow feels like?

AFTER READING:

• Spend some time talking about the story. Ask the children things like: o What did the little boy do with the snow?
  o What was he thinking about in the bathtub?
  o What happened to his snowball?

Read this book several times to the children. Hearing the same story again and again helps them learn new words and understand the ideas they hear better. Each day, pick a different activity to do with the children after reading “The Snowy Day.”

MATH AND SCIENCE

Take a walk outside with the children. Listen to the sounds you hear, count how many horns you hear, listen to the birds chirping, engines revving, dogs barking...etc. Have the children tell you what they hear, rather than what they see.

THINKING SKILLS

Have the children pretend they are going to go out and play in the snow. Ask them to think of what clothes they will put on to stay warm. Ask them to tell you what clothes they would put on first, and then each item they would put on after.

READING READINESS

Read the book together. Then, ask the children to read the book to you, using the pictures to tell the story.

ART

Make paper snowmen together. Use drinking glasses to trace circles onto paper. Help the children to cut them out using safety scissors. Connect the circles with tape or glue, and draw on the faces

MUSIC AND MOVEMENT

Use your body to make noises. Use your feet and walk through leaves or sticks to make a “crunch crunch crunch” sound. Drag your feet as you walk to make a different sound.

PRETEND PLAY

Pretend that you and the children are getting ready to climb a snow-covered mountain. Put on your mountain climbing shoes and warm jackets. Begin climbing the mountain by walking and lifting your knees tall. As you get near the top, use your hands to pull yourselves up. After you reach the top, yell “King of the Mountain” and then slide down the other side.

MOTOR SKILLS

Prepare for an indoor snowball fight. Show the children how to roll up two socks together to form a ball. Have the children line up their “snowballs”, while you line up yours on the floor in front of you. Take turns tossing “snowballs” to one another.