Free Printable Catholic Lenten coloring pages, Bible activities, Christian crafts

Hello my Omschool friends. Our family is Catholic and when I homeschooled our children, we followed the liturgical calendar and based our lesson plans around that. Our high holy day is Easter. For Catholic and Orthodox Christians, Easter is about more than just Easter baskets, bunnies and candy. Easter celebrates the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. During Lent, which is the 40-day period prior to Easter, Christians ready themselves for Jesus's coming with prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Lent begins in the Catholic liturgical calendar, on Ash Wednesday, following Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras (also called Shrove Tuesday) The date of Ash Wednesday changes each year as Easter is a "movable feast." In 2025, Ash Wednesday was Mar 5.  

Lent "follows" Jesus's during forty days of fasting in the desert when He was tempted by Satan. in preparation for His sacrifice on the cross. During Lent, we try to imitate Jesus. We follow the "Way of the Cross" or Stations of the Cross and pray the rosary. To help children learn about their Catholic Christian faith and observe Lent, here are free printable stations of the cross, rosary, saints and Easter bible story coloring pages. Use these for Lenten devotions.

The Catholic Kid has dozens of free printable Catholic coloring pages for Lent. There are free printable Catholic saints coloring pages too. 

Catholic Mom has an entire liturgical year of free downloadable and printable saints feast day coloring pages organized by month. This site also has 200+ free printable Sunday mass worksheets and activities, gospel Bible story coloring pages and devotional guides that follow the Catholic liturgical calendar. 

St. Anne's Helper has free printable Catholic activities and coloring pages for Lenten devotions. Catholic Icing is a homeschool mom blog with all kinds of printable Catholic activities, games, crafts, lesson plans and coloring pages. Clip Art Library has even more Catholic Bible printables and religious coloring pages. Edupics also has a big assortment of free printable Christian coloring pages. 

Between these sites, you'll free printable and downloadable Catholic Lenten coloring pages across all categories related to the faith, plus Christian games, activities, crafts and lesson plans. Some images are cartoons but others are beautifully drawn stained glass windows in various churches. These would make good adult coloring pages as well as challenging coloring pages for kids.  Categories include: 

free printable rosary coloring pages--Joyful Mysteries from the Bible story of Jesus's life: the annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of Jesus, the Presentation and Finding the Child Jesus in the Temple--Sorrowful Mysteries from the Bible story of Jesus's life: the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging, the Crowning with Thorns, Carrying the Cross and the Crucifixion--Glorious Mysteries (heavenly events) in Jesus's life include the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Assumption and the Crowning of Mary Queen of Heaven.--Luminous Mysteries: the Baptism of Jesus, the Wedding at Cana (Jesus's first public miracle), the Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Institution of the Holy Eucharist. These are Bible events from the life of Jesus. 

free printable Stations of the Cross coloring pages, one for each of the 15 stations

free printable Apostles Creed coloring pages

free saints coloring pages of St. Patrick, Mary Mother of God, St. Joan of Arc, St. Philomena, St. Tarcisius, St. Clare, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Joseph, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Valentine and other saints. There are several of Pope Francis. 

Use these free printable Catholic Easter coloring pages for Ash Wednesday, Lent devotions, Holy Week, Palm Sunday and the Easter Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and finally Easter Sunday. Make a Stations of the Cross coloring book for mass and to keep little ones quiet during devotions and to reflect during your stations prayers. These coloring pages make great lent devotional activities to prepare children for Easter.

Kids books and children's TV shows about broken bones, hospitals and childhood injuries

Hello my friends of the Omschool (omi-grama school). I'm worried today because my sweet 4 y/o grandson broke his leg on a trampoline a few days ago. Poor little guy is going to be in a wheelchair and cast for quite awhile.  And you know what this Omi does whenever anyone is in crisis. First I pray then I turn to bibliotherapy to find solace. So my first thought was hunt up books to help little man cope. Here are books about injured kids, hospital stays and all that goes into mending a broken leg.

Number one and two have got to be Curious George Takes a Job and Curious George Goes to the Hospital (H.A. and Margaret Rey) First, I like that in both cases, the injuries were preventable if George had listened and not been so snoopy. It normalizes what is very normal child behavior. A child's mishaps are often his own or someone else's "fault" in that they were playing too roughly, not following directions, etc. They (or the other person) may feel guilty and ashamed but take comfort that they're not alone. Everyone makes mistakes and can learn from them. Kids will find it interesting to see what hospitals were like, with children's wards instead of private rooms, and how injuries were treated (broken legs in traction) years ago (and maybe be thankful for changes now!) Hopefully there won't be an open ether bottle though! 

I Broke My Trunk (Mo Willems) Poor elephant has bent his proboscis and tells a silly story of how it happened. You'll love this one for the funny pictures alone!  

Sammy's Broken Leg (Oh No!) and the Amazing Cast that Healed It (Judith Wolf Mandell) This book will resonate with any child who's been in a cast all summer and has to deal with boredom, annoyance, being left out of activities and other frustrations. A little cheesy but I think kids will love it! 

Arthur's Knee isn't a book that I know of but a episode of the TV series Arthur. Our adventurous aardvark disobeys and goes to a junkyard. Predictably, he gets hurt and learns a lot about the body and how it heals itself. You can watch Arthur free with PBSKids subscription. Some episodes are available on Youtube and Amazon Prime. 

Caillou suffers his share of injuries and learns how to ask for help and how his body works. Here's another one about summer injuries. 

Daniel Feels Better In this episode of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Daniel hurts his ankle and learns about how doctors help children with injuries and how an x-ray works. 

Use these resources to help children understand why and how accidents happen and cheer them when they do. 

 

A case against censorship: See You at the Library is not American, Constitutional or Biblical

 Hello my friends of the Omschool. I know, I know, I just wrote a pro-censorship post and now I'm contradicting myself with an anti-censorship one. So the first one was actually not so much in favor of censorship as delaying children reading books books that aren't age-appropriate, aka books that are too mature. Today I'm taking on full-out censorship, banning books and the See You at the Library initiatives.

When Kirk Cameron (yes the child actor) initiated his "See You At the Library" thing last year, his proclaimed intent didn't match his true agenda. His mission is supposedly to return to American, Constitutional and Bible values. It was really a hostile takeover of libraries. They didn't want a meeting room like anyone else using the library would be given. They demanded to read in the library proper where everyone was forced to listen to readings of their fundamentalist books. 

