Snowman / Snowmen Storytime for Preschool

We may not have one tiny flake of snow on the ground, but I don't care!  It's January dagnabbit, so I'm having a snowman storytime!

Start out with some great snowman books. Check out these three, as well as many others at your local library:

There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow!   by Lucille Colandro.
Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
How to Build a Snowman illustrated by Jo Moon.

There are lots of fun songs about snowmen that you can use with your child or a group of children.  One of my favorites is "Five Little Snowmen".  The snowmen pictured were made out of felt by me about 9 years ago!  They've held up pretty well, though are starting to look a bit tired.  They have velcro on the back and I stick them on to a felt board and then we start the song.  One by one the snowmen melt away - I let the children guess what snowman would melt away first, second, etc.  The words to the rhyme are:

Five little snowmen all in a line
Each with a hat and a scarf so fine
Out comes the sun and it says all day
Until one of the snowmen melt away

Another song we do is "Build a Snowman" (to the tune of "Row Row Row Your Boat").  I pass out the snowman pieces mentioned in the song to each child.  Again, they have velcro on the back.  When we get to that piece in the song, the child comes up and puts the part on the board until the snowman is all built!   It's sort of lengthy, but here it goes...

Build, build, build a snowman
Starting with a ball
Merrily, merrily, merrily building
It's starting to get tall.


Build, build, build a snowman
Now add another ball
Merrily, merrily, merrily building
I hope it doesn't fall.


Build, build, build a snowman
We're ready for the top
Merrily, merrily, merrily building
I hope this fun won't stop


Build, build, build a snowman
Now let's add the eyes
Merrily, merrily, merrily building
This could win a prize


Build, build, build a snowman
Time to add the nose
Merrily, merrily, merrily building
Our hard work surely shows.


Build, build, build a snowman
We're ready for his smile
Merrily, merrily, merrily building
We'll be done in a while


Build, build, build a snowman
This scarf will keep him warm
Merrily, merrily, merrily building
He's ready for a storm



Build, build, build a snowman
Time to add the arms
Merrily, merrily, merrily building
He has lots of charm


Build, build, build a snowman
These buttons will look great
Merrily, merrily, merrily building
It's starting to get late


Build, build, build a snowman
We're ready for his hat
Merrily, merrily, merrily building
Take a look at that!


Build, build, build a snowman
Now we are all done
Merrily, merrily, merrily building
Wasn't that fun!

Lastly, we need to make a snowman!  There are literally hundreds of snowman crafts out there.  Just google!  What I like to do with the very young (toddlers and preschoolers) is let them create their own version of a snowman.  I provide large pieces of construction paper on which they can build their snowman and then quite a variety of materials to build with:  Q-tips, cotton balls, different sizes of white paper plates, old buttons, sequins of various shapes and sizes, google eyes, chenille steams, and miscellaneous foam stickers (that can be cut into shapes or used as is).   I won't even show you the snowmen that were made, because you know what, it doesn't matter!  This is a "free form" craft - let your child or group of children CREATE!