As the Mom of three under three, I read a lot of the same books about snow and ice all winter long. I was delighted to finally find a new and fabulous classic to add to our collection that celebrates native wildlife and compassion. “Stranger in the Woods,” by husband and wife team, Carl S. Sams II and Jean Stoick is filled with absolutely beautiful photographs of animals interacting with the “Stranger in the Woods,” a snowman. The book has won tons of awards, as has the audio retelling of the story complete with 12 original songs and the movie. This is a great one to add to the shelves.
The kids ask for this book often and have become very skilled at naming the different animals in the book. The pages include gorgeous photographs of
- blue jay (my husband’s favorite)
- owl (my eldest son’s favorite)
- mourning dove
- muskrat
- squirrel
- porcupine
- rabbit
- chickadee (my favorite)
- mouse
- cardinal (my daughter’s favorite)
- and deer (buck, doe, and fawn)
- Clearly we are bird people!
As an added bonus, “Stranger in the Woods” comes with a fabulous easy to do outdoor activity printed at the end of the book that even the youngest among us can enjoy: Recipe for a Snowman! The writing of the recipe is entertaining and the ideas for what foods to provide to attract some of our favorite wildlife, deer, chickadees, and other songbirds is valuable. The premise is so simple and yet, so fun.
- Build a snowman.
- Provide places for the birds to perch (limbs for arms and a hat on the head)
- and then decorate with birdseed and other food items.
The kids loved making the snowman with Daddy.
We didn’t have all the recommended ingredients, so we improvised! I personally was most entertained by the head of a pepper for a nose…..LOL
We also used cherry tomatoes for eyes and baby carrots for the mouth. The kids thought they looked like teeth.
The birds didn’t seem to mind and the kids were overjoyed to see the critters enjoying their creation!
We will absolutely be repeating this activity again next winter. What about you?
What wonderful winter activities have you found?
This post was done in concert with several other wonderful bloggers who are sharing their book based activities for all of us to enjoy! Be sure to visit the list below and pick up some awesome new ideas!
Little Cloud Tissue Paper Craft from Raising Little Superheroes
If You Plant a Seed Kindness Activity from Books and Giggles
The Chalkboard Kid Enrichment Activity from Kelly’s Classroom
The Gingerbread Man Inspired Peg Dolls from The Gingerbread House
Three Little Pigs Architectural Challenge from Playground Parkbench
Make Monsters Play Dough Mat Pack from Play Dough & Popsicles
How to Have Matching Card Fun with Dr. Seuss from Peakle Pie
Easy DIY No Sew Felt Rabbit from Crafty Mama in ME
Book Inspired Play for Toddlers and Preschoolers from Squiggles and Bubbles
Simple Book Activity for The Shape of Me and Other Stuff from There’s Just One Mommy
Easy Dr. Seuss Costume- The Sneetches from Organized 31
Kelly from Kelly's Classroom says
02/17/2016 at 9:54 pmI love how you were able to integrate the book with the kids’ outside play time! I’m not familiar with this book, but now I’m curious to check it out!
Erika says
02/18/2016 at 1:14 pmHi Kelly! It’s one of our favorites. We found it by accident at the Smoky Mountain National Forest Welcome Center. The photographs are gorgeous and the kids are riveted to the window waiting and watching for the birds to land on their snowman! It’s a great win for us – hope it will be for you too!
Karen @ Raising Little Superheroes says
02/21/2016 at 12:35 pmWhat a fun way to teach your children about different animals and connect the story to building a snowman. I love how you used vegetables for the snowman’s face too. Thank you for participating in the Book Inspired Blog Hop.
Erika says
02/21/2016 at 4:45 pmHi Karen – Thanks for including me on this hop! The family had a great time building this snowman 🙂 I hope you let me play again soon! Cheers!
Christina @There's Just One Mommy says
02/22/2016 at 11:41 pmWhat a fun activity for such a cute book.
We love the photographs in that book. Unfortunately we haven’t had enough snow to make our own snowman this year.
Erika says
02/23/2016 at 8:12 amThis year has been really short on snow! Last year we got so desperate, we actually set out a bucket and caught as much as we could, combined it with what we could gather off the ground in a pail and brought it inside for some snowman building – there are actually some pictures of us building an indoor snowman in my BFIAR post on The Snowy Day…..lol http://prayspecies.com/2015/03/16/thematic-play-based-on-the-snowy-day/