Winter Activities Archives -Imaginations Running Wild-

Ice Skating Stories

January 25, 2023January 29, 2023 Jennifer

I recently took my son ice skating for the first time. Oh boy, was it hard! I was so impressed that he kept trying even though it was a struggle. In the end, neither one of us were very good at ice skating, but we had a lot of fun 🙂 Here are 8 ice skating stories to share with your preschooler that show not only how fun ice skating can be, but also that have to keep trying when we are new learning things and not to give up even though it can be hard.

Eight Ice Skating Stories:

1. Dream Big, Little Pig by Kristi Yamaguchi–

In this story written by Olympic gold-medalist Kristi Yamaguchi, a pig named Poppy is determined to be an ice skating star. Successful ice skating takes balance, grace, and coordination, things that don’t come easily to pigs. However, Poppy is surrounded by family and friends who believe in her, and most importantly, Poppy believes in herself. After a lot of practice, Poppy’s determination pays off as she feels the magic of gliding around on the ice! Poppy’s story continues in, Big World, Little Pig!

2. Angelina Ballerina Loves Ice-Skating! by Katharine Holabird–

In this cute book, Angelina trades her dance slippers for ice skates! She and her sister are so excited that winter is here so that they can ice skate with their friends. However, the weather is not cooperating and it is snowing too much to ice skate. Although disappointed not to be skating, Angelina and her friends come up with fun indoor activities to do together! Eventually it stops snowing and everyone is able to ice skate together.

3. Five Little Penguins Slipping on the Ice by Steve Metzger–

This book is a cute penguin version of the Five Little Monkeys. Preschoolers will love the rhyming, sing-songy story and vibrant illustrations. One by one, the little penguins and get hurt while playing on the ice and their mama has to call the doctor. Eventually no one is having any fun at all, until mama comes up with a new plan!

4. Pink Around the Rink by Victoria Kahn–

Pinkalicious can’t wait to ice skate! After she colors her white ice skates pink with a marker, she is ready to skate! Turns out ice skating is harder than it looks. After some wobbles and spills, Pinkalicious improves. While skating, the pink color begins to come off her skates and Pinkalicious is so embarrassed. What she doesn’t realize, however, is that she is leaving lovely pink designs all over the ice. I love that this story not only shows that we have to keep trying when learning something new, but also that beautiful things can happen when we least expect them.

5. Flora and the Penguin by Molly Idle–

Molly Idle’s Flora and her Feathered Friends wordless picture book series is fantastic! In this book, Flora wants to ice skate and who better to teach her than a penguin! The beautiful illustrations tell a story of friendship between these two. No relationship is conflict free. Flora and her new friend have their ups and downs, but in the end, they learn to work together. Preschoolers will love lifting the flaps to reveal the duo’s beautiful ice skating moves!

6. Tallulah’s Ice Skates by Marilyn Singer–

Tallulah is a very accomplished dancer and feels compelled to be the best at ice skating too. She wants her friend to practice an ice skating routine with her, but her friend just wants to have fun. Determined that being the best at ice skating is the most important thing, Tallulah goes off on her own to practice. Readers will be rewarded with watching Tallulah’s discovery that don’t have to be the best at everything and that sometimes it is important to just have fun.

7. Horse and Buggy On Ice by Ethan Long—

In this sparsely worded story about friends, Horse and Buggy, the duo take to the ice! Horse is very confident about his skating abilities and he glides along the ice, spins, and leaps in the air. Buggy is worried that her friend will get hurt. When Horse does fall, he quickly gets back up again, reassuring Buggy that he is alright. The illustrations are so funny and perfectly capture’s Horse’s exuberance and Buggy’s worry. Your child will crack up at the end where the two friend skate around the ice together, this time with little Buggy holding Horse up high over her head!

8. Mice on Ice by Rebecca Emberley —

My son loves this book! Ed Emberley’s illustrations are fantastic as always and capture the fun the little mice are having on the ice. My son loves the colors in the vibrant pictures and the rhyming text. This short story is perfect for preschoolers will have trouble sitting still through long stories. You won’t want to miss what picture the mice’s skates carve in the ice, and who shows up to join in the fun!

I hope you enjoy these ice skating stories! Check your public library for these books and other ice skating stories. I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy reading 🙂

Animals, Winter

Snow Animals Books

December 29, 2022December 29, 2022 Jennifer

Although some animals hibernate in the winter or migrate to warmer places, there are still plenty of animals who love the snow! In fact, penguins in Antarctica live in snow all year round. Here is a list of 12 snow animals books to read and learn about who lives in the snow.

12 Books about Animals Who Live in the Snow:

1. Who Lives Here? Polar Animals by Deborah Hodge–

This is a fact book about animals who live in the extreme cold. Each page talks about a different animal in a couple, easy to understand sentences that are accompanied by cute pictures. Along the side are additional facts that you can chose to share or not depending on your child’s interest. This book had some of my son’s favorite animals–snowy owls and penguins!

2. The Magical Snow Garden by Tracey Corderoy–

A little penguin named Wellington, who lives in the snow, dreams of his own flower garden. His friends tell him that it is much too cold for flowers to grow here. Nonetheless, Wellington is determined so his best friend, Rosemary, helps him create his own flowers out of bits of paper, springs, gears, and other things that can be repurposed. Together, they create a beautiful garden. Sadly, a snow storm destroys the beautiful flowers. Wellington’s friends won’t let him give up, and together they rebuild the garden better than ever. Preschoolers will adore the cute, whimsical illustrations in this book. And everyone can benefit from the message, “we don’t know until we try.”

3. Winter Dance by Marion Dane Bauer —

This is a sweet story that teaches kids about how animals spend the winter. As the first snowflake falls on the fox’s nose, fox wonders what he is supposed to do in winter. The other forest animals tell him how they prepare for winter. Some fly south, others store food, and some hibernate. Unfortunately none of these ideas will work for fox. Finally, another fox comes along and shares what foxes do in winter — they dance in the falling snow! With such beautiful illustrations, kids will love looking over the pictures and seeing the two foxes twirling about in the snow.

4. Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester–

Here’s a bird who thrives in the snow– meet Tacky, the funniest penguin! He can’t sing, dive, or march the way other penguins do; Tacky does everything his own way. At first this seems to be bad thing, but when the hunters come looking for penguins, Tacky’s odd behavior drives them away! Turns out being yourself is pretty great.

5. Little Owl’s Snow by Divya Srinivasan–

Little Owl is so cute! In this Little Owl story, the forest animals are preparing for winter. Some gather and store food, some hibernate, and some stay awake to play in the snow. Soon winter arrives and leaves a blanket of snow in Little Owl’s forest home. Even though Little Owl misses his hibernating friend, hedgehog, he enjoys the snow with his other friends. Preschoolers will love this bold, bright pictures and gentle story.

6. Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman–

This rhyming, sing-song story follows the pattern of the Ten on the Bed song. The caribou has a sled and soon his nine snow-loving friends join him for a sled ride. One by one, the animals fall off and they form a giant snowball. The animals race the giant snowball down the hill, losing friends as they go. By the bottom of the hill, only the caribou is left on the sled. Your kiddo will giggle as wolf wipes out and fox flips out of the sled. Caribou is lonely and he invites all of his friends to join for another sled ride!

7. Animals Hidden in the Snow by Jessica Rusick–

This book is both tons of fun and offers great information about animals in the snow. Each page takes a look at a different animals and asks the reader to try and spot the animals hiding in the snow. Animals use camouflage to blend in with their surroundings so you have to look carefully. Turn the page to learn interesting facts about the animal you find.

8. A Polar Bear in the Snow by Mac Barnett–

My son really enjoys Mac Barnett’s stories! In this story we get to follow a polar bear on an adventure across a beautiful snow landscape. Sparse text filled with questions to the reader will keep preschoolers engaged. Shawn Harris’ paper collage images are awesome and wonderfully capture the bear’s journey.

9. Polar Bear Babies by Susan Ring —

Learn about the survival skills baby polar bears need for life in the harsh arctic in this short book. The babies need to learn to swim, catch fish, and run around the snow. The cute images of the baby bears greatly appealed to my son.

10. Cozy by Jan Brett–

We were trying to guess what the big wholly animal is and, oh boy, were we wrong. It is a musk ox and they live in Alaska. In this snowy story, Cozy gets separated from his family and gets lonely all by himself. Not to fear because soon other animals seek warmth in Cozy’s fur. We get a great look at different types of animals that live in snow–lemmings, hares, snowy owls, foxes, and wolverines in addition to the musk ox. Cozy’s adventures continue in the sequel, Cozy in Love.

11. Here is Antarctica by Madeleine Dunphy–

This book shows us lots of animals that survive that in the cold in Antarctica. The reader gets to learn about both water and land creatures. The animals who live on the land, live in snow year round. These include three types of penguins (emperor penguins, macaroni penguins, and adelie penguins), leopard seals, crabeater seals, south polar skuas, and the southern giant petrels.

12. Fox Versus Winter by Corey R. Tabor–

Get ready to learn about who migrates, who hibernates, and who stays to enjoy winter in this humorous book. While Fox is one of the animals who doesn’t hibernate or migrate, Fox does NOT like winter. Almost all of his friends either hibernate or migrate, except Rabbit who goes off alone, leaving Fox lonely. Fox gets an idea to make new friends out of snow, but they are not as much fun as his old friends. What’s Fox to do? He decides to fight winter! Get ready to laugh as Fox gets a flame thrower and tries to melt winter. Winter fights back and Fox gets covered in snow. Just then, Rabbit appears. Rabbit teaches Fox to appreciate winter and Fox finds that with a friend by his side, everything can be enjoyable.

I hope you enjoy these snow animals books. I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy reading 🙂

More Books about Animals in Snow:

Penguin Stories: 10 books about penguins to read with your little one!

Polar Bear Books: 8 books about these beautiful white bears.

Winter Stories: 15 stories about winter that have lots of animals in the snow.

Rhymes and Poems, Winter

“Frozen” Finger Family Rhyme

December 3, 2022December 2, 2022 Jennifer

Here’s a fun twist on the Finger Family song–instead of saying “daddy finger,” “mommy finger,” etc., call your fingers one of the main characters from the movie “Frozen!” Go through the rhyme together once to practice it, then see how fast you can you do it 🙂 Find more fun rhymes: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/finger-rhymes-and-other-poems/

Frozen Finger Family Rhyme:

Elsa finger, Elsa finger, where are you?

“Here I am, here I am. How do you do?” (wiggle thumb)

Anna finger, Anna finger, where are you?

“Here I am, here I am. How do you do?” (wiggle pointer finger)

Kristoff finger, Kristoff finger, where are you?

“Here I am, here I am. How do you do?” (wiggle middle finger)

Sven finger, Sven finger, where are you?

“Here I am, here I am. How do you do?” (wiggle ring finger)

Olaf finger, Olaf finger, where are you?

“Here I am, here I am. How do you do?” (wiggle pinky finger)

Love Frozen?

If you have a Frozen fan at home and are looking for more Frozen-themed fun then check out these activities:

Frozen-Inspired Windsock: create a sparkly snowflake windsock inspired by the movie Frozen!

Snowflake Wand: decorate a sparkly snowflake wand and use it to sprinkle winter magic all around!

Make your own fake snow by combing shaving cream and baking soda! This science experiment is “snow” much fun to make. Your preschooler will love playing with their fake snow.

Snowflake Number Coloring (#1-10): find all of the snowflakes with the same number and color them with their matching color. Use your dot pens or color them in with crayons (2 pages).

Winter Fizz science experiment with baking soda, glitter, and vinegar!

Winter

Fingerprint Winter Tree

December 2, 2022December 4, 2022 Jennifer

Enjoy a snowy winter scene without having to leave your warm home with this fingerprint winter tree craft! My 4 year old really like using his finger as the paint brush for this activity. We don’t get snow at our home in the winter so my kiddo has to be content with pretend snow until we can make a trip up to the mountains. I paired this craft with a snow-themed book, The Snowy Nap by Jan Brett. It was fun to read about snow and do a snow project together!

Supplies Needed:

I love low prep activities that I can quickly pull together without having to delay the fun or make a trip to the craft store! This project is quick and easy to get started with minimal supplies.

You Will Need:

construction paper (I used light blue)

black marker ( I used a Sharpie, but I think any black marker would work)

white washable paint

paper plate or paint pallet

How To:

First–draw an outline of a barren tree. I didn’t fill in my tree trunk, but feel free to color it in however you like. Maybe draw a hole and your child can pretend there’s an animal hibernating in there!

Second–pour a small amount of white paint onto a paper plate or a paint pallet. I like to use Crayola Washable Paints. They are easy to wash off which is fantastic since we somehow seem to get paint everywhere.

Third–have your child dip their finger into the paint and then make “snowy” fingerprints on the tree. Be creative with your snow placement!

Fourth–make a snowy ground by dripping some white paint at the bottom of the tree and letting your child smear it all around with their fingertip.

Fifth–let your project draw before showing it off!

More Winter Crafts:

Check out more winter crafts that my son and I made: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/preschool-winter-crafts/

There is a cute and sparkly snowflake, a fuzzy candy cane, a handprint peppermint craft, and more fun things to make with your preschooler.

Christmas

Candy Cane Reindeer

November 29, 2022 Jennifer

Make a candy cane reindeer to give out to a friend, neighbor, or family member. This reindeer craft is pretty quick and easy, but turns out so cute. Both kids and adults will love receiving one of these little reindeers. My son enjoyed making them and had a blast handing them out 🙂

Supplies Needed:

candy cane
googly eyes
pompoms
pipe cleaner
glue dots
white school glue

How To:

Pick a candy cane to decorate. Leave the plastic on the candy cane!

Pick a pipe cleaner and a pompom to use on your candy cane. My son wanted to make a “Rudolph” candy cane reindeer so he picked a red pompom for the nose 🙂

Twist the pipe cleaner around the top of your candy cane to make the antlers. Now twist the 2 ends of the pipe cleaner around your little one’s finger to make them look kind of zig-zaggy.

For the eyes, we originally just peeled off the back of the sticker googly eyes and stuck them, but we found that they did not stay on very well. So Plan B — we glued the eyes onto the candy cane with white, school glue.

Last, we attached our pom pom nose with a glue dot. I think you could also use the white glue for the nose too, but then you have to wait a while for it to dry.

And now we have a cute (and yummy) candy cane reindeer! For more crafts ideas, check out my Winter Crafts page 🙂

STEM, Winter

Make Fake Snow!

November 22, 2022November 22, 2022 Jennifer

Whether you were wishing you had snow to play in, or are stuck inside because it is too cold out, make some fake snow that won’t freeze your fingers! All you need are two ingredients–baking soda and shaving cream–to make your own snow. The fake snow feels so soft and flakey. It is is tons of fun to squish in your fingers! Add some of your toys so they can have a snow day too. Fake snow is a fun way to add STEM into your preschooler’s activities. Check out my STEM Page for more ideas!

fake snow preschool STEM — Fake Snow Preschool STEM Activity

Fake Snow Supplies Needed:

supplies: shaving cream making soda, foil tray, and measuring cup

baking soda
shaving cream
measuring cup
tray or bowl to mix ingredients in (we used a 8×8 inch foil tray)

I love STEM activities that my son and I can do with supplies we already have at home! If you don’t have any shaving cream, another mom said you can use hair conditioner.

How To:

We tried this a couple times before we “perfected” our fake snow. In order to make enough to actually play with, we used 1 Cup baking soda and a little more than 1 Cup of shaving cream. Begin by measuring your baking soda and then dumping it into your tray/bowl. Then measure your shaving cream and dump it on top of your baking soda.

