Winter

As it began to get cold outside, we learned about Winter! We experimented with water and learned about two states of matter. To make this snowman, I filled 3 balloons with water and froze them over night. The next day, I put the ice on top of one another carefully and added felt eyes, nose, mouth, and hat. Students drew a picture of the snowman in the morning and then later in the afternoon after the snowman had melted.

Blubber Gloves- We discussed how some animals keep warm in the winter. You will need a small bucket of ice water for this activity. Have students place one hand in a plastic bag layered with shortening to represent the blubber. Then they will put both hands in the ice water to feel the difference. Discuss how some animals have a layer of blubber to keep them warm.

Sequencing - We put pictures of a snowman in order from when he was big all the way to him melting!

What I love about Winter- We did a share circle about the things we love to do in the Winter. Then we asked students to pick one and the teachers wrote down their responses on a snowflake. Then they could color the snowflake a shade of blue.

Shaving Cream Snowman- We used shaving cream and glue to make a snowman! Then we added paper dots for eys and a mouth. They drew on the arms and snowflakes with crayons.

Other Winter ideas:

• Practice writing names in shaving cream or draw a snowman in the shaving cream
• Use honeycomb cereal as snowflake stamps
• Discuss where animals go in the winter time to keep warm. Sing hibernation songs and discuss the different animals. Before the lesson, hide stuffed animals around the room. Have students find the animals. Sit in a circle and have students tell the class what their animal does in the winter to keep warm.
• Read The Mitten by Jan Brett. Have students put the animals in order as they were told in the book. Who was the first to go in the Mitten? Glue animals on a sentence strip and glue a big mitten at the end of the strip.

Winter Songs:

Hibernation Song

(to tune of wheels on the bus)
The weather's getting cold so bundle up,

bundle up, bundle up

The weather's getting cold so bundle up,

winter's coming soon.

The bears in the cave sleep all the time............

The squirrels in the trees get lots of nuts...............

The frogs and toads go deep in mud.......

The ducks and the geese go flying south........

The people in the town wear hats and gloves..........

I’m a little Penguin

tune: I’m a little teapot

I’m a little penguin, look at me,
Fishing and swimming in the deep blue sea.
My wings are black and my tail is white.
And I like sliding down the snow so bright!

Hibernation –sung to “Alouette”
Hibernation.

Time for Hibernation.
Hibernation.

Time to go to sleep.
In the winter where’s the bear?
Sleeping in its cave or lair.
Where’s the bear? cave or lair. Oh!

In the winter where’s the frog?
Sleeping by a pond or log.

In the winter where’s the snake?
In the mud beneath the lake.

In the winter where’s the bat?
In a cave is where its at.