This article appeared in "First Teacher" magazine.
Make those wishes come true. Declare one summer week as "Shivery Summer Days" and bring winter into your classroom.
Begin by exploring Raymond Briggs' wordless book The Snowman (Random House, 1978). Encourage fanciful talk about snow people and how these icy creatures might like to move.
Choose a child to stand before you in the circle. Tell children you are going to build a snow person, and their classmate is the model. While you pack on imaginary snow, place the child's body in an unconventional snowman shape -- so he appears to be running, climbing, or moving in some way. While you work, sing this song:
Sing the song again while you change your snow person to another position,
perhaps bending to fix a "snowy" shoe.
Now have children work in pairs with one molding the other into a snow person while the sculptors sing the song. Take time to admire all figures, then have children switch roles so that the snow sculptor becomes the snow to be molded. Have children sing the song while they work. Encourage them to think of unique ways to pose their snow figures -- sitting, playing an instrument, reading an imaginary book, etc.
Put out large sheets of bulletin board paper and paints, being sure to include white paint. Invite the children to create a snowy scene. When the paint dries (it may take a day or two) hang the paper on a wall or bulletin board. Put out colored paper, white paper, glue and collage materials and encourage children to make items to add to their wintry picture. Accept all offerings, even if they don't seem to belong. Remember that this is a fantasy. Have interested children continue to add to the scene each day.
Let your group make up stories about the scene. Record these on audio tape so children can hear themselves again and again at the Listening Center.
Provide plenty of newspaper and show children how to crumple sheets of paper into "snowballs". Use strips of masking tape to hold the balls closed. Some children may make larger balls by using several sheets of paper. Have your group make lots of these paper snowballs.
Have children bring the balls to Circle Time. Choose four or five balls of greatly differing sizes. Have a child arrange them from smallest to largest. Choose other balls and invite another child to have a turn. Later place all the snowballs in the water table for children to play with. Encourage them to remove several at a time to arrange by size.
Have your group fill two laundry baskets with paper snowballs. Take these outdoors and place them at opposite sides of the play yard, then let interested children divide into two groups for a snowball fight. Remind them to aim below the neck to prevent balls from getting play yard sand or dirt in a friend's eyes.
Continue your snowy fun with indoor sledding. Use beach towels for the sleds. One child (the sledder) lies belly-down on a towel. A friend (the puller) stands at the towel's edge nearest the sledder's head, facing the sledder. The puller holds two corners of the towel in his hands and, walking backwards, pulls the sledder along a non-carpeted floor. Then the children change places. If you have real sleds, allow children to push and pull each other across the sandy area of your play yard.
This physical activity will leave your snow birds with hearty appetites. Let them use a melon baller to scoop out small balls of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt. Have each child place two or three of these "snowballs" in a dish or paper cup then sprinkle on a small amount of cocoa powder. Put the cocoa into a salt shaker for easy sprinkling. Children will enjoy eating this snowy snack. If desired, serve with ice water.
Combine ice and color mixing for a scientifically cool activity. Offer children many clear plastic cups to fill halfway with water. Let them experiment with color mixing by adding drops of food coloring to each cup. Encourage kids to make pale colors as well as dark ones. Place the cups in the freezer overnight. The next day have children un-mold the colored ices and place them in the water table. Add a few inches of water and let children enjoy playing in the freezy concoction. Have them observe what happens to the water as the ice melts. Supervise this activity carefully so children leave before their hands become too cold.
For more shivery fun, pull out some of the activities and stories you usually use in January and February. Play mitten matching games. Fold paper and cut it into snowflakes to hang from the ceiling. Make modeling dough with no added color so children can fashion snow people and snowy animals.
Add cotton balls to your collage materials. Read books about sparkling, snowy days. Pretty soon you and your children will be shivering in your shoes and forgetting about the summer's horrendous heat and humidity.
Read Helping Parents Choose Gifts or go back to the article list.