Have you ever?  I mean, Come On.  The Snowy Day  has been wildly popular for over 50 years for  a reason.  It’s such a simple and beautiful celebration of snow.  And I love snow.  Don’t you?

If it’s going to be frigid outside, it may as well be beautiful to look at.  I love the way the meadows turn to diamond fields when sunlight hits the snow.  I love the very first snowfall of the year, when you step out your door and magic is happening and it feels like even more magic is on its way.  I crush hardest on  the way snow not only makes no sound as it falls, but it quietens all the other sounds of the world.

Did you know it really does that?  It acts like a sound insulator, just like the stuff you might put in your walls to keep traffic noise out.  Nature’s sound reducer.  I like that.  Quiet is so hard to come by.  I always take a walk by myself in the very first snowfall of the year.  Oh, I come back and get my boys to romp in the snow later.  But that very first hush of snowfall is mine alone.  I like the peace it gives me.  So I can recharge and be ready for snowball fights and snow angels and snowmen.  Forts and snow ice cream.  All the things.

The Snowy Day

Peter enjoys the snow maybe even more than I do.  I grew up enjoying snow on city streets just like Peter.  Now I enjoy it on a farm surrounded by woods.  So I love reading this book with my littles so they can get an idea of what snow was like for me when I was a kid.  And there are so many fun ways to make the book even more amazing.

Language

There’s a new book out called A Poem for Peter by Andrea Davis Pinkney that tells the biography of Keats and the creation of The Snowy Day in verse.  So pick up a copy of it, too, and read the two books together.  Then print out this fun printable all about poetry and write some of your own!

Science

Crystal Snowflakes

What you need:

• Chenille stems
• Borax
• Boiling water
• Jar
• Pencil
• String
• Blue food coloring

What you do:

• Cut chenille stems in half
• Twist 3 half stems together to form a snowflake shape (see Craft instructions for pictures

• Cut remaining stem into 1 1/2″ pieces and twist onto end of snowflake arms
• Make sure your jar is big enough that your snowflake won’t touch the sides
• Fill the jar with 3 Tbsp of borax and 1 drop blue food coloring per 1 cup of water

• Place pencil over top of jar
• Hang snowflake from it with string

• Allow to sit overnight (or at least 5 hours)
• Remove in the morning and enjoy your snowflake (you can hang these in the windows with the Beaded Snowflakes)

Craft

Beaded Snowflake Window Hangers

What you need:

• Blue and white chenille stems  (2 per snowflake)
• Blue and white embroidery thread
• Clear and blue bicone and/or pony beads
• Scissors

What you do:

• Cut the chenille stems in half

• Lay one half stem atop another to form a T

• Fold bottom stem up and over cross stem

• Fold top stem down over cross stem so vertical stem is wrapped around horizontal stem

• Lay a third stem diagonally across the T you’ve made

• Wrap it around the center of the T the same way you wrapped the vertical stem

• You should have a 5-pointed snowflake (you can add more stems if you like, but I think 5 make the prettiest snowflakes)

• String beads along each stem of the snowflake (6 bicone beads and 8 pony beads per stem are a good fit)

• After the last bead has been strung on to the stem, fold the remainder of the stem back over it to hold the beads in place

• This is a completely beaded snowflake

• Cut a 4″ piece of embroidery thread and knot it into a loop

• Wrap one of the ends of a stem around the loop, cut off excess string, and hang your snowflake

Food

Snow Popcorn

This delicious snack is a perfect sweet and salty treat.

What you need:

• 1/2 cup each unpopped popcorn, coconut flakes, mini marshmallows, peanuts
• 2 blocks vanilla almond bark
• 1 tsp olive oil

What you do:

• Pop the popcorn
• While it’s popping, heat the almond bark and oil together until melted
• Mix popcorn, coconut flakes, marshmallows, and peanuts in a large bowl
• Drizzle melted vanilla bark over it, stirring to coat

Yeah, I  know.  Snow is a pain in the rear.  Someone has to shovel it.  Drive in it.  I get you.  But sometimes it’s also just magical.  So take a day with an amazing book and your even more amazing littles and celebrate the snow.  You might even get in the mood for a snowball fight.

Love wins,

KT

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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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