As a person who treasures the sanctity and QUIET of the library, I'd be opposed for this reason alone! Supposedly this was an alternative to "drag queen story hours" (the ignorance baffles). My children have enjoyed many events at the library and never once was there an agenda besides learning to love reading. So as a person and a parent who treasures her civil liberties, I would not want my children being proselytized at story hour. By any one of any persuasion.  But that's not all they did. 

They further wanted a shelf purge of anything that didn't fit with their narrow definition of appropriate literature. AND librarians were to be punished and fired if said books were left on shelves. This is the kind of slippery slope mentality that led to book burning in Nazi Germany, just saying. These advocates don't just want freedom to read what they want, they want you not to be free to read what you want. 

Why am I so vehement about this? Because it violates the American, Constitutional and Bible values they supposedly promote. American values are all about being able to worship as we choose (or don't choose). We are protected against state religions and enforced observances. We believe in separation of church and state.  I'm a Catholic but I don't want mandated prayer, Bible reading etc. That destroys the purpose which should be done is secret and from the heart. And, make no mistake, fundamentalists like these have no use for any religious observance other than their own, despite the fact that it predates theirs by 1,900 years. 

Our constitution promises freedom of speech and the press. The American Library System is the backbone and bastion of that freedom. The Bible is all about diversity, inclusion and equality. Jesus abhorred hatred, shaming, judgementalism, hypocrisy and double standards. He railed against Pharisees and the self-righteous. 

I call this "Make America Stupid Again." 

As a homeschool parent, I knew a fair number of other parents who 

Late Boomer Teen and Kids Books that earlier boomers, Gen Y and Z don't understand

Hello my friends of the Omschool. March is National Reading Month and also Women's History Month. I've been writing a lot about books with flawed but relatable girl heroes from my boomer childhood (late 60s into 70s) These characters are often misunderstood and seem very broken, which is what resonated with me and maybe a lot of girls my age. What I realize, reading reviews from clearly younger people, is that these stories don't translate well with Gen Y and Z and maybe not even Gen X. 

Interestingly enough, they don't make sense to earlier boomers either who were raised on Pollyanna and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. It seems we, the last of  the late, great boomers are the only ones that get these characters. That's because our youth and teen time was very different than any before or after us. 

Let's take for example, the book Me Too by Vera and Bill Cleaver. A 12 y/o girl is abandoned by father and essentially mother, to care for her developmentally disabled (called retarded back then) sister Lorna. She tries to "make Lorna smart" to win back father. This book often gets low reviews, venomous actually, for being unrealistic and because the main character (sorry I've forgotten her name) is so angry with her sister. 

But from the perspective of a kid then and now, if we're honest, it's absolutely believable. Fathers (and mothers) do abandon families. Mine did. And moms (and dads) are often absent. Mine were. Parents did leave their oldest kids to basically raise their siblings. Mine did. And while my situation was quite unusual comparatively speaking (and maybe why I appreciated this book so much), I know others could relate as well. 

And the older sister who gets all the venom, was the most believable of all. She was hurt that her family was shattered, resented her sister for ruining her life, angry with her parents for not taking care of her or Lorna and just mad at life in general for dealing her such a rotten hand. Now you tell me what generation of adolescents hasn't felt these things and for fewer reasons than this character has. 

Reviewers faulted her for blaming her sister, calling her names and hating her, but also for, politically incorrectly, trying to make her normal. Now, to begin with, a kid shouldn't be left to care for their sibling alone, especially not one with special needs. And if they are, they're going to make mistakes and get it wrong because they are KIDS. I find it interesting how we don't fault parents for parentifying their child and then blame the child for failing to be the adults that the adults are unwilling to be.

And trying to normalize her sister, calling her names, punishing her is exactly what normal teens would do. THAT is realistic. Hurtful? Sure. Sometimes mean, yep. Misguided, absolutely. She had none of the parental guidance she should have had. Life is not a Hardy Boys novel. And most girls or people aren't Nancy Drew with her perfect piety and smug saintliness. We bumble and stumble. 

One reviewer scalded  the book for not having a happy ending. (so read the Bobbsey Twins) And that's what I like about the book! My life has never had neat, tidy conclusions either. Another faulted her for using God's name in vain and for having "janky" ideas of Christianity. So sanctimoniousness aside, A lot of us in that time were questioning the hypocrisy of organized religion, being raised to do things that weren't modelled for us. And if the character had wrong ideas, it was because she was showed a janky version. She was being made to carry heavy burdens the "Christians" weren't helping carry. 

I confess I'm surprised at the vituperative attitude toward this book and others like it from Gen X, Y and Z. I expected it from older generations who tended not to understand kids of the 70s. How often did we hear "things were different in my generation!" They certainly were and now we're having to deal with the fallout of all that. So cut us some slack! 

But I didn't expect to read such scathing criticism from younger, self-professed enlightened people. It is shows how differently kids are now raised and that closemindedness is not the purview of older people alone. It never ceases to amaze me how insular people can be. They see things only through the lens of their own experience, social norms and constructs.  They pass judgement on people who have not lived in their reality. They hold past people accountable to now expectations. 

So where was I going with this? It gets back to my earlier post that to understand books from another time and place we have to understand the time and place it was written. We have to  drop preconceived notions and leave off judging what we didn't live and seek to understand cultural, and time period differences. 

There are so many examples of late boomer teen and kids books and plays that older boomers, Gen Y and Z don't understand. Some of these teen angst stories from the 50s were censored and banned: 

West Side Story (Jerome Robbins play)

Lord of the Flies (William Golding)

Rebel Without a Cause (film by Nicholas Ray)

Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)

The Wild One  (Lazlo Benedek film),

Cross and the Switchblade, Purple Violet Squish (and others by David Wilkerson co-authored with John and Elisabeth Sherril) 

Run, Baby, Run (Nicky Cruz)

From the 60s and 70s, the Bill and Vera Cleaver book Where the Lilies Bloom. M.E.Kerr's Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack, The Outsiders (an all of S.E. Hinton's books), Judy Blume books, The Pigman (and others by Paul Zindel). 

The only play/movie that I know of that dealt with troubled teens prior to this was the Dead End (1934) a fictionalized account of the Bowery Boys (Dead End kids). The characters are often considered unbelievable, 2D, archetypal or anachronistic by younger readers. Older boomers criticized them for showing kids as angry, fallible, "immoral", mouthy and even cruel. All of these books have been challenged and sometimes banned. 

