The snow has finally arrived here on the North Shore of Massachusetts and Emmy is delighted! We've had a great time sledding, building snowmen, having snowball fights and stomping through the snow.
Here are a few of Emmy's observations about snow:
*Snow is freezing cold. It's like a freezer for the Earth.
*Look at the tiny crystals. The snow fairies must make those sparkly colors.
*Where do the trucks put all of the snow? Maybe they
take it to the North Pole.
*Somebody's shaking the clouds!
*It's so quiet. Is the snow sleeping?
There's no doubt that children love rhyme and Emmy is no exception. She frequently plays with words and can be heard going around the house saying, "cat-hat; yes, those rhyme" "cake-bake; yes, those rhyme." Adding poetry into our day is something that I am trying to be more mindful of. I love the rhythm and rhyme of poetry and the extraordinary pictures that are formed in your mind when poems are spoken aloud. Here is the latest poem that I have shared with Emmy. I hopeit has you "in stitches" as it does for Emmy and me.
Snowball
I made myself a snow ball
as perfect as could be.
I thought I'd keep it as a pet
and let it sleep with me.
I made it some pajamas
and a pillow for it's head.
Then, last night it ran away.
But first -- it wet the bed.
In the book, Snow, Cynthia Rylant charms us once again with her poetic interpretation of a winter wonderland. Rylant makes the reader aware that there are different types of snow...soft, fat, a little, a lot, etc. and in her masterful way she creates images so vivid that you feel like part of the story. "The best snow is the snow that comes softly in the night, like a shy friend afraid to knock." Emmy enjoys the page where the snow falls so heavy it buries cars up to their noses. As we walk around town, Emmy will point out the cars covered with snow and just laugh and laugh. Adding to the glory of the words in this book are the illustrations by Lauren Stringer. They are filled with blue-white crystal creations showing snow flurries, snow drifts and snowflakes (no two alike).
Creating art with snow and representing snow through a variety of art materials allows Emmy to explore with all of her senses and bring about a deeper understanding of the magic of snow.
Building a baby snowman.
Working with "squirt" glue and cotton balls to create an indoor snowman.
The finished product.
Add a little bit of snow to your pancakes with powdered sugar dusted on with a sifter!
One of my all time favorite movies is White Christmas starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney. I am looking forward to sharing my love of "old" song and dance movies with Emmy and in the meantime will show her bits and pieces of my favorites like this scene highlighting Irving Berlin's song Snow.
Emmy and I hope you've enjoyed our celebration of snow! If you're looking for more books and poems on winter, take a look at these posts:
And for another gorgeous book by Cynthia Rylant, check out this post and look for the book In November.
I love Rylant, but haven't seen that one. I'll have to look it up!
ReplyDeleteWe are just starting to delve into poetry. Admittedly, I've tried before, but the kids were not game for that kind of "story":) Now, I think they realize that poetry is so much more than a story, and Dr. Suess was our introduction strangely enough. It all started with rhyming and now we think poetry is pretty cool. I like "Snowball" and will share it with the kids.
ReplyDeleteDr. Seuss was a master of nonsense words and rhyme. "From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!"
ReplyDelete