Snow

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“Guess what, guess what!” shouted Ben. Meg and Mother came running. Ben was pointing out the window. What a surprise! It was snowing! They were happy to see the first snow of the winter. It was so beautiful! Ben and Meg knew it was time to get their sleds out of the garage. Mother told them they couldn’t go sledding until it stopped snowing.

Ben and Meg sat in the window to watch the beautiful snowflakes. Mother told them that each snowflake was different. She went upstairs to get a piece of black cloth so they could see a snowflake better. Then she went outside and let a few snowflakes fall on the black cloth. She brought the cloth inside and they all looked at the snowflakes with a magnifying glass. “They are very beautiful,” said Ben.

Mother said, “While you wait for it to stop snowing, why don’t we make some paper snowflakes to hang in the window?” Ben and Meg thought this might be fun so they all sat down at the table to cut out paper snowflakes.

Finally it stopped snowing and Ben and Meg ran to the garage to get their sleds. Down the hill they went. It sure was fun going down the hill, but then they had to pull the sled back up the long hill. They played all afternoon until Daddy came home for dinner.

When Daddy came home, he saw that the roof was sagging. “What can we do?” asked Ben. Daddy said they would have to get the snow off the roof. He went into the garage and got a special shovel with a very, very long handle. He began to pull the snow off the roof with the shovel. It was very hard work. Ben wished that he was big enough to help. Daddy said he could help by shoveling the snow off the walkway to the house.

That night Mother made hot cocoa and they all sat around the table and told stories about the day. Finally it was bedtime. Ben and Meg were very tired, and they were almost asleep before Daddy finished the bedtime story.

After Daddy kissed Ben and Meg good night, he said, “Tomorrow you can make a snowman.”

Ben dreamed about his snowman and when he got up the next morning, he ran to look out the window to make sure the snow was still there. It had snowed six inches and the trees were covered with snow. It was beautiful to see. Ben ran to the table to eat his breakfast so he could go outside early. Meg was very excited too. Mother told Ben and Meg that she would find an old hat for their snowman and an old pair of gloves.

Soon Ben and Meg were outside making a big snow ball. They rolled it along the ground so it became bigger and bigger. When they had a nice big round ball, they set it in place for the bottom of their snowman. Then they made a second ball to place on top of the first one. The second ball was smaller than the first one. Finally they rolled an even smaller ball for the head.

When all three balls were in place, they were ready to make eyes. What could they use for eyes? Ben said maybe Mother would give them two walnuts. Meg said they could use acorns. Ben told her that they would not be able to find acorns under all this snow, so they ran to the door to ask Mother for two walnuts. Mother was happy to give them the walnuts, and also gave them a carrot for the nose. They ran back and placed the walnuts and carrot on the face.

Next they put the hat on top of the snowman, and Ben took off his scarf and tied it around the snowman’s neck. Now they must find sticks for arms.

Ben and Meg walked around the yard looking for sticks. This was not too hard. The heavy weight of the snow had broken a few branches off the trees. Suddenly Ben noticed some animal tracks in the new fallen snow. “Look, Meg,” he said, pointing. “I wonder what animal made those tracks. We will ask Mother.”

When they had found the best sticks for the snowman’s arms, they stuck them in place, put gloves on each one, and the snowman was complete. Mother opened the door and called, “What a beautiful job you have done! Now come have some hot cocoa. You must be very cold.”

When Mother opened the door, who do you think came running out? Yes, it was Chip. And what do you think he did? He started pulling on the snowman’s scarf. He pulled until it was on the ground. Ben shouted, “Stop, Chip! Stop!” Meg began to cry.

Mother came out and got Chip and they all went into the house to have a hot cup of cocoa. Ben and Meg were very happy to have cocoa, but they were still pretty mad at Chip. Mother told them he would grow up and puppies just want to play. “They don’t really want to make you mad, they just want to have fun,” said Mother. “Let’s give Chip something to play with,” said Mother. Meg went and got Chip a chew toy. Then Chip was happy.

Now it was time for Ben to write in his main lesson book. Today he wanted to write about the snowman and Chip. He also told Mother about the animal tracks he had seen, and wanted to draw a picture of them. Mother said that would be a fine idea. Meg got out her crayons and paper and decided to draw a picture of their snowman.

Soon it was lunch time. Mother told them that after lunch they would go on a science outing. Ben and Meg always love to go on science outings. Sometimes they observe animals, other times they go for a walk to find special things, and sometimes they play games. Mother said today’s outing would be a surprise.

After lunch they all got in the car, except Chip, and Mother started to drive towards town. Ben and Meg tried to guess where they were going, but Mother did not tell them. Before too long they were pulling up beside the library! Ben and Meg were happy because they like looking at the books in the library.

Mother said, “Today we will learn more about animals in the winter. When it is cold outside and there is snow on the ground, some animals go to sleep for a long winter’s nap. But some animals do not, and they must look for food all winter long. This is the time of year when we can see animal tracks in the snow.

“Let’s look in the card file to see how many books we can find on animals. Maybe we can find a picture of the tracks Ben saw today.”

Mother found many books about animals for Ben and Meg, and soon they were looking through the books. It was fun. Ben found a picture of the animal tracks he had seen. The tracks had been made by a deer! Mother said, “We can take these books home and read them. We will have two weeks to read them before we have to bring them back.”

Meg loved the book about bears. Mother promised to read the bear book as soon as they got home. Ben picked many books with beautiful pictures of animals.

Do you go to the library to get books? What are your favorite books?

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