And that's because readers are either looking at them through 21st century or good-ole days glasses. Books about teen gangs, drugs, abusive parents, youth violence, depression, murder, ageism, racism, alcoholism, runaways, suicide all this was for adults. We kids had it with dinner on TV. No one protected us from it but they also never imagined WE were dealing with it too. Dead End kids excepted, virtually no story ). So now, topics like this might seem trite. Because people talk about these things now.  When they were written they were revolutionary. 

How to read vintage books by understanding time and place

Hello my friends of the Omschool, teacher Omi (grama) here with some thoughts on reading vintage children's literature. There are certain mindsets one must have and preconceived notions to do away with when reading books not set in a familiar time or place. Or books about unfamiliar subject matter, especially different cultures, traditions and peoples. 

I have an advantage here because I am vintage and much of what I have read, even as a child, far predates me, timewise and in content. I was born in 1964 and learned to read about 4. I got left alone to read what I wanted. So I often ended up reading books that were too mature for me. I have also read books that take place within different cultural milieu. Scholastic Books was very good at presenting different times and cultures sensitively and accurately. And I was a diehard Scholastic fangirl. 

All this was so good for me because it broadened my mind, deepened my empathy and and prevented me from developing a lot of ethno-centric stereotypes and prejudices. I've always had intense respect and appreciation for people's differing ways of doing things. If anything, I wanted to leave the US and move to those places I read about. 

But back to topic, mindsets we need for reading vintage literature. Maybe mindset is the wrong word because it implies inflexibility and we need flexibility and tolerance to understand things outside our ken. It's crucial to accept that not everyone does things or understands things as I do. My culture, upbringing, background, society and age play a huge role. 

I got to thinking about this reading a blog post about a book called "Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack" (M.E. Kerr). I'm not sure the blogger's age but guessing they weren't reading this book when it was written in 1972 (set in 71). There are many criticisms about its many "wacky" references. 

However the wacky references, such as the cat's name being Ralph Nader, wasn't wacky at all in 1971. Ralph Nader was a household name. It would be like naming a cat Steve Jobs now. It was also deemed strange that main character Tucker's mom wrote for a true confessions magazine. In 1971, the grocery store aisle was papered in such magazines, the National Enquirer being the best known. 

Then there's discussion on quirky ways parents behaved which, though it might sound made-up was actually pretty normal, especially in larger cities like L.A. People did go to shrinks and join trendy and fad religious groups. Many of the biggest named diets like South Beach and Scarsdale came out at that time. Moms did do charity work and called it that. The word Ghetto was in common parlance. 

There's also commentary on odd things different characters say which to someone living in those times sounds completely normal. Not acceptable but certainly common. Racism, misogyny, religious and lifestyle bigotry was on prime-time with Archie Bunker. He openly attacked liberals, Jews and "pinkos" and was applauded for it. Kids got used to hearing their parents say things and use terms that make us cringe today. It made some of us cringe then too.  

And then there is the mention of Dinky Hocker's BMI, 5'4" 165#,  which makes the author very uncomfortable. But this BMI WAS considered very overweight back then. I was put on a 1,000 calorie a day diet at age 8 because I weighed 100 pounds. I never gained more than 25 pounds or so and just hit max weight more quickly. Then when I gained weight in high school, I was called fat at 138 pounds. It may not be right but it is how it was.  People were smaller back then, it's just a fact. 

Why do I bring these points up? Because they highlight how important it is, when reading books in different time periods, to understand that what we do and think now isn't always how it's been. And that authors are writing in the time they live to audiences of the time. Agatha Christie used the N-word in a play because it was acceptable then. 

Even beloved Nancy Drew was a condescending racist bigot with a bad case of white savior complex, in her earlier incarnations. But she was reflecting the time and place she lived in. So to understand a novel, we have to understand what the time was like, as odd as it may seem. We don't have to like or agree. But we have to understand. 

We can note what's wrong but we also have to be careful not to be too judgmental of authors reflecting their own time and experience. Some of them were breaking ground just by mentioning these things. And future generations will look back on us and have a lot to find fault with too (current Trump regime springs to mind). Not all change is progress. Nor was the past a unilaterally better time and place. Some things are better, some worse, some just different. 

A case for censorship: Why kids should read age-appropriate books

Hi friends of the Omschool. Today's topic is loaded and controversial. I'm talking about censorship and why there are reasons for it. Now, if you know me, you know that last thing I am is a book burner. Banning books accomplishes about as much locking up alcohol. It just makes it that much more tempting. I'm not talking about entirely forbidding certain books. I'm saying keep kids from reading books that aren't age-appropriate until they are old enough to understand them. And my reason for saying this is anecdotal. 

I started reading about 3 or 4  was reading chapter books by seven and adult literature by about 9. My parents were very involved in their own lives and didn't take any interest in what I read. So I read books that were waaayy to mature for me. I ended up learning about things I was far too young to understand and only ended up feeling icky and confused. 

For example, books on intimacy. I read and loved "Are you there God, it's me Margaret" because it actually talked about things like getting your period. So I moved on, at age 9-ish, to "Then Again Maybe I Won't" which talked about a boy's version of puberty. And was totally embarrassed. I totally missed the really good parts of the book because I was stuck on the what seemed to me, gross parts. 

Was it wrong for a book geared for 10-14 y/os to talk about male genitalia, wet dreams and self-stimulation? Well, I rest my case for age-appropriate: 13 or 14 maybe, 10, no. My husband said he never read it but would have been horrified even at age 13 or 14. I won't be buying it for my grandsons, either. I'm not a prude but just because I was so off-put reading it too young. Which is sad because the book is a very good read. Maybe it was just the time we lived in, maybe not. 

Anyway, then, I bought "Forever" also Judy Blume at 11 and was NOT ready for that AT ALL. It was clearly YA, written about a 17 y/o and was full on teen sex. It made me sick but also luridly fascinated. The problem is not whether teens should read it but that tweens certainly should not.  It sent me down the Harlequin romance rabbit hole and by 13, I was reading semi-porn grocery store novels with my stepmom. I still recall how uncomfortable they  made me, but hey, when an adult lets you, why not? 

