Materials:

• snow
• large plastic or metal bowl
• two or three muffin tins
• spoons
• food coloring
• paint brushes and watercolor paper
• book about snow like Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Penguin Putnam, 1976) or Clifford's First Snow Day by Norman Bridwell (Scholastic, 1998)
• empty water table or a few large plastic basins
• sand buckets, shovels, and sand molds

Developing Skills:

• science concepts
• creative thinking
• fine motor
• observation

ACTIVITY

A Snowy Book. Read a book about snow to children. Following the reading, highlight specific literacy goals including story sequence, main idea, setting, main characters, or how the story relates to children's lives. Develop a language experience chart to record their comments.

A Snowy Painting. Fill a large bowl with clean snow. Invite children to scoop some snow into metal muffin tins. Invite them to add food coloring to the snow to create different colors. Give them paper and paintbrushes and invite them to create snow paintings.

A Snowy Table. Fill an empty water table or basin with snow. Invite children to put on their gloves or mittens and work in small groups at the "snow table." Give them buckets, shovels, sand molds, spoons, and other materials for their snow play. Encourage them to notice what happens as the snow starts to melt. Note: This activity can be done inside or outdoors.

Remember: Children learn through hands-on experiences that are relevant to their lives. Take advantage of teachable moments, like a snowy or windy day, to learn about snow or to make kites and learn about wind.

TAKE-HOME ACTIVITY

Snow Prints. Ask families to take a walk in the snow with their children to notice the different types of "snow prints" made by shoes, boots, animals, or birds.

Curriculum Connection: MATH

Melting Snow. Put some snow in a large plastic cup or bowl. Note the current time and ask children to predict how long it will take for the snow to melt. Invite younger children-who are not yet able to understand hours or minutes-to predict in which part of the day the snow will melt (for example, at lunchtime or after snack). Record their predictions. Ask children to check on the snow at different intervals. Record the time that they discover the snow finally melted.