Ezra Jack Keats
| The Snowy Day Ezra Jack Keats |
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Peter wakes up one morning to find snow covering the ground. Read about
all the ways he finds to play in the snow. He loves the snow so much he
tries to save a snowball in his pocket. What do you think happens?
Where would you like to jump down to?
Something to Do, Web Sites to
Try, Other Good Books
If you love snow as much as Peter does, you just might like to make a snow globe.
What you need:
a clean, empty baby food jar or other small jar with a screw top
waterproof glue (aquarium glue, or epoxy)
small plastic figure to go inside the jar (a snowman might be nice)
silver or white glitter, or both
baby oil
What to do:
This project will take at least two days, but it is worth it. First, take the waterproof glue and glue your plastic figure to the inside of the jar lid. You must let this dry for at least 24 hours or your figure will come unglued when it's in the globe. After you have waited at least 24 hours, fill the jar about 3/4 of the way full with baby oil. You can use water, too, but baby oil makes the glitter fall more slowly and some people think that's prettier. Plus, the baby oil won't evaporate like the water might. Put some of the glitter in the jar (maybe about a teaspoon--use your judgement.) Now, put some waterproof glue around the inside rim of the jar lid and screw it onto the jar. Don't turn your jar over and shake it just yet. You'll want to let it sit for another 24 hours before you do that. After 24 hours, your snow globe should be ready to shake up! You can make these as presents or make several for yourself with different figures inside them and different colors of glitter. You can add food coloring to the baby oil, if you like. You could even experiment with painting the outside of the baby food jar before you make your globe! When you are having fun inside with your snow globe or outside with real snow, don't forget about Peter and The Snowy Day.
Something
Else to Do
Make a calendar for the year by drawing a different picture for each month. In a book from the list below called October Smiles Back, the author sees the months as people or animals. What do the different months seem like to you? What things to you like about each month or season? What things don't you like? You could work on this project all at once, or slowly, whenever you felt like it. A calendar for the next year would make a great holiday gift for a family or friend!
Snow Page
http://www.teelfamily.com/activities/snow/
The Teel family seems to love snow as much as Peter does from The Snowy Day. Learn about snow crystals, make a snow candle, or read a snow poem or fairy tale. Learn several different ways to make snowflakes. You'll also find a collection of links to other site about snow.
Fall Foliage
http://www.weather.com/fall/
This page tells you about why leaves change their colors. It also tells you that the leaves change colors at different times across the country and offers a map that shows you when leaves are changing for different areas in the country. By clicking on one of four areas, you can find out what kinds of trees you'll be likely to see changing in those areas.
Kids Kite Web
http://www.sound.net/~buckchil/KKWeb/
Making kites is the perfect spring actvitity for adults and kids to do together. They can work on it together and fly it together! At the Kids Kite Web, you'll find about things that have to do with kites and kite flying. You'll also find instructions for kites to make under the Kids Projects section. Many of the instructions have drawings so you can follow what mean. On the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, you'll find information about BOOKS and MAGAZINES that have to do with kiting. If you enjoy the kiting page, you would probably enjoy reading the book together. There are many different kites out there that you can learn how to make.
Bubbles
http://bubbles.org
Making bubble solution and blowing bubbles is a great activity for the summer, when you can be outside and watch the bubbles go up, and up, and up! At this site you can make your own tools for blowing bubbles. You probably already have the ingredients to make the "The Ultimate Bubble Solution" to go with the tools. You'd be surprised--you can even use just your hands as the tools to blow bubbles. Did you ever wonder why bubbles look like they have rainbows inside them? You can learn more about how bubbles work. Another great thing about this site is that it has a "Bubble Bibliography," a list of BOOKS that you can read on how to make bubbles. Try your local library for those books. Sometimes this site is a little slow, so if you're in a hurry to make bubbles, you might try some of the other places listed below. Each other place has different ideas, so you might want to look at them all.
Bubbles
http://www.scri.fsu.edu/~dennisl/CMS/activity/bubbles.html#B2
This person uses a different trick to make bubble. This bubble soluction has corn syrup in it. He also tells you how to make big bubbles, and tough bubbles!
Craft
Recipes
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/5634/craftrec.htm
At this page, you'll find several bubble recipes in this alphabetical list (look under Bubble Solution, Giant Bubble Liquid, Super Bubble Mixture, and The Best Homemade Bubble stuff.) All of the recipes are slightly different, and the Bubble Solution page has some need ideas for tools to use to blow bubbles. You'll find tons of other great craft recipes on this page, including play dough, finger paints, and silly putty!
Summer Fun
http://www.worldvillage.com/ideabox/summer.html
Here are some more summer fun ideas from the folks at Idea Box. Make a Scoop n' Toss game using old milk gallon jugs!
More books about the months and seasons:
Tell Me a Season, by Mary McKenna Siddals, illustrated by Petra Mathers
This is a simple book about how each season has its own special colors, from the mud brown of spring to the black and white of a winter night.
Gingerbread Days, by Joyce Carol Thomas, illustrated by Floyd Cooper.
This book of poems goes through the year, letting us share in boy's life during each different month. In "A Gingered January," his family mixes up a gingerbread man. In July he catches crawdads. We can enjoy the different things that he does every month. The pictures are so real that its easy to feel like you know this boy and his family.
Mud, by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Lauren Stringer.
With the winter thaw comes MUD! There aren't very many words in this book, but there is lots of mud. The character in the book is so happy playing in the mud because it's so much fun and because mud is the first sign of spring!
October Smiles Back, by Lisa Westerberg, illustrated by Ed Young.
Starting with November, and going through each month, this book personifies the months-or makes them into animals. One good example, "Lazy February yawned. She was grumpy and bored. / When I tickled and poked her, she stretched out and snored." This book is illustrated using paper collage. The fun thing about this book, is that each month is described as a person or animal. A fun activity would be to sit down and think of what kind of person or animal each month or season is like, and draw it. You could even make your own calendar by drawing a different picture for each month!
When Spring Comes, by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, illustrated by Stacey Schuett.
This book is fun because it takes place a long time ago, in the pooneer days. A girl is thinking about what it will be like when spring comes. We get to find out what spring meant to people back then. Spring to this girl meant sweet milk doughnuts, planting seeds, and many other things. But when she thinks about it for awhile, she's realizes that winter has good things about it, too.
Go to another page: The
Carrot Seed | If
You Give a Mouse a Cookie ||
Shapes, Shapes,
Shapes | The
Very Hungry Caterpillar |
Web
Sites to Try