Well, why not is because it imprints indelible images on your young mind that leave you feeling dirty and ashamed. But no one tells you this and you don't dare to tell anyone for fear of being told you're disgusting. And if you have been molested, it just makes things worse. You believe it's your fault for reading such things in the first place. 

So I don't believe that kids books should sanitize or condescend, there are better times for children, teens and YA to be introduced to various topics. It wasn't just books on sex that were too mature for me. I read the "The Pigman" (Paul Zindel) around 10. I liked it but was also disturbed by it. Same with "Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack." They were good but I just wasn't ready for them.  There's arguably no age to read "Helter Skelter" certainly not 13.  

Even books like "Freaky Friday" with which there was nothing "iffy" about and which I absolutely adored posed problems when read too young. I missed a lot, it being stream of consciousness writing. And then there were books like "Harriet the Spy" which I read at a younger age but still in range. I missed a lot in that because the setting was unfamiliar. Also, these elementary age kids were featured doing things that were more suited to middle school. 

And don't get me started on all the YA psych books I consumed like candy at around 12.  "Lisa Bright and Dark" (John Neufield) and "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" (Joanne Greenberg) gave me a way too young look into mental hospitals, shrinks, manic-depressive disorder, anorexia, depression, schizophrenia, teen suicide, substance abuse, domestic violence, teen pregnancy, homosexuality, and other terrifying but fascinating issues. 

Then there were the "teen journal" books I became obsessed with at about 13, such as "Go Ask Alice" "Jay's Journal" and "Annie's Baby." They too dealt with fascinating but frightening things, including Satanism and occult. I just learned, looking them up, that it was all a big con and author Beatrice Sparks was a fake. I really believed she was a psychiatrist and that these were real stories from kids' journals. I majored in psychology because of books like these and even recommended them in past articles. There was a lot of money to be made on teen suffering back then. 

In closing, I don't say that these issues should be hushed up. I wish there had been more books on things I was dealing with, like parentification and enmeshment. But then, I probably wouldn't have made the connection anyway because literature was an escape for me. I just urge parents to know what your child is reading and be prepared to walk with them through it. 

Our son wanted to take on Stephen King at around 12. I was reluctant but didn't want to make it forbidden fruit. So I powered through a few with him (and found I'm still to young for some of this content!) And we talked about it. And he regrets reading some of it. But maybe that's what maturing is all about, making choices as best you can and living with the consequences of those choices. 

Thanks--mar

 

Funny kids bedtime books to tame a child's fear of monsters

Hello my friends of the Omschool. Did you know, teacher Omi wasn't always an adult? I was a little kid who was often scared of the dark and of the monsters which I was sure inhabited it. But I learned, from my emotional support books how to conquer some of those fears. Books provide what we call bibliotherapy. By reading certain books and stories we find help for mental health issues, such as fear. Kids books offer bibliotherapy by showing children in similar situations safely resolving struggles. And when they use humor, all the better. If your child fears monsters, likely its worse at night. Here are funny kids bedtime books on taming fear of monsters. 

Harry and the Terrible Whatzit (Dick Gackenbach) We kids believe that the basement is a place where awful things live. My grandma used to tell me to fetch a can of peaches for her while she counted. As if THAT was going to help! I'd run so fast I tripped up the stairs. So I really feel for Harry, when he worries that his mother has been taken or worse by a terrible whatzit in the basement. Our brave hero goes looking for her and finds that you can't judge a monster by its two heads. Absolutely hilarious denouement! 

There's a Nightmare in my Closet (Mercer Mayer) Who hasn't been afraid of the thing in the closet and been told "there's nothing there"? My grandfather humored me and closed the door but even then, I knew as did the kid in this book that I was right, there's something inside! But good news for us when IT turns out to be more afraid of us than we are of him.  I absolutely love the annoyed look on the kid hero's face as he comforts the crybaby creep! Here are some free printable lesson plans on Nightmare in the Closet. 

There's Something in the Attic (Mercer Mayer) Along with the dreaded basement, the attic is another scary place where frights of all kinds lurk. In another case of  mistaken monster identity, it appears there IS something in the attic as we've suspected but he identifies as the fearful rather than the feared. And it takes a brave cowgirl to calm him. 

There's a Monster Under my Bed (James Howe) Monsters have a lot of hiding places and under a kid's bed is their favorite. My preferred monster-prevention method was to cram so much under the bed that a monster wouldn't fit. But Simon can't so he must face the under-bed-dwellers, man to monster. You'll love the outcome. 

Little Monster series. Mercer Mayer really knows his monsters and there could not possibly be a cuter monster than Little Monster unless it's his (sometimes annoying) little sister. Kids can address monster fears by seeing that he's just one of the gang. And Little Monster has to do some bully-busting of his own with big Yally who also turns out to be not as brave as he presents. 

Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak) What is is with monsters not living up to their reputations? In this classic story, Max not only tames but rules the whiny baby wild things! Because really kids are the most wonderfully wild things of all. 

Go Away, Big Green Monster! (Ed Emberley) The monster in this interactive book is real and really scary UNTIL a child takes him down to size. My youngest daughter loved dismantling Big Green Monster and telling him not to come back unless SHE said so. 

Read these books to your kids before bed or in the classroom at school. Allow for lots of discussion. And see my other articles for more bibliotherapy on bullies, conflict resolution and more. 

Hardy Boys alternatives: Mystery books for kids with believable young detectives from my childhood

Hello my friends of the Omschool! Teacher Omi here with more great books for you to enjoy during National Reading Month and all year long! I've always loved mystery books since basically birth. But I find series like the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew tedious. The mysteries are believable but the young detectives are not. They are too perfect. 

There's nothing they can't do and they have everything given to them. I mean seriously, a plane and a boat? What normal teen has those at his disposal? They don't have jobs to slow them down and there's  handy housekeeper Hannah cum cook cum servant to do everything for them. And there's always a the dumb friend to showcase their cleverness. All they have to do is show up, cast their eye over the evidence and boom! Case closed. 

No Such Thing as a Witch and The Wednesday Witch (Ruth Chew) These books along with other Ruth Chew books, take a second glance at witches and especially how and why women get labeled as witches. They unashamedly acknowledge that witches exist but they don't always look and act the way we profile them. The kid "witch-finder detectives" in these books are gullible but likable and believable because they are so. 

