Winter Story Stretcher: "The Story of the Snow Children" by Sibylle von Olfers

The wondrous world that exists in Sibylle von Olfers' children's books may be teeny tiny, but they truly stretch the imagination to new heights. S and Y still frequently ask to hear The Story of the Root Children before bedtime and this winter, I was eager to add The Story of the Snow Children to our collection. These whimsical tales naturally lend themselves to storytelling and play acting, so I knew that this would be an integral part of this story stretcher in our Winter Break Story Stretchers Playcamp. \

I introduced our book and a simple craft to decorate winter crowns for our Morning Work activity the day before we were to do our story stretcher. We used snowflake stickers and glitter crayons to decorate our crowns as we would be playing the part of guests at the royal feast of the Snow Queen and her little Princess on her birthday. I love setting out a small world display to introduce our book and morning activity. I used our peg doll family and a collection of peg doll snowmen pulling them on a tiny sled. The boys enjoyed playing with that as much as making their crowns.

When it was time to start our story stretcher, the boys were greeted on the rug with a welcoming song and our own makeshift sleigh. But before it was time to board, we danced around the room like the snow children do in the book and bundled up in warm clothes like Poppy, the main character, just as she is about to embark on her wintry adventure. Our sleigh took us to the table where our own royal feast was ready to be served: iced tea (as in the book) and "snow snacks" (Muddy Buddies I prepared in advance from this recipe since we did not have white chocolate as mentioned in the book). The boys loved having iced tea poured from our fanciest tea pot!

As the boys sipped and snacked, I finished reading the book. S and Y donned their winter crowns for the royal dancing around our living room...

S really wanted to act out the story again from the beginning! I told him he can retell it and act it out as many times as he'd like! That's the wonderful thing about storytelling and great literature. We gathered once more at the table for a story related craft, making "crystal" flowers like the ones described in the icy garden in the Snow Queen's royal kingdom. We used recycled plastic bottles that I cut and prepared ahead of time to look like flowers. The boys used permanent markers in cool wintry colors and some blue and silver gem stickers to decorate their flowers. Later we would string some dental floss through a hole I punched in each one and hang them from our dining room window to capture the light and bring some colorful life to our own winter season.

Great authors are the ones that make you want to read and retell again and again. Sibylle von Olfers may not be among the most popular of children's authors in our country, but she is truly a beloved one in this household. If you can get a hold of any of her books, they truly do warm and heart and spark the imagination. We will be back soon with another ice cold story stretcher--even as our winter break draws to a close and we prepare to go back to school. Until then...a happy and healthy new year and, of course...

Happy Playing!