Winter is Here: Awesome Winter Activities To Enjoy With Your Preschooler

Read the wonderful story “Winter is Here” with your preschooler. Then try some snowy activities inspired by the book. Includes art projects, sensory play, preschool science, and some free printables. These winter activities are great!

Winter is Here: Awesome Winter Activities To Enjoy With Your Preschooler

We are definitely in the midst of winter in my part of the world. Snow is piled deep in the yard, the community skating rink is in daily use, and snowfall warnings abound. Winter is the perfect time to enjoy some extra reading time with your kids and I have a wonderful wintery book to share.

This is a lovely book about the winter. Vibrant illustrations and simple text capture the season beautifully. Children seem to enjoy the story. I suspect it is because they can identify with so much of what they see and hear. Things like the snow, “dripping from the roofs and sticking to the trees in clumps and curls.” Or the challenges of dressing in layers full of snaps and buttons.

The illustrations are gorgeous and the text manages to convey the essence of the season in a few words. I love that there is so much detail in the pictures. Children and adults are out enjoying the winter and a variety of animals get on with their daily lives. I also appreciate the diversity that is woven into this story. We see people with different skin tones enjoying winter, as well as many kinds of animals. It sends a quiet message of acceptance that is so important today.

At the end of the story winter retreats as warmer weather arrives. In its place comes a glorious spring complete with cherry blossoms and new life. It is a lovely way to end the book and lets the children to witness the cyclical nature of the changing seasons.

AS YOU READ THE STORY

The book opens with a beautiful double-page spread of a park in winter with people enjoying various wintery activities, building a snowman, skating, talking, and walking their dogs. Try to resist the temptation to rush past this and spend some time enjoying all the details. Ask questions like

What do you notice first?
What else do you see?
If you could jump into the picture, what would you do?

Invite your child to make up stories about the people and animals they see in the picture. Talk about some of the things you see as you turn the pages. Invite your child to remember the time you made a snowman, went skating, or watched the snowfall. If you don’t live in an area that gets snow, invite your children to imagine what it must be like to do those things.

Use this time to be creative with your child. Talk to them about the book and let them come to their own conclusions and answers. They’ll love talking about all the winter activities and also love the fact that you’re there with them.

AFTER THE STORY

Enjoy some songs and finger plays

Holiday zone has a lovely selection of winter songs and fingerplays, but these two are my favorites.

Action Song: Dance Like Snowflakes (tune: Are you sleeping)

Dance like snowflakes,
Dance like snowflakes
In the air, in the air
Whirling, twirling snowflakes
Whirling, twirling snowflakes
Here and there, everywhere

Fingerplay: “Here’s a Hill”

Here’s a hill (tilt left arm so that it forms a hill)
And here’s a hill (tilt right arm so that it forms a hill)
All covered with snow (raise hands up, bring down in snow motion)
I’ll put on my coat, (put a coat on)
And jump on my sled (hold the rope of a sled)
And ZOOM, down the hill I will go! (clap hands, slid hands down)