Three Classic Picture Books About Snow

I hate to be the one to say it, but snow is coming. In Pennsylvania we get a lot of snow. I've been trying to scoot everyone out the door every warm and sunny day we've had this Autumn {thankfully, there have been a lot of them} to soak up all of the vitamin D we can before our many, long, home bound days come.

This winter when you are snowed in and wondering how on earth you can keep your preschoolers occupied for yet another long day, I've got you covered. Have a fun homeschool unit based on these three books!

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats {1962} features little Peter exploring his snow-covered environment. His classic little red snowsuit with the pointy hat is a familiar sight to many. My Pastor's wife is in her mid-fifties and remembers loving this book as a child.

White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt {1947} begins with a lovely poem, and follows a policeman, farmer, mail man, school children, and rabbits before, during, and after snow falls and then melts into spring.

Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton {1943} is about a tough, bull-dozing tractor named Katy, and how she rescues her town, Geopolis, when they get seriously snowed in.

Educational Opportunities. Discuss the properties of snow {science}. It would be fun to copy Peter from The Snowy Day and allow your child to make a snowball, bring it inside, and leave it in his pocket. You can hang it over something to catch the drips.

Activities.

• My Joy Filled Life featured The Snowy Day for one of her Story Time posts, collecting a huge list of snacks, crafts, and activities to accompany the book. Lots of great ideas here!
• Creekside Learning shares her week of F.I.A.R lesson plans for Katy and the Big Snow. Printing and learning about street signs from the DMV, making a map of Geopolis, etc.
• Make a snow sensory bin. Fill a plastic tub {I just use our baby bath tub} with sugar, flour, or salt and add toy people and cars, or sticks and pinecones, or whatever, and allow your child to free play. I've even done this with real snow, giving my daughter shovels and other water proof toys and letting her go to town. It is super fun, and the possibilities of textures and toys to put in your sensory bin are endless!
• Make the town of Geopolis out of painter's tape on your carpet. 
• Wildflower Ramblings also has a number of great activities and crafts to accompany The Snowy Day, suited for a toddler.
• Delightful Learning shares her week of lesson plans that she did with her young elementary age kids for White Snow, Bright Snow. So many great ideas, like an indoor "snowball" fight with rolled white socks {using laundry baskets for forts}, serving a snowman pizza for dinner, and making frost paint.

Other Resources. You can watch a plain read-along of The Snowy Day here, but there is also a mixed media one (claymation, paper cut outs, photographs) that is a little off-the-wall in a good way, which I and my kids enjoyed.

Be sure to also check out... Other great books to read when it is snowing include Sugar Snow {from the aforementioned My First Little House series}, Snowflake Bentley, The Snowman, The Mitten, and When Winter Comes. I'm sure there are many more, but these are all good ones I've read and can vouch for!

Looking for more great books to read with your preschooler? Check out the rest of this 31 Days series here!

Some of the links above are affiliate links- which means that if you make a purchase through them, I receive a small profit at no extra charge to you. But you should know that I am an avid believer in reading for free through both local and church libraries ;). Thanks for supporting The Purposeful Wife!