Worst of all, the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew also seem to be above all rules. No wonder Frank, Joe and Nancy always get their man: they don't have to follow normal police procedural that other crime-solvers must comply with. They break the law themselves, all the time and get away with, well, murder, as it were. And get hailed as heroes. So today we're going to explore mystery books for kids with believable law-abiding young detectives. These kid sleuths have to follow the same rules everyone else does and to my mind, makes them better detectives.

Encyclopedia Brown (Donald Sobol) This series features short pithy mysteries with a gang of kid sleuths who form a detective agency, led by the titular character Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown, so named for his encyclopedic knowledge on many subjects. He misses being savant-ishly annoying but does tend to show up adults too much. And he's lucky to have a dad as chief of police. My favorite part is the solve-it yourself feature where readers are invited to offer solutions and then turn to the back to find out whodunit. 

The Three Investigators Pete, Bob and Jupiter are my absolute most-bestest top picks for kid detectives. These books were written, beginning in the 1960s and carrying on to the 2000s by several different authors. My favorites were the series creator Robert Arthur, his protege William Arden and Nick West. M. V. Carey had a few good ones but veered into supernatural which is not in keeping with the original concept. The OG Three Investigators books always stayed grounded in reality which made them much more appealing as mysteries. No matter how spooky or spectral there is always a "man in a mask" behind the mayhem. 

I also like the characters because they live in the real world where people have jobs and responsibilities. They have to work for things. Bob has a job at the library. Pete and Jupe work at Uncle Titus's junkyard (oh what a paradise THAT place is). Their detective agency is cobbled from old and reclaimed stuff and is hidden in the junkyard, accessible by four secret entrances. You cannot get cooler than that. 

When they get hurt, the injury doesn't disappear in the next books. Bob's leg injury plagues him for quite some time. Jupiter is the genius but Bob and Pete lend their expertise too. Pete does tend to do a lot of the heavy lifting, but he's not the token dumb friend, by any means. . And these young men are respectful as well as clever. Many of their adventures feature people from different cultures and traditions. So readers get a lot of insight into other traditions as well as Hollywood and L.A. history. 

I first discovered "The Three Investigators and the Talking Skull" at around age 8. Then went looking for more. The best book IMO is the first "The Secret of Terror Castle." But all the rest of Robert Arthur's are superb as well. The mysteries are well-developed and unique. 

Creative conflict resolution books for kids with funny plot twists and free printables

Hello my friends of the  Omschool! Teacher Omi here with more creative conflict resolution and bully-busting books for kids to take on bullies in creative, funny and gentle ways. Just in time for March, National Reading Month, these books explore alternative problem-solving methods and strategies to diffuse hostile situations. These books for kids are geared to the youngest readers, to hopefully head off aggressive behavior before it begins. And best of all these, kids books have funny plot twists. See my other article for more bully-busting books for kids. 

Stone Soup In this classic tale, hungry soldiers help hoarding villagers learn to share. Everyone gets fed when three outsiders use creative conflict resolution tactics instead of intimidation. Here are some free printable Stone Soup lesson plans to helps students explore this story. 

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear (Don and Audrey Wood) Little Mouse has a giant treasure with an even bigger bully bear to protect it from. He tries various ways to ward off the greedy bruin until he realizes that he might be a little greedy too. So  he lights on a win-win conflict resolution that benefits them both. This is a great read-aloud for emergent readers. 

Mousekin's Golden House (Edna Miller) One of my favorite heroes ever, I've loved Mousekin as long as I can remember. In this story, our little rodent seeks a place to winter, safe from predators. And finds it in an unlikely place. Check out Mousekin's other adventures in the wild. These books are perfect for early childhood or ECSE science lesson plans. 

Horton Hears a Who (Dr. Seuss) In this tale, the image of bully is inverted, with the big guy being the bullied.  A tender-hearted elephant hears what he thinks are small persons in danger. And braves gaslighting bullies of all sorts to protect the speck on which they live. Children will cheer as Horton saves not only the persons but the bullies as well. 

Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose (Dr. Seuss) Again, the good doctor spins us a tale of a large, gentle, protective creature, this time with a twist. The bullies are those Thidwick is being too compassionate towards. This gentle moose must learn to show himself compassion as well. 

Gus was a Friendly Ghost (Jane Thayer) Gus is not your average ghost. In the tradition of Casper, he's kindly and easily taken advantage of. He must learn to navigate pint-sized bullies and comes up with charming conflict resolutions to help everyone. Read the entire series of Gus the Friendly Ghost stories. My favorite is Gus was a Gorgeous Ghost. 

YA Girl power books from my childhood with relatable female heroines for Women's History Month

Hello my friends and welcome to the Omschool. I'm teacher Omi (grama) an educator now in her 50th year of working with kids. I started my "career" babysitting at age 10 and even then, I did or attempted fun and educational things with the kids in my care. Like Time for Timer's OJ ice cubes which I tried and failed to make 😏😁Timer forgot to explain that flimsy toothpicks don't stay put in cheap Saran wrap. But it was still fun trying. 

So I'm really excited about March because it's both Women's History Month and National Reading Month. These dovetail very nicely with the theme of this post: Girl power books from my childhood with relatable female heroines.

Women's history is about our history, or her-story, mine and yours. It's not just about famous women. It's about each of us, collectively and singularly. My her-story was steeped in reading. There's a picture of me at 2 with my nose in a book. My memory place is crowded with friends from literature. I've explored places and met people all around the world and through time, in my life's library. 

Early in life, the books I read featured more stereotypical girls in traditional roles. I liked it best when we read of these "normal" girls doing big, unusual or outside the norm things. I think of Caddie Woodlawn, Laura and Mary Ingalls, Jessie from The Boxcar Children, Understood Betsy and some of my other favorites. 

But then, in the late 60s-early 70s, as I was hitting my tweens, children's literature began to figure quirky girls in less traditional roles. Women's literature started reflecting less on things expected of girls and more on what they actually experienced. Even things like puberty (thank you, Judith Blume), were now actually talked about. 

Girls were shown as real, imperfect people with B.O. and zits, not paper dolls. Hating our mandatory itchy socks, making awful cookies because you used uncooked rice instead of oats, throwing tantrums sometimes and often with good reason. (God love ya, Katie John) I liked them even more because I could relate. 