Now for the fun! Use your hands to combine the shaving cream and the baking soda until it forms snow. Add some extra shaving cream if needed to get the texture you like. Want to see this in action? check out our 4 1/2 minute video: How To Make Fake Snow

We had lots of fun just squishing our snow around the tray. My son added a plastic Olaf toy and let Olaf have fun playing in the snow too. Soon my son’s imagination went wild and he pretended that his hands were yetis after Olaf. Warning — snow got all over the table and some ended up on the floor as my son played. Fortunately it was easy to clean up with a wet paper towel.

making fake snow — Playing with our fake snow

More Snow and Winter Ideas!

Winter Fizz STEM Activity: combine blue glitter, baking soda, vinegar to create a wintry-looking fizzy science experiment!

Frozen-Inspired Windsock: create a sparkly snowflake windsock inspired by the movie Frozen!

Fingerprint Snowy Tree: draw a barren tree with a marker and then your preschooler can paint on the snow with their fingerprints.

Craft Stick Snowflake: add some sparkly winter fun to your seasonal decorations with this cute craft stick snowflake!

Snowman Books: Building a snowman is one of our favorite winter things to do as a family. However, even without snow, you can have some snowman fun with these 8 snowman books.

Winter

Snowflake Wand Craft

January 23, 2022November 22, 2022 Jennifer

Wands are lots of fun! They make you feel so magical as you wave them around. Add some magical fun to your winter activities with is sparkly snowflake wand craft! This is perfect way to add some whimsy and magic to your little one’s creative play 🙂

Supplies Needed:

snowflake wand template (free PDF)
markers
glitter glue
scissors
construction paper
craft dowel rod
crepe paper in blues and/or violet — Amazon has a pastels multi-pack and a “mermaid” colored pack of crepe paper
tape
glue stick

How To:

Print off the free PDF snowflake wand template. There are 2 snowflakes on the template so you can make one for the front and one for the back of the wand.

Color your snowflakes and cut them out. Add glitter glue to your snowflakes so that they sparkle! Let your snowflakes dry.

Glue them onto a piece of construction paper, leaving space between the 2 snowflakes. Next, cut out a circle around each of the snowflakes, creating a border of the construction paper.

Tape one of your snowflakes to the dowel rod. Next tape or glue your crepe paper to the back of the snowflake. I used violet and light blue crepe paper and cut it about 12 inches long. I thought the crepe paper was too wide, so I turned it into 2 skinnier pieces.

Now that your streamers are in place, it is time to put the other snowflake onto the wand. Using your glue stick, cover the back of the other snowflake in glue. Attach it onto the back side of the snowflake that is already taped to the dowel. Now your snowflake wand is ready for playtime!

I’ve joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. So if you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy crafting 🙂

More Crafts

Secret Snowflake Painting: draw snowflakes with a white crayon and watch your child discover secret snowflakes when they paint over your drawings!

Craft Stick Snowflake: add some sparkly winter fun to your seasonal decorations with this cute craft stick snowflake!

Frozen-Inspired Windsock: create a sparkly snowflake windsock inspired by the movie Frozen!

Winter

Easy Peasy Tissue Snowflake Craft

January 22, 2022January 22, 2022 Jennifer

Looking for a quick and easy winter craft to keep your preschooler occupied? Try this easy peasy tissue snowflake craft! All you need is a sheet of paper, tissue paper, a pencil, and a glue stick.

Tissue Snowflake Craft

My son loves blue so we made a blue snowflake on white paper. Pick any color background paper you like and then pick a tissue color that will show up nicely. Draw a basic snowflake shape. Mine took up most of the paper.

Help your kiddo wad up the tissue paper. Our tissue paper came in 1-inch squares so we didn’t have to cut or tear it into small pieces. If you are using a large sheet of tissue paper, cut it into small pieces for your child. I bought a pack of pre-cut tissue squares from Oriental Trading that came in a variety of colors; it is one my go-tos for crafting!

Using your glue stick, glue on your wadded up tissue paper balls along the snowflake lines. Once you have covered the lines completely, you will have a tissue snowflake to show off! Add glitter or sequins if you would like your craft to have some sparkle!

