Because I am kind of a goose, I looked at my phone over the weekend and saw that snow was forecast for this week. My excitement was short-lived, when my husband pointed out that I was looking at the forecast for Asheville, not Atlanta.

It did make me think of some of our favorite snow books, and convince me to give a Pinterest craft idea a try. So, we’re just going to pretend today is a snow day. By the way – my apologies to those of you who live in places where snow is a nuisance and a threat, not a once-every-two-years source of excitement. This post might not seem quite as fun to you.

First up, our favorite snowy book:

Kazuno Kohara (author of one of my favorite Halloween books) wrote and illustrated [amazon text=Here Comes Jack Frost&asin=0312604467], which is best described as a delightful romp through the snow, as cheesy as that may sound. Jack Frost, the personification of frost and ice, teases his human playmate, and they chase each other through a snowy scene until the first mention of springtime warmth. Then, Jack Frost disappears, promising in a whisper of the wind to return the following winter. The book is just plain fun to read, and the playful language really attracts the young readers in this house.

Kohara illustrated the book solely in shades of blue and white, which makes the perfect segue to today’s craft activity. If your children or students are a bit older, they could even use this activity to create art pieces based upon the illustrations in the book.

To continue our little adventure in the snow, we made snow paint. For our recipe, we used this tutorial at Growing a Jeweled Rose.  We mixed white glue and shaving cream (the el cheapo variety), and then added white glitter. However, in the future, I think I might just forget the glitter, because even though we added a ton, you couldn’t really see it while we painted.

Once we had the paint all mixed, we used paint brushes to paint on blue paper. This was a TOTAL hit, and a very calm post-dinner activity. I was impressed with how easily the girls adapted to the stickiness of the snow paint. Also, unlike the tutorial I used for inspiration, the girls were far more interested in the process of painting with it than in actually creating a snowman or snow scene. We just rolled with it, and they had fun experimenting with the paintbrushes, their hands, and a spoon to get the snow paint onto their papers.

One of the neat things about the snow paint is that it dries somewhat like puffy paint. Very soon after you apply it to the paper, the glue starts to form a sort of ‘skin’ over the shaving cream, and you can touch it without anything sticking to your hands. After about an hour or so, you can actually smoosh the paint a bit and it will spring back. I think it goes without saying that the girls thought this was amazing.

If you’d like to continue your snow day with some more great reading, here are two more of our favorites.

I have never been a fox in the snowy woods, but I wonder if Tejima, author/illustrator of [amazon text=Fox’s Dream&asin=0590451049] actually has been. The amazing woodblock prints are enough of a reason to read this book, and the story makes it even more beautiful. The plot is fairly simple, in that the lonely fox dreams about some sort of companion, sees some semblance of this dream in the icy woods, and then meets a real-life version by story’s end. However, for young children, it’s a relatable way to describe the human experience. (I’m not exaggerating – it’s an encapsulated existential dilemma that resonates with preschoolers.) If you can find this, read it! You’ll be enchanted.

And I’d be fired as a book blogger if I didn’t mean the ultimate classic in snow books: Ezra Jack Keats’ [amazon text=The Snowy Day&asin=0140501827]. Every child on the planet should read this book. Young Peter makes his way outside to explore in the snow, and has all sorts of adventures alone and with a friend. He tries to keep a snowball in his pocket, and faces the unfortunate consequences of taking that snowball into a warm house. Ezra Jack Keats obviously remembered what it was like to be a young child, and innately understood how to communicate that feeling in words and pictures. You read this book, and feel like you’re walking along with Peter, watching your footprints appear in the snow.

Frankly, some good books and a fun time snow painting made our pretend snow day pretty great – and it was a lot easier than having to shovel the driveway.

{The book links above provide a tiny bit of compensation to Read It, Make It! if you make a purchase through them. Thanks!}