No longer did we feel like little freaks who would never measure up to the picture perfect goodness of, say, a Nancy Drew or Cherry Ames (student nurse) though I did and still do adore her stories. Nancy Drew not so much--too perfect. (I still love fairy and princess stories too, btw! Thanks, Heather, for introducing me to Shadow Castle! There's always room on my book shelf for new friends but I keep the old, too! )

So without further ado, here are more of my best-loved girl power books from childhood with real girls in real situations!

Freaky Friday (Mary Rodgers) You may know this from either of the movies, but reading it is more difficult because it's written in stream of consciousness from a big city teen's perspective. And I read this book, like I did so many others, too young. Freaky Friday came out in 1972 when I was 8. I didn't even fully get the major plot twist (no spoilers).  Readers are living Annabelle's interior monologue in situ. I would recommend preparing readers for these confusing shifts in scene and random introduction of characters.  You can use this free printable character map. Also, age 11 to 12 would be a better age. But still, it's a cracking great read and I was able to get the gist, even being so young. 

The Doll of Lilac Valley Read this about 8 as well and I still tear up remembering. So what I love about Laurie Coxe, our heroine, is the tender, mature way she deals with the elderly people who are trying to parent her but who have never had children. It's kind of Anne of Green Gables-ish. Laurie realizes that she has to cut them some slack but also that loving people sometimes do awkward things but they are meant with great love. 

Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack! (M.E.Kerr, penname of Marijane Meaker, who wrote several of my favorite books. She wrote under several pseudonyms because some of her books explored new territory in that time, including lesbian fiction.). It's not an easy read and it reflects a lot of the early 70s culture of drugs, psychotherapy, self-help, hippies, organic religions that won't make much sense to now readers. Also, being based in LA might confuse some small town kids. (I actually related because my parents fancied themselves hippies.) But it does start to look at eating disorders, distant and do-gooder parents who neglect their own kids and misperceptions about people.

Harriet the Spy Harriet is a too-smart, upper east side NYC poor little rich kid. She misfits among her posh school bullies (there's no bully like a posh school bully) and has a limited friend group of other less-fit kids. As part of her planned journalism career she snoops on a circuit of people and records their activities. This spying is not well-received when her journal is discovered and people read things about themselves that they don't like. Harriet must use her wits to regain the few trusted friends she had. 

So even while getting that spying on people is wrong, my favorite part of the book was in fact, Harriet's meticulous route and routine for doing said spying. Her notebook was a master class in organization, just saying. I also can relate to the fact that Harriet had to work herself out of her own mess. No adult helped, save an absentee nanny with ambiguous advice. Like Freaky Friday, I probably read Harriet the Spy too young to get all the nuances. 

Dr Seuss Day activities, lesson plans crafts, printables for learning centers

Hello my friends of the Omschool, teacher Omi (grama) here with free Dr. Seuss Day lesson plans, activities, crafts and printables. The Cat in the Hat doffs his cap on March 2, to honor the birthday of his creator Dr. Seuss (Ted Geisel). To celebrate things Seuss, the NEA (National Education Association) hosts "Read Across America"  on March 2, to kick off March as National Reading Month. You can explore Dr. Seuss and reading in preschool learning centers with these Dr. Seuss activities, perfect for homeschool as well. 

Reading learning center. Dr. Seuss is right at home in the book or library learning center. Fill your book corner with Seuss books. Scatter some comfy pillows and Dr. Seuss character toys (Cat in the Hat, Lorax, Grinch etc). Emergent readers will love the pictures. Visit Seussville for book lists and ideas.  Throw a Seuss story party. Details to follow. 

Dr. Seuss activities for the art center. Display Seuss books: The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, Bartholomew and the Oobleck and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Each day of Read Across America week, create Seuss inspired artwork. Paint Seuss creatures at easels with brightly colored and neon paints. Model creatures in modeling clay or playdough. Create sculptures by poking recycled materials in Styrofoam blocks. 

To teach Dr. Seuss at the Collage center, make Seuss toys from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Put out oddly shaped cardboard containers, egg cartons, aluminum foil and cans, plastic containers and colored fabric scraps. Students can design their own version of toys from Whoville

Jing Tingler

Flu Flooper

Tar Tinkers

Who Hoover 

Who Carnio Flunx 

To teach Dr. Seuss in the Music Center, make homemade musical instruments. Create noise makers like the Grinch's hated 

Gar Ginkers 

Trum Tupers 

Slu Slumkers 

Blum Bloopers 

Who Wompers 

Zu Zitter Carzays. 

Encourage students to give their musical instruments silly Seuss-ish names. 

To teach Dr. Seuss in Dramatic Play or Dress Up center, have students make masks of Seuss characters: Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose

Horton the elephant

Yertle the Turtle

Maisie the bird

the Wickersham monkeys

Kangaroo and her joey

Have children create their own Seuss creatures. Have a Dr. Seuss parade like the one in his first book "And to Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street." Dress in homemade Seuss costumes, play musical instruments and show off homemade toys. 

To teach Dr. Seuss science center, use the Lorax. The Lorax deals with environmentalism. Set up an experiment on decomposition and pollution. Place different pieces of trash in zippered bags with a little water. Monitor them over time to show students how slowly trash decomposes. Here are more free printable Lorax science lesson plans. 

Students could also tend "trufulla seeds" (use any flower seeds, sunflower, cosmos or daisy). 

Make Oobleck mixing liquid laundry starch and white school glue. Here are more free printable recipes for Oobleck, moon sand, noise putty, etc. Use for early chemisty lesson plans. 

To teach a Dr. Seuss practical life area, use "The Cat in the Hat", "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Horton Hears a Who." These books deal with caring for others, preparing food and house cleaning. Do a Cat in the Hat tidy up relay race. Cook green eggs and ham. Care for an insect or goldfish. Use these free printable Dr. Seuss activities in your lesson plans, too

Recycle bin cardboard puppet crafts with free printable puppet patterns

Hello my friends of the Omschool (that's Omi or grama school). Raise your hand if you're sick of winter? With all the snow days in cold regions, stuck-at-home kids can get pretty bored. Well, hang on because Teacher Omi has some recycle bin cardboard crafts for kids. Use these lesson plans for Earth Month, right around the corner. Today we'll make a recycled cardboard puppet theater and and homemade puppets from all from your recycle bin! Children of all ages will love making homemade puppets and a cardboard puppet theater. Then they can write puppet plays and act them out. Homeschoolers will love these crafts because even the youngest learners can participate! 

