All You Need for a Snowman -- 1/24/23

Story Times are held weekly on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am.  Online Story Times will be posted monthly in the morning of the first Tuesday of the month.  (The video is available to watch for one month before a new one is uploaded.)

Click HERE for this month's virtual Winter Story Time.

All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle

Books:

The Biggest, Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler

The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming

Froggy Builds a Snowman by Jonathan London

Martin MacGregor's Snowman by Lisa Broadie Cook

A Really Good Snowman by Daniel J. Mahoney

Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright

Snowballs by Lois Ehlert

Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buehner

Craft: Looped Snowman

- Print template onto heavy paper or cardstock

- Color pieces

- Glue strips into tear-shaped loops

- Glue small loop to back of snowman's head

- Glue larger loop to back of the smaller loop

Extension Activities:

- Snowmen All Year imagines what a snowman might do for fun.  Ask your child to imagine what a snowman might do throughout the day.

- Try an exercise in creativity by asking your child to find unusual items around the house that could be incorporated into a snowman.

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Froggy Gets Dressed -- 1/17/23

Story Times are held weekly on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am.  Online Story Times will be posted monthly in the morning of the first Tuesday of the month.  (The video is available to watch for one month before a new one is uploaded.)

Click HERE for this month's virtual Winter Story Time.

Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London

Books:
Cold Turkey by Corey Rosen Schwartz

The Hat by Jan Brett

A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke

One Mitten by Kristine O'Connell George

Under My Hood I Have a Hat by Karla Kuskin

Craft: Mitten Match

- Print template onto heavy paper or cardstock

- Color mittens

- Cut on lines to make matching cards

Extension Activities:

- Discuss different items of clothing and the season it is most appropriate to wear them.

- Explain how frogs hibernate during the winter by eating sugar to help them "freeze" and then "thaw" in the spring.  A simple science experiment to demonstrate the concept would be to freeze a cup of water and then another cup of water with a 1 tbsp of sugar added to it.  Check it after an hour to see which is more frozen and which is more "slushy".

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When Winter Comes -- 1/3/23

Story Times are held weekly on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am.  Online Story Times will be posted monthly in the morning of the first Tuesday of the month.  (The video is available to watch for one month before a new one is uploaded.)

Click HERE for this month's virtual Winter Story Time.

 When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan

Books:

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

If You're Snowy and the You Know, Clap Your Paws! by Kim Norman

Once Upon a Wintry Day by Lisa Woodruff

Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! by Maureen Wright

Winter Lullaby by Barbara Seuling

Craft: Bear in Winter Sweater

- Print template onto heavy paper or cardstock

- Cut out pieces (bear body, arms)

- Color pieces

- Glue arms to back of bear's body

Extension Activities:

- Add some interaction to your reading of the stories.  Ask your child what you think will happen on the next page.  Or find an object on each page.

- Take a nature walk during the winter.  See what animals, plants, etc. you can spot on your walk.  Discuss with your child how things look different during a winter walk from a walk during other seasons.

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Virtual Story Time: Winter -- 1/5/21

Join us weekly for an online story time featuring a book read by Miss Amy on Tuesdays at 10:00 am.  The video is available to watch for one week before a new one is uploaded.

Click HERE to view the latest video. 

Walking in a Winter Wonderland illustrated by Tim Hopgood

A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke

Books: (Winter)

Grandfather Winter by Phyllis Root

Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara

I See Winter by Charles Ghigna

It's Winter! by Linda Glaser

A Kitten Tale by Eric Rohmann

Snow by Cynthia Rylant

When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan

White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt

Winter is Here by Kevin Henkes

Winter is the Warmest Season by Lauren Stringer

Craft: Lace-Up Mittens

- Print at least two of the template on heavy paper or cardstock and cut out mittens

- Line up mittens and punch holes along edges

- Color mittens

- Line up mittens and lace together with yarn

Extension Activities:

- Go on a winter scavenger hunt.  Look for various items including a cardinal bird, icicle, pinecone, snowman, etc.

- Talk with your child about the clothing you wear in the winter.  What do you wear?  Why do you wear it?

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Polar Bears Story Time: January 27-28, 2020

Books:
Hush Little Polar Bear by Jeff Mack
The Lonesome Polar Bear by Jane Cabrera
No Place Like Home by Ronojoy Ghosh *
Polar Bear Morning by Lauren Thompson
Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson *
Polar Bear's Underwear by Tupera Tupera *
A Splendid Friend, Indeed by Suzanne Bloom

Craft: Polar Bear Picture
The children ripped strips of blue, green, purple, and pink paper into squares.  They then glued them onto a piece of paper with a polar bear on the center.  They glued the pieces around the polar bear leaving the bear white.

Extension Activities:
- When doing the craft, have your child rip the paper themselves.  This is a great activity for working on gross motor skills.
- When reading Polar Bear's Underwear, have your child guess whose underwear it is before turning the page.  Use the clues given with the underwear's imagery to help them figure it out.