More Snowflake Crafts

There’s just something so magical about snowflakes that I can’t help but be drawn to them! My son and I have made several snowflakes crafts together and they have been a lot of fun 🙂 Here are a few more crafts for you to try:

–Secret Snowflake Painting –draw snowflakes with a white crayon and watch your child discover secret snowflakes when they paint over your drawings!

–Craft Stick Snowflake: add some sparkly winter fun to your seasonal decorations with this cute craft stick snowflake!

–Frozen-Inspired Windsock: create a sparkly snowflake windsock inspired by the movie Frozen!

Animals

Basic Shapes Penguin Craft

January 17, 2022January 19, 2022 Jennifer

Penguins are so cute and I couldn’t resist making a penguin with a heart-shaped tummy for extra adorableness! This basic shapes penguin craft is great for preschoolers to make. Not only does coloring help them with their fine motor skills needed for writing, but this craft also helps them with shapes. Take this opportunity for your kiddo to work on shape identification by saying the names of each shape as they color them.

Supplies Needed:

penguin craft template
crayons
scissors
glue stick
piece of construction paper

How To:

Print off the free basic shapes penguin craft template. It is a free, downloadable PDF.

Ask your child to name each shape as they color it. Bonus, count how many of each shape they see.

After all of the shapes have been colored, cut out the pieces. Rounded edges are hard for little ones, so an adult may need to do the cutting.

On a piece of construction paper, assemble the shapes to form a penguin. Look at the sample on the craft template. The large oval is the body; the large heart is the tummy; 2 small circles are the eyes; triangle is the beak; 2 ovals are the wings; and the 2 small hearts are the feet.

Glue all of your pieces onto the construction paper. Let your penguin dry before showing off how cute it is!

Looking for More Crafts?

Check out my Crafts Page for more fun things to make with your kiddo! There are more animal crafts to make, winter crafts, and lots of fun 🙂

Winter

Frozen-Inspired Windsock:

January 16, 2022November 22, 2022 Jennifer

Do you have a kid who loves the movie Frozen? Or if you are like me, then you are the Frozen fanatic in your household! I love this movie and my family is kind enough to indulge my obsession. Fortunately, my son thinks Olaf is hilarious, so my kiddo was happy to make this Frozen-inspired windsock craft with me!

Supplies Needed:

white cardstock (preferably), but regular printer paper will do
markers
glitter/glitter glue
sequins
glue stick
white glue (for adding glitter and sequins)
crepe paper in blues and/or violet — Amazon has a pastels multi-pack and a “mermaid” colored pack of crepe paper
ribbon
stapler (optional)
hole punch

How To:

Print the free snowflake template onto white cardstock. I have a laser printer and it didn’t want to print on cardstock so I had to print on regular printer paper.

Decorating time!!! Color the snowflakes with markers. We outlined some of our snowflakes and completely colored-in others, using skinny markers. Use your creativity to make your snowflakes Elsa worthy. Add glitter/glitter glue and sequins onto the snowflakes and around the background. Make your windsock super sparkly! My son and I love using glitter glue. Crayola Washable Glitter Glue Pens are my favorite because they are so easy to wipe up. Let your project dry after you’ve added all of your glitter and sequins.

Cut your crepe paper into 12-inch long strips. Make a total of 6 strips. Once your project is dry, turn it over and glue the crepe paper along the bottom of the windsock. We used a glue stick to attach the crepe paper.

Turn the windsock front-facing so that you are looking at the snowflakes. Gently fold the windsock so that the 2 vertical edges touch each. Glue the 2 sides together so that it forms a tube. You can also stapled them together to add more support if you are using cardstock . Now your project should look like a windsock!

Cut your ribbon; ours is about 2 feet long. Punch a hole on both sides of the windsock — make the holes towards the top of the windsock. Tie your ribbon to both holes so that you can hang your windsock. We hung ours by a window so that it can blow when we get a breeze. We think Elsa would be proud of our Frozen-inspired windsock 🙂

More Crafts

Secret Snowflake Painting –draw snowflakes with a white crayon and watch your child discover secret snowflakes when they paint over your drawings!

Craft Stick Snowflake: add some sparkly winter fun to your seasonal decorations with this cute craft stick snowflake!