Story Time: Snowmen at Christmas

Oh my.  Have you read this book with your littles?  If not, you’re in for a treat.  If so, then I have some ideas to make it even more special this holiday season.

Snowmen at Christmas is an absolutely gorgeous book.  The story, in gentle rhyme, tells all about how snowmen celebrate Christmas all through the night of Christmas Eve.  And it’s good.  Really good.  But the most special part of this book is the stunning illustrations by Mark Buehner.  The colorful Christmas lights reflecting on the snow.  The warm street lamps and the shop windows.  These pictures evoke the warmth and beauty of the holiday season as well as any evening spent in front of your own Christmas tree.

This book has the stuff.  No doubt.

Activities for Snowmen at Christmas

And never you fear, the Lit Mama has the stuff, too.   The stuff to make this book stand out for your littles as a magical, wonderful day spent with their mama or dada on a wonderful Christmas-y afternoon.

So let’s get to it.

Language

I really crush on the idea of snowmen coming alive on Christmas Eve and celebrating through the night.  Your littles might recognize some of their own traditions in the snowmen’s celebration.  Here’s a free printable to help them work out how their holiday is similar or different to that of the snowmen.

Building a snowman is a wonderful way to celebrate this book, so if you live in a part of the country where you have snow (rather than this odd 75 degree weather we’ve been having all autumn), get out and build a snowman.  Whether that’s possible or not, here’s a free sequencing printable for your littles to have fun with, all about building a snowman.

Science

O. M. G. This is so awesome I just want to pass out.

Falling Snow in a Jar

Want to make it snow inside?  If you’ve had the kind of fall we’ve had (curious heat and drought), you’re not thinking it’s going to snow much this winter.  Which sucks.  Because snow rocks.  I mean, if it’s going to be cold, it might as well be beautiful, right?  Besides, there’s nothing like the hush of that first snow.

Whatever, we’re going to make it snow InSide.

What you need:

• A jar (we used a mason jar, but any ol’ jar will do)
• Baby Oil
• White paint
• Very warm water
• Silver or white glitter (but I had to add that awesome snow glow glitter they sell at Christmastime. Because snow glitter.)
• Effervescent tablets (Alka Seltzer)

What you do:

• Fill the jar ¾ of the way with baby oil
• Mix the paint and the water in a bowl until you have white water

• Pour the white water into the jar to fill it it he rest of the way

• Sprinkle in the glitter

• Wait for the glitter and water to settle at the bottom of the jar (this’ll take a couple minutes)

• Break an effervescent tablet up into pieces
• Drop 1 or 2 pieces into the jar
• I swear, instant snowstorm

• When the snow settles, drop in some more tablet pieces
• Do that until your littles are sick and tired of it. It’ll take a while.

Craft

My favorite thing to do this time of year is make ornaments for our tree.  Last year we made paper snowflakes and salt dough nature ornaments.  I bet you can guess where I’m going with this.

Salt Dough Snowman Ornaments (yeah yeah)

These are easy and fun and you get to include math for mixing up the dough and shaping and painting… All kinds of yummy good stuff.  We made 2 different kinds.  Because fun.

What you need:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 1 cup water
• Snowman cookie cutter
• Biscuit cutter
• Craft paint in white, black, and orange
• Fabric scraps or ribbon (for scarves)

What you do:

Make the salt dough:

• Mix the flour and salt in a bowl
• Add water slowly, stirring as you go
• If the dough gets sticky, add a little more flour. You want it to resemble play-doh
• Knead the dough for a couple minutes
• Roll it out on a floured surface

Make the ornaments:

• Use the cookie cutter and biscuit cutter to cut out your shapes

• Paint your snowmen white

• Use your other paints to paint on the face and hat (if your snowman has one)

• We used the end of a paintbrush to make a hole in the top for the hanger

• You can allow your snowmen to air-dry overnight or bake them at 200F for 45-60 minutes (if you bake them, you might have to touch up some of the paint)

Food:

Iced sweets, of course.  In this case, Iced Caramel Chip Cookies. So. Freaking. Good.

(Warning:  do not ice every single cookie.  Because this is a sugar avalanche, a sugar volcano, a sugar tsunami.  If you ice every one of these cookies, you will regret it.  And possibly come after me with pitchforks and torches.  And I really don’t want that.  So just a ice a few to make it fun.)

What you need:

For the cookies:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups  butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 package caramel chips

For the icing:

• 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 1-2 tsp cold water

What you do:

For the cookies:

• Preheat oven to 375F
• Grease 2 cookie sheets
• Sift together flour, baking powder and soda, and salt in a large bowl
• In a mixer, cream brown sugar, sugar, and butter until light and fluggy
• Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
• Add vanilla extract
• Add flour mixture
• Stir in caramel chips
• Drop in spoonfuls onto cookie sheets 2″ apart
• Bake for 13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through

For the Icing:

• Mix the powdered sugar and the water in a small bowl until desired consistency.
• Ice cookies once they’ve cooled a bit.

Oh my.  Did I say that already?  Y’all, we had a blast with this one.  I hope you do, too.

Love wins,

KT

Looking for more holiday fun?  Check out:

Dinner and a Movie: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Story Time: Gingerbread Friends

Story Time: How Santa Got His Job

Story Time: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Story Time: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

Cuddle Up With Christmas Classics

2016 Ultimate Children’s Literary Gift Guide

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KT Brison

KT Brison is a former children’s librarian and educator who gave all that up for the most important job in her life—homeschooling her boys.Though she loves the outdoors and rambling around her farm, she can usually be found with her nose in a book. Any book. As long as it has words.

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