I've included links for free printable puppets (this one takes you to Picklebums; it's that a cute name?)

First School has free printable paper bag puppet patterns here. 

DIY Craftsy has a bunch more paper bag puppet printables. 

Visit Activity Village for all kinds of free printable puppet patterns including seasonal, holiday, animal and themed puppets. 

PJs and Paint (another adorable name!) has free printable paper puppet templates. 

To make the homemade cardboard puppets, you will need: 

 4-6 brads (also called paper fasteners) per child 

narrow hole paper punch

 stapler 

assortment of recycled cardboard scraps in many shapes, sizes and patterns. You can use scraps from other recycled cardboard crafts and projects. There should be some plain geometric shapes and also some more complicated shapes. Each piece should be no larger than 6-8 inches in diameter and no smaller than two inches or so in diameter. There should be long, thin shapes as well as broader shapes.

inch-wide strips of cardboard (keep separate from assorted ones) for moving puppets

decorations: (these are all optional; use whatever you have available) wallpaper sample books, recycled bin paper scraps--gift wrapping paper scraps, tissue paper scraps, recycle bin construction paper scraps. recycled paper tubes, ribbon, crepe paper and yarn scraps, faux feathers and gems, glitter or glitter glue, buttons, silk flowers, pipe cleaners 

markers, paint  or crayons

Procedure to make homemade puppets. Children will assemble a puppet from found pieces of cardboard. Found means children must use recycled cardboard scraps as they are, no cutting or reshaping. The idea is to assemble puppets using whatever is available. Puppets may represent people, animals, fantasy creatures, aliens or even non-living things like vehicles. Our youngest son loved construction vehicles and made his puppet a personified "scooper-upper truck" (power shovel). 

Kids should lay out pieces recycle bin puppets before assembling. Puppets should have at least two body parts, preferably 3-5. Cover or decorate each individual piece before assembling homemade puppets. Children may trace and cut paper to fit puppet pieces and glue paper on. They may paint or color puppet pieces. Feathers, gems, flowers or other embellishments should be attached after puppets are assembled. 

 Assemble puppets in this way: Attach moving parts--arms, tail, head, legs--with brads. Punch holes through the fixed and moving part of cardboard. Push fastener through and fold metal prongs back. Attach stationary parts with tape or stapler. Attach embellishments with stapler, glue or tape. Attach two recycled cardboard strips, sticks or rulers to use as handles to move the puppet. 

For very little ones, make puppets as high chair crafts. Let them select pieces and decorations. An older child can assemble them and let the littles decorate with crayons and glue stick for decorations. 

Children should work together in groups to create a story using incorporating each of their homemade puppets into the plot. They might even create invitations and advertising posters for their play. 

Make a simple puppet theater cardboard crafts for kids from a large refrigerator box. Cut a closable flap window. Kids get inside cardboard puppet theater and animate their homemade puppets in the window. When finished store puppets in the box and close the flap. You can also make smaller puppet theater crafts for kids by cutting open a cardboard box. Stand box on table and have children stand on chair behind puppet theater. Stay tuned for more recycle bin cardboard crafts for kids. 

Chinese New Year of the Snake printables: activities for Lunar New Year

 Hello my friends of the Omschool! Today begins Chinese New Year of the Snake, also called Lunar New Year,  Lantern Festival and Spring Festival. I've always loved this celebration and all things China, Asia and surrounding countries. Before I knew there was such a thing as Chinese New Year even. Beginning at age 5ish, I recall reading with relish, in my Omi's Childcraft books,  about countries referred to then as the Orient. I've always loved learning about how children in other lands live, eat, worship, celebrate, dress and live their daily life. If you want to explore Lunar New Year of the Snake, here are free printables, activities and crafts to do so.  

First, play the Year of the Snake Google Doodle game. Help a cute animated snake find lychees ( I think they are) to eat as she swims among the lotus blossoms. And speaking of snakes, why not being by coloring these beautiful free printable snake coloring pages from Coloring.ws (part of DLTK). Shoutout to my grandson Moses, lover of snakes and serpents! There are some free printable connect the dot games too (one of my favorite puzzles in childhood). 

Next, slither on over to Activity Village for free printable Chinese New Year activities. The Lunar New Year celebrates a rotating zodiac of animals and this year is the snake. So people born this year and every 12 years previous are born under the sign of the snake (2025, 2013, 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965, 1953, etc). You can find which animal you are at Enchanted Learning. You'll find free printable Chinese Zodiac and Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival crafts, games, coloring pages and lesson plans. Click each link on the page for more on all animals in the Chinese Zodiac. 

Click my link here for kids books and children's literature to read for Chinese New Year plus lesson plans and text to life activities. 

Here are other posts from different Chinese Zodiac year animals. 

Free printable CNY year of the monkey crafts

Free printable Lantern Festival activities

Activities for Lunar New Year

Year of the Dragon activities and printables (that's me! I'm a wood dragon!) 

And may I wish you Gong Xi Fa Cai (said like Kung Hei Fat Choy) and happy Lunar New Year! 

Learning from mistakes even when lesson plans fail

 Hello my dear friends! Teacher Omi here with some thoughts on what to do when lesson plans fail. When you forgot an essential material, when the instructions of the package didn't work out, or when someone or something derails it. Here are ways to learn from mistakes when lessons go awry. 

I got the idea to write about this from (this will sound odd) my CPTSD dreams. I struggle with very realistic trauma dreams in which I'm expected to be caring for or teaching kids who are out of control in a very chaotic environment in which I have no experience with. It's funny because even in nightmares, my teacher brain takes over and I try to make lesson plans with straw as it were. What I mean is that improvising has become second and even sleep nature. So what can we learn from that? 

First, one thing to know about kids is that they are always learning. What they learn may be positive, or it may be less so. So if you panic when things don't work, they will learn that mistakes are fails, fails are catastrophes and so it's unforgivable to "fail"  Now, why do we panic as teachers and homeschoolers? (raising my hand to own up to this one). I've found it's usually because we are afraid that we have let someone down. That WE are failures. And being the great imitators they are, kids learn that they are failures in turn.

