Storywalk - The First Day of Winter

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The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming

A snowman comes alive as the child building it adds pieces during the first ten days of winter.

CONTINUE THE FUN

Learn About The First Day of Winter

There are two ways to look at the first day of winter:
Meteorological Winter: based on the annual temperature cycle and the 12-month calendar, begins December 1 and ends the last day of February.
Astronomical Winter: based on the position of the Earth in relation to the sun, begins at the winter solstice (typically December 21) and ends on the Spring Equinox in March.

Learn more about these two ways of determining seasons!

Learn about the Winter Solstice!

The winter solstice is celebrated in many ways – learn about some of these celebrations!

Learn about Animals in the Winter!

Hibernation, migration and adaptation are ways that animals survive the winter – but which animals do what? Learn about hibernation, migration and adaptation- then go for a walk and look for different animals and birds. See if you can figure out how they are surviving in our winter climate.

Learn About Snow!

Here are a few fun facts about snow! What else can you learn?

Snow falls on all 7 continents – it snows less on Antarctica than on any other continent
Snowflakes almost always have either six sides or six points – but they can form into any shape
Scientists believe that no two snowflakes look exactly alike – each one appears to be different in design, shape, and size from all other snowflakes.
Snow is frozen water! It looks white, but it’s actually clear. The white light from the sun reflects off the clear snow flakes and makes them look white.
Snowflakes can be big! The Guinness Book of World Records has the largest snowflake as 15 inches across.

See Snowflakes Close Up

Go outside when the snow is falling gently, bring a black piece of paper with you and hold it out flat toward the sky. Look at the snowflake through a magnifying glass to study it closer.