Welcome to the Storytime at Home series! Every other week, we share a list of book options tied to a kid-approved theme, a craft you can set up to go along with the theme, songs/rhymes you can do during storytime, and additional enrichment activities. All books are available at Richmond Public Library, and crafts will involve items you likely have at home already! Our hope is that we can make it easy for you to share stories with your little ones and create a little bit of library magic at home.
P.S. Love library storytimes? Take a look at all in-library storytime options here. There is a storytime for your child every morning at our various branches!
Okay, now to the fun stuff…
Today’s storytime theme is WINTER!
It’s officially winter! Time for cold temperatures, icy trees, and (hopefully) some snow! A winter storytime theme opens up so many learning opportunities: weather, cold versus hot (and other opposites), seasonal changes, animals, hibernation, and so much more. There are also great winter songs and rhymes to be shared with your children, and winter stories feature wonderful examples of outdoor and imaginative play. Curling up with a good book and snuggling with your little one (especially after a fun morning of playing outside!) is a perfect cold weather activity. Let these books take you on new adventures and magical explorations of our beautiful world. The library has some wonderful books about winter, and we’ve included some of our favorites below. When you visit, you can also search ‘winter’ in our catalog or ask a librarian to help you find the perfect book for you and your child.
Books
Reading to your kiddos turns them into confident thinkers. Making books a regular part of your daily routine is a great way to build children’s love of reading and learning. Storytimes also help build excitement around reading to support their literacy development.
Here are a few book options you can choose from for your winter-themed storytime.
Preschool
- The Three Little Mittens by Linda Bailey
- The Snow Dancer by Addie Boswell
- Winter Magic by Robert Burleigh
- Counting Winter by Nancy White Carlstrom
- Snow Globe Wishes by Erin Dealey
- Winter: A Solstice Story by Kelsey Gross
- The Snow Thief by Alice Hemming
- It’s Winter by Renée Kurilla
- The Magical Snowflake by Bernette Ford
- Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter by Kenard Pak
- Winter Is The Warmest Season by Lauren Stringer
- Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story by Sean Taylor
- Winter Lullaby by Dianne White
Toddler/Baby
- Winter Dance by Marion Bauer
- Snow Friends by Christina Butler
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s First Winter by Eric Carle
- Maisy’s Snowy Day by Lucy Cousins
- It’s Time to Build A Snowman by Elizabeth Doyle
- The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming
- It’s Winter by Linda Glaser
- Winter Is Here by Kevin Henkes
- Snow Days by Deborah Kerbel
- Snowy, Blowy Winter by Bob Raczka
There are many ways to make reading fun and engaging for your little one!
Click here to see some of our favorite tips for bringing stories to life at home.
- Point at the pictures and ask your child what they see. Help build their vocabulary by pointing to pictures and saying the word aloud.
- Ask your child questions about the story: What do you think will happen next? How do you think this character is feeling?
- Read with expression and enthusiasm, and use different voices for different characters.
- Act out what’s happening in the story.
- As your child gets older, count objects in a book, discuss the different colors they see, point out shapes in the story, etc.
- Snuggle up and be patient. Reading is great bonding time for you and your child. Take your time walking them through the story. If your child wants to turn the page or be finished with reading, that’s OK too. You don’t have to read every word or even every page for reading with your little one to be beneficial for their development.
Songs and Rhymes
We love adding songs and rhymes to our storytimes. This is a great way to practice language with your child and support their physical (motor) development through movement.
Here are two songs and rhymes you can use for this themed storytime.
Sing: Snowflake, Snowflake
Tune: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Snowflake, snowflake in the sky
love to watch you floating by
Down you fall upon the ground
Down you fall without a sound
Snowflake, snowflake in the sky
love to watch you floating by
Rhyme: A Chubby Little Snowman
Do actions in italics as you say it
A chubby little snowman (hold arms in front of you)
Had a carrot nose (make carrot nose with hand)
Along came a bunny (make bunny with fingers)
And what do you suppose (hold arms out to side)
That hungry little bunny (rub your tummy)
Looking for his lunch (put hand up to eyebrow)
Ate the snowman’s nose with a munch, munch, CRUNCH! (crunch hands)
Arts and Crafts
Adding a craft along with a book is a great way to continue allowing your child to learn, explore, and grow. Crafts are a nice supplement as they encourage motor development, creativity, self-confidence, and more.
In fact, art and craft activities:
- Build fine motor skills. Actions such as painting, coloring, gluing, and cutting develop small muscles in small hands and improve coordination skills as children learn to use both hands at the same time.
- Support early literacy. When children make art, they learn vocabulary and how to follow directions when getting verbal instructions from parents and caregivers. They also boost their communication skills via talking about their work!
- Teach early math concepts. Math skills are used frequently in arts and crafts. Kids learn about and recognize different shapes, count and sort art supplies, and even measure out materials.
- Encourage creativity. Art helps develop creativity, self-expression, problem-solving, and curiosity.
- Boost self-esteem. Doing arts and crafts can give children a sense of achievement and allow them to take pride in their work, which builds confidence.
- Offer bonding time. Kids love spending quality time with parents and caregivers, and arts and crafts are a great opportunity for this.
Here is a craft activity you can do along with the winter theme.
Resist Painting Tree Craft
Materials Needed
- White cardstock, watercolor paper, cardboard, painting canvas, etc.
- Masking tape
- Paint
- Paint brush, sponge, cotton ball, etc.
Source: Red Ted Art and Inner Child Fun
Directions
- Help your child rip pieces of tape and place them on your paper in the shape of a tree. You can do a lot of branches as shown, or just a couple!
- Press the tape down firmly to ensure no paint can get under it.
- Add paint to your paper, covering the tape and surrounding areas entirely.
- Allow the paint to dry fully.
- Peel the tape off the paper. It may work best to pull at an angle.
Additional Enrichment Ideas
The fun doesn’t have to end at books, songs, and a craft. There are many ways to enrich a storytime with additional activities and lessons. Here are a few ideas for you and your child:
- Make two-ingredient homemade snow! This is a great sensory experience on its own, or you can add cars, animals, Little People, etc. to expand the play.
- Speaking of Little People… create this ski ramp for your kiddos’ favorite tiny characters!
- Practice early science skills by making your own ice ornaments. Talk to your kids about why and how water freezes when it’s cold!
- Work on those gross motor skills with an “iceberg hop.” Cut some irregular shapes out of white cardstock for “icebergs” and have your child pretend to be a penguin jumping from one iceberg to the next!
- Let your child paint snow or ice or make frozen paint for a fun art project switch-up.
- Take a winter walk. Talk with your child about how the trees look, why there are no leaves, how it feels outside, what the sky looks like, what you see on your walk, etc.
- Set up a sticky snowman for your kids to decorate with cotton balls, paper, etc.!
- Build a blanket fort to cozy up on a chilly winter day.
- Looking for more ways to escape the cold? Visit one of our branches and join us for storytimes, craft programs, and more!
We share these Storytime at Home posts twice a month, so be sure to check back soon for more. You can also search “#storytimeathome” to see all past posts.
Have a suggestion for the next theme we cover? Email Sarah at sarah.fenninger@rva.gov and let us know!