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Penguins Story Time: January 13-14, 2020

Books:
Baby Penguins Everywhere! by Melissa Guion
If You Were a Penguin by Wendell Minor *
Little Penguin Gets the Hiccups by Tadgh Bentley *
A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis
Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester
Waddle! Waddle! by James Proimos *

Craft: Folded Penguin
Kids colored a penguin face/belly before gluing it to a larger blue circle to make the penguin body.  They could then glue on a strip of orange paper for a scarf if they liked.  The sides of the circles were then folded in to make the penguin's wings.  (Note: If you want a chubby penguin, don't fold in the wings.)

Extension Activities:
- Practice letter recognition by asking your child to point out all the letter "P"s on the page as you are reading.
- Visit the Penguin and Puffin House at the zoo.


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Animals in Winter Story Time: January 6-7, 2020

Books:
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
First Snow by Bernette Ford
Moon Glowing by Elizabeth Partridge
Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! by Maureen Wright *
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit by Il Sung Na *
When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan *

Craft: Winter Animals Picture
The kids colored a winter animals coloring sheet.  They then glued on snowflake sequins.

Extension Activities:
- Add some interaction into your reading of stories.  Ask your child what they think will happen on the next page.  Ask them to find items in the pictures as you read.
- Take a nature walk in the winter.  See what animals, plants, etc. you can spot on your walk.  Discuss with your child how things look different on winter walks vs. summer walks.

Winter Animals Story Time: January 14-15, 2019

Books:
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson *
Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathon London *
Sleepover with Beatrice & Bear by Monica Carnesi
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit by Il Sung Na
When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan *

Craft: Mouse
Our craft this week was based on the picture at left with several changes.  The children colored a mouse cutout that had 2 small slits cut in the body.  They then twisted together 2 half pieces of pipe cleaner together and inserted it in the slits to make the mouse's tail.

Extension Activities:
- Take a winter walk to see if you can find some animals.  If it has snowed, look for animal prints in the snow.  See if you can figure out which animal it is from the prints.
- Make a coloring book of winter animals.  Find coloring sheets of various winter animals to staple together into a coloring book.  Ask your child which of the animals hibernate and which ones don't.


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Winter Animals Story Time: January 19, 2016

Books:
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson *
Chaucer's First Winter by Stephen Krensky
Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! by Maureen Wright *
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit by An Na *

Craft: Sleeping Bear Picture
The children colored a picture of a bear sleeping in the woods before gluing half a small paper plate ring (just the outer ring, the middle was cut out) over the bear to make it look like a cave.

Literacy Extensions:
- Learn about which animals hibernate through the winter and which stay awake.
- Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! uses rhyming words.  Practice your rhyming by trying to end all of your sentences with rhymes.

Notes:
Story Time was not held on Monday, January 18 as the library was closed in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Winter Story Time: January 4-5, 2016

Books:
A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke *
When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan *
Winter Is the Warmest Season by Lauren Stringer
Winter Woes by Marty Kelley *

Craft: Winter Trees Picture
Our craft this week was based on the picture at left.  Children were given 24 short strips of white paper (1/2" x 2") and three long strips of white paper (1/2" x 6-1/2") to glue onto dark blue paper.  They then added cotton ball snow for the ground and star stickers for the sky.

Literacy Extensions:
- Talk about different items that used during the winter but not other times of years (i.e. - winter clothes, sleds, ice skates, etc.)
- Learn more about animals spend their winter.  There are many books at the library featuring various animals.

Snowmen Story Time - January 28-29, 2013

Books:
Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buehner *
Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright *
All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle *
Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
On the First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming
Snow Balls by Lois Ehlert

Craft: Sparkly Snowman
I used the snowman template to the left for the snowman's body.  I also cut out a top hat to be glued to the snowman's head.  Children can color and glue sequins onto their snowman.

Literacy Expanders:
- Play with onomatopoeia and coming up with words that express the sound they describe. (i.e. achoo, etc.)
- Talk about what items you would add to a snowmen you might build.

Winter Animals Story Time - January 22, 2013

Books:
Winter Lullaby by Barbara Seuling *
Moon Glowing by Elizabeth Partridge *
Sleep, Bear Bear, Sleep! by Maureen Wright *
Duck, Duck, Moose by Dave Horowitz
First Snow by Bernette Ford
Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead
A Little Bit of Winter by Paul Stewart
The Winter Visitors by Karel Hayes

Craft: Folded Paper Bear
http://www.firstpalette.com/tool_box/printables/Paperzooanimals.html
The craft was revised a little bit in that we altered the template into two pieces -- the body and the head.  It made it easier for folding.  We also added lines to the body template to show where the bear should be folded so it would stand.

Literacy Extenders:
- See how many rhyming words you can come up with for bear, sleep, snow, etc.
- Discuss with your child how different animals spend the winter.

Snow Story Time - January 14-15, 2013

Books:
Grandmother Winter by Phyllis Root
A Kitten Tale by Eric Rohmann
It's Snowing by Olivier Dunrea *
Snow by Uri Shulevitz *
Snow Day by Lester Laminack
Snow Sounds: An Onomatopoeic Story by David Johnson
Snowball Fight by Jimmy Fallon *
Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats *

Craft:
Cotton Ball Snowflake - Glue four strips of construction paper (8-1/2" x 1") into snowflake shape.  Tear apart cotton balls and glue onto shape.

Literacy Extenders:
- Discuss different activities you and your child could do together in the snow.
- See how many words relating to winter you can come up with the start with the letter "s".