BUT and this is a big but (small LOL) if we model patience, ingenuity and sangfroid in the face of what looks like catastrophe, guess who else will learn to do that? Yep, your students/kids. I witnessed an example of this making gingerbread houses with some of my grandkids. Now if you've ever put together one of those kits with kids you'll know that they are a fail in themselves, especially the little village ones. They never turn out like the picture. Particularly when made by young kids. And that is NOT the fault of the kids or adults. (I believe they're made to fail so we have to buy more 😅) But I digress. 

What impressed me was how mom handled this. When she saw they weren't working, she didn't get upset. She just did her best, let the children decorate as they wished and complimented them on their designs. The kids had a ball, which was actually the point of the exercise. What fun is making replicas that thousands have made before? Much better to use creativity. So what it ends up a gingerbread yurt?  Uzbeks deserve holiday trimming too! Which would be a great craft to life connection in itself--who lives in what shaped houses and why?

And what else did we learn? One thing was to read directions closely. I broke a few because I didn't trust that the score lines would work and used a knife. And some lines didn't work and broke anyway. We also learned that because we missed the part about decorating the rooves first, it was hard to do it when constructed. But then, the rooves were too heavy for the house structure even without decorations. This taught us some vital STEM and designs concepts of load bearing walls, weight displacement etc. I actually recommend using gingerbread kits as lesson plans with older students to learn engineering, construction and more. 

Best of all, we learned that oh-so-critical thinking skill of improvising. One of my favorite things to explore with kids is improv and workarounds. When you don't have this, use that kind of thing (no buttermilk, add vinegar to milk). This is not something you drill into students but rather help them find resources to do. And Google is a great friend here. You'll find countless ideas to substitute for about anything you could need. We made litmus test strips from paper and red cabbage, for example. 

And back to staying calm in crisis. #1 very few things are real crises. Having said that, the best way to avoid lesson plan fail is to prepare, prepare, prepare. Gather materials and know your content. But even then,  I've done science experiments in front of large groups of students that fell flat. And my first response is what can we learn from this? So first I make a joke to show it's okay. Next we go back to the directions to see if we missed anything. 

After that we try to find out what went wrong. Was something too cold, out of date, etc. This is where your science journals are invaluable. In the case of the gingerbread houses, I would have kids note that the rooves usually can't handle as much decoration as the picture shows. And an extrapolation from that is snow and ice on a real roof and why too much weakens them. I like to get as much practical wisdom out of lesson plans as possible. That's the whole point of education. 

Now for the best part. Have the students brainstorm on workarounds, alternate ideas, what to do differently, what we can take away from this, etc. List on the board all the ideas. You might even break them up into small focus groups to experiment. Using the gingerbread house example, one group might compare results of different size houses. Another might explore different configurations. Yet another might test decorating the roof before and after. Another, methods of breaking up the pieces. Another, alternate gingerbread and icing recipes. One simple workaround is to forego gingerbread altogether and use cardboard or paper. You can't eat it anyway. 

It took Thomas Edison 3,000 (!!) tries to find the right material for the lightbulb filament. But finally perseverance paid off. I honestly think the fails are so much more educational and fun than the successes. And a lot of my students have agreed. 

Winter Snow Party with games, crafts, activities and free Disney Frozen printables

Raise your hand if you’ve had it with winter. You parents and teachers must be especially tired of dealing with bored kids stuck inside. Well, teacher Omi has a winter blues buster first aid kit for you! Here are easy, safe games and activities to throw a Snowtastic party! And I'm nothing if not frugal so these activities are cheap or free, require no fancy equipment and are endlessly adaptable! Oh and value added, I've included winter themed literature tie-ins and free printables to make your winter activities multitask. I'll list those at the end.

Boot skating:  Sweep off an icy patch of pavement, or hose it down to make a rink. Demonstrate how to speed or figure “skate” by sliding in boots. I remember in second grade, teachers letting us “skate” down the halls after we watched a figure skating documentary. I really thought I was Janet Lynn. Have kids bundle up so if they fall they won’t get hurt. Here are some clips from figure skating history. 

Sonja Henie (1945) 

Janet Lynn (1972)

Torvill and Dean (1984, Sarajevo) 

Broom Hockey Use boot skating and play with old brooms or shovels. Use any old playground (basketball, 4-square, volley) balls. Allow no fighting. No need to imitate pro hockey that closely. 

Shovel Races: See who can shovel snow the fastest or make the neatest, clearest walks. Use snow shovels like shuffle board. Push playground ball toward a goal. 

Snow Golf: Use old brooms as in hockey. Dig holes in the snow and sweep tennis ball toward holes. 

Snowball Skeeball: Kids love to make and throw snowballs, but getting hit can really hurt. So have kids aim at a target instead of each other. Paint water color initials on snowballs so kids know whose ball landed where. Mark four concentric rings in the snow, like Skeeball. Have kids aim for the center.  Award more points depending on which ring it lands in nearest target. 

Snow Sculpture Walk: Have kids create 3D snow sculptures along a sidewalk or pathway. Have them design placards. Allow them to spray with food colored water if desired. Encourage visitors to view the art walk, comment on the pieces. No need for competition. This gives less athletic kids a niche at which to shine.  Do text-to-life literature tie-ins, using Children’s Books as a theme.

Cardboard sleds : Have kids design sleds from recycled cardboard boxes, markers, scissors, box cutters and duct tape. Provide paraffin (sealing wax). Show kids how to apply wax to waterproof and make the sled go faster.

Literature Tie-In Have students design sleds after famous vehicles from literature. Wikipedia lists fictional vehicles and sailing vessels with images. Edupics has free printable vintage vehicle coloring pages to use as models. Do a library treasure hunt. List vehicles/vessels and have kids research what book each comes from. Here are examples: Dawn Treader, Trojan Horse, Nautilus, Pequod, HMS Pinafore, Millennium Falcon, Polar Express, TARDIS, African Queen. 

Sled run: Simulate a luge or bobsled run. Pile up snow and make a hill or use an existing tree-free hill.  Rate kids on style, landing, distance, speed. Assign group sledding to help kids learn to work as a team. Or just freestyle. 

Snow-robics: Have children pretend to be different animals. Make butterflies (snow angels), snow snakes, snow alligators, snow fish, snow dolphins.  Have them make footprints trails and “track” each other by identifying individual print. Have them “walk” letters in the snow to write their names. Let the imagination run. This will occupy the youngest children for a long time. 

End with cocoa and sandwiches! Or  here are recipes from my Disney Frozen Winter Party Planner.