Snow Themed Lessons for Preschool Music

With early childhood music classes I love using themes to help activate students' imagination and connect my lesson to the world around them. This time of year one of my favorite themes is snow! I use these music lesson activities with preschool, kindergarten, and younger self-contained special education classes and they have been a hit. Here are some of my favorite activities to use in snow-themed lessons.

1. Snow Songs

There are tons of great songs about snow but my favorites for this age group include: 

All of the Snowflakes (great for getting non-verbal students to vocalize, and a fun song that will get everyone singing! I use this song with 2nd grade for a composition activity as well- see my full lesson plans in the linked article)

I Have a Little Snowman (I use this to introduce and show notes going up and down with movement)

It's Wintertime (this song isn't just about snow but it does talk about snowmen so I often include it with my snow themed lessons- it's an additive song that includes a different instrument students can play for each verse)

2. Movement Activities

It's Snowing Outside (this song invites movement in the lyrics so it's easy to learn and great to reinforce steady beat and practice moving safely in space)

Winter Scarves (the linked video demonstrates scarf movements you can do to match the lyrics about snow- my students love this calming song!)

I Live Inside a Snowglobe (I have students sit and do motions while they sing the verse at the beginning, stand up when it says "shake it up" etc in the chorus and do the move to match the lyrics, and then sit back down when it says "and then the snow falls down". this is a great one for practicing following directions for students who are working on self control because they have to start and stop a lot throughout the song but in a fun way)

Snowman Dance (this is a great brain break type activity I like to keep in my back pocket when students are unfocused, a lesson just isn't going well, or I see they need to get up and move for a few minutes because students just follow along with the simple dance movements in the video)

3. Iconic Play-Alongs

I like using iconic notation play-along videos to get my youngest students to track notation and relate it later on to paired eighth note, quarter note, and quarter rest notation. I also use these same icons off-screen by printing out similar clipart and putting them up on the board for students to read while I point, or have students use them to create their own patterns too!

Snow Day (hat=quarter, mitten=eighths, blank=rest)

Snow! (skate=quarter, snowman=eighths, shhh=rest)

Snowman Village (hat=quarter, snowman=eighths, rest sign for rest)

4. Books

All of these are books that I pair with music lessons.

Froggy Gets Dressed (I use the lessons in the article linked here every year with Kindergarten)

Snow Music (perfect for adding sound effects with instruments and/or found sound)

The Snowy Day (a classic book that's great for vocal exploration)

I hope this gives you some fresh material to use in your early childhood lessons this winter! Many of these are honestly also great for older grades when you want something fun that's still musical but doesn't require a lot of brain power, so they're great to keep on hand no matter what age you teach! What other songs and music lesson activities about snow do you use in your elementary music classes? I'd love to hear more ideas in the comments. Want to see how I incorporate winter and snow themes into all my grade levels K-6? Here's my full curriculum for January with full lesson plans and all the visuals and materials!

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Bad Bunny in Elementary Music

At this point I think most of us are aware of Bad Bunny's halftime performance at the 2026 Superbowl! And many of our students, especially upper elementary and older, will be aware of him now if they weren't already. Although most of his music isn't appropriate for elementary classroom use, I found the perfect song that is not only school appropriate but also can be used to teach and practice so many important skills and concepts I teach in elementary general music lessons!

Bad Bunny's halftime performance has brought new excitement and attention to Puerto Rico and its music and culture, and to Spanish language as well, which has been absolutely amazing. But it's hard to reference his music directly in elementary school because most of his music is made for adults, not children, and in a school setting especially would not be appropriate to share with students. But of course I was determined to find a way to feed off the energy of his performance! 

If you're looking for a song you can comfortably share with elementary students in its original form, I think "El Mundo Es Mío" is the one- the lyrics are not only school appropriate, but the message is empowering and the refrain is simple and easy for elementary students to learn even if they don't speak Spanish. 

Here are a few ideas for using this song in elementary music lessons:

1. Steady beat

Use the song as a track to practice showing steady beat through movement or instruments! With Kindergarten and 1st grade I love doing a game I call "follow the leader", where I call out each student's name throughout the song and that student becomes the new leader to come up with a steady beat move for the rest of the class to follow. With older students I will also review classroom instrument names playing techniques by handing out a few different instruments, then calling out a name of an instrument for only those students to play on the steady beat.

2. Rhythm practice

Use the song as a track to have students play rhythms with: they could practice reading rhythms from notation and then play it with the beat of the song, take turns improvising rhythms, or split up into groups and play different rhythms as ostinato patterns, with body percussion or with instruments (bonus points for instruments that are a part of Puerto Rican music, like guiros, maracas, or hand drums!).

3. Solfege

Ask students to identify the solfege in the refrain (la-re-do, la-re-do-ti). This is perfect if you are working on presenting or practicing low la and low ti. Once they have aurally identified the solfege, practice singing the refrain with Curwen hand signs, or have students notate it on the staff. I like using mini erasers and other small manipulatives as note heads for students to practice notating solfege, and I think my bunny mini erasers will be perfect for this!

4. Rap writing

Teach students the brief refrain, "el mundo es mio, el mundo es tuyo". Ask students to think of something that they're proud of about themselves, and then figure out how to say it with the beat in an 8-beat phrase. Have a few students take turns saying their line about something they are proud of, then have the whole class sing the refrain, then a few more students say their line. You could even use a karaoke track of the song to do it with. This could tie into or lead into more lessons to practice developing "flow" in rapping: here are some lesson ideas for teaching rap skills in elementary music.

Of course this is also the perfect opportunity to explore the music of Puerto Rico more broadly as well! Here is a lesson plan for Ambos A Dos, a Puerto Rican game song I love using with Kindergarten, and another set of lessons for El Coqui, a frog song from Puerto Rico I use with 2nd grade. You can search for all my blog posts on Puerto Rico, or on Spanish language songs, on this page. This would also be a great time to explore Puerto Rican musical styles like Reggaeton, Plena, or Bomba... more on that to come. 

Are you planning to talk about Bad Bunny with your students at all? Have you found other ways to incorporate his music in your elementary music lessons? I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments. 

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Ice Skating Themed Elementary Music Lessons

My favorite event in the winter olympics has always been figure skating! With the next winter olympics coming up soon, here are some of my favorite ice skating-themed lesson activities I've used in my elementary music classes, along with the concepts that I use them to teach. 

Skating by Stephanie Leavell

I love using this skating song with my self-contained and early childhood music classes! Of course it is made to be an easy to learn, singable, fun song for young children to sing and move with (including sections that tell you to move and stop), but I actually use it the most sitting in chairs with instruments, usually either egg shakers or jingle bells. We hold the instrument and glide it around and stop, which is a great way to get kids to practice following directions, sing, and explore instