Hello All! My name
is Marlie Strosnider and I am from Salt Lake City, Utah. I am in my second year
of teaching kindergarten and rounding off my first year with Teachers Pay
Teachers and my store is Curriculum to the Core. I am very excited to be part
of this new blogging community.
I am currently in
Salt Lake City, Utah but I am originally from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. There
are many things I love about living here- the mountains, the skiing, the
wonderful people, the hiking, and so much more! There is, however, one thing
that I was missing about Pittsburgh a few weeks ago and that was a SNOW DAY!
Our School Covered with Snow |
I have been
watching the news and have seen that the East Coast will be getting hit pretty
hard with some snow in the next couple of days. I am writing this blog post
while my mother sends me updates on a traffic jam on the PA turnpike that my
parents have been sitting in for the past hour and half. Although this kind of snowstorm
is nothing to miss about the East Coast I started to become nostalgic on my
experiences growing up with my loving grandmother.
Snow days were not
just a chance to miss school, it was a day filled with fun activities when my
mother (who is an accountant) would ship my brother and I off to my
grandmothers (who was a teacher) to get out of her way during tax season.
My grandmother was
a very active woman. She loved being outside all the time. This meant that my
brother and I were not going to be allowed to stay in doors and watch TV like
some of my friends did on snow days. We would have to go outside, even if it
was negative degrees outside, to play. Thank goodness my grandma was a knitter
because we had back-ups of mittens whenever we needed them, you know those old
style mittens that would just soak up every bit of water once you tried to make
any resemblance of a snowball.
Well, we got hit
pretty hard with some snow the week before winter break and here in Utah there
is no such thing as a ‘snow day.’ The kids were enjoying their snack, at least
those students who made it into school that day, and my aid and I were talking
about our childhood memories of snow days. My aid is from Poland and also was a
child who benefited from snow days. One of my students asked me: “Miss
Strosnider, what is a snow day?” Once I heard that I felt a little sad, I was
sad because this little girl would never experience all the fun times there is
to be had during a snow day. That is when I decided to make an announcement to
my class. I told them that if we could keep the Christmas excitement to a
minimal and focus on the Jesus’s birthday (I work at a Catholic school) then I
would reward them with an “East Coast Snow Day.” I even told them that I would
bring my snow pants and play with them outside on the day before winter break.
Now I am very
lucky to work at a school that allows me to do silly things like this with the
kids. Not working in a public school does have its advantages sometimes. I am
also lucky to have a principal is who is also from the East Coast and allowed
me to host my snow day.
I emailed the
parents and told them about the “East Coast Snow Day” and asked them to send
their kids in with the hold kit and caboodle (snow pants, gloves, boots, hats,
scarfs, etc.) I received many emails with parents expressing how excited they
were and many offered to bring in shovels, and toys to play with outside.
While most classes
are winding down the first half of the school year, my kinds were outside
enjoying the snow. I was very pleased that every single one of my students
brought in the necessary materials to have a successful snow day. I had parents
bring in shovels, an igloo block maker, and spray bottles. I have a list of fun
activities that you can do with your students in the snow.
One of my favorite
activities when I would attend my grandmother’s house on snow days was snowman
painting. Snowman painting was what my grandmother called it. She would
challenge us to build the tallest snowman we could and then paint him! Now, you
may be asking… how do you paint a snowman? Well the answer is with the spray
bottles! My grandmother would fill up 4-5 spray bottles with water and dye the
water with food coloring. We would then go outside and paint the white snowman
to resemble tie-dye.
Snow Races:
When we were
outside in the snow, I challenged my students to snow races. We would run,
skip, slide, roll, and any other action they could think of from one side of
the playground to the other. The kids loved this. They probably just loved
their teacher rolling around in the snow with them, but hey happy students equal
a happy teacher!
My aid helped the
students try to build a huge snow fort as well as snow castles. One of my
parents had their child bring in several plastic kid shovels. It was truly one
of those moments when you see a kid, be a kid. I think as teachers sometimes we
forget how little the students really are. I was elated when I saw so many
smiling faces by just seeing them shovel snow into a large pile. We later made
this into a math opportunity; we measured our snow pile and tried to build
other ones higher. They enjoyed trying to make a snow pile that was as tall as
them.
Snow Science:
Now this is
something I was planning on doing with the kids. Because we had a half-day, I
was unable to squeeze this in. I will be doing this once they return and we
work on our penguin / snow / winter units. This is an activity I picked up from
another kindergarten teacher last year. It was called: “Would You Eat This
Snow?” This is a great activity to do with the kids, especially if you have
some kids trying to catch snowflakes on their tongue or picking snow up and
eating it. What you need is a clear plastic container, and snow! It’s a pretty
simple experiment. You take the kids out first thing in the morning to collect
snow into the clear plastic container. Its better if you have a large container
so all the kids can help scoop some snow. You then bring it in and ask the
students if they would eat the snow. Hopefully the snow you collect is a nice
white color. The students record their observations and draw what the snow in
the bin looks like. Place the container in an area that will receive sunlight
so it can melt. By the end of the day, students will see what that white snow
actually looks like when it melts into water. It turns into a grayish liquid
with particles floating around. At the end of the day, ask your students again,
“Who would eat this snow?” and watch how their reactions change. You can
download the worksheets for free here:
There are so many
things you can do to incorporate education with the snow. I hope teachers can
bust out their winter gear and have some fun with these snow activities with
their students. I truly enjoyed my “East Coast Snow Day” with my kinders and I know
they LOVED it.
Even my pug Olive loves snow days! Sorry, I couldn't resist.
What are some snow
activities you do with your students?
I live in Arkansas and we do not always get snow days but it is exciting when we do. So sweet that your students were able to have this experience.
ReplyDeleteI live in Arkansas and we do not always get snow days but it is exciting when we do. So sweet that your students were able to have this experience.
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny you mention the lack of snow days! I am also in Utah and there can be 24 inches of snow without a "snow day" in sight. I always thought it was incredibly unfair because there are LOTS of books, movies, and television shows that depict them but I never got to experience them myself. Good for you for sharing that with your students!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun idea! And a memory your students will carry forever! How fun!
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI am from PA and we just had lots of snow and a snow day on Friday - in fact it was our third snow day already this school year. As an adult I have forgotten how much 'fun' snow is for children. Thank you for the reminder! Oh and I must do your snow experiment when we return next week.
ReplyDelete