Attention Getter: Ice
Tell the class that you have a surprise that you are going to let each one of them hold to see if they can tell what they will be learning about today. Pass an ice cube to a child, have them cover it so that no one can see it and then pass it to the next person. Continue around the circle until everyone has had a turn. Then, let the class tell you what they were holding, how it felt, and what was happening to the ice.
Ask questions, such as "Where does ice come from?" "How is ice made?" "What season do we see ice and other frozen things?" Introduce the word "winter" and talk about some of the changes that occur when the weather gets cold.
Activity 1: What Do You Wear in Winter?
Place two papers on the floor, one that says "Winter" and one that says "Summer." Have a supply of clothing that would be worn in the two different seasons. (We used clothing pictures that we had available in class. You could us real clothing or printed pictures from the internet). Let each child come up and choose an item of clothing, tell what it is and place it in the correct category. See which category has the most when finished.
Book: The Snow Globe Family
Review with the children how snow melts in the summer. Then, ask them if they think it would be neat if snow could last all year long! Show a couple snow globes if possible and describe how the snow inside of them never melts. Introduce the book, "The Snow Globe Family" and tell them that this story is about a family that lives inside a snow globe where the snow never melts. As you read the story, help the children pay attention to the adventures that are happening for both the family inside the snow globe and the one outside of it.
Activity 2: Winter Words
After reading the story, draw a snow globe on the board and ask the children to think of some of the things they do in the winter. Let each child tell you something and write it in the snow globe. You just might find out that the children in class do some of the same things that the snow globe family did!
Bonus Section: If I Lived in a Snow Globe
Here's what we did for our Creative Project for the day. It takes some extra prep, but the end result is something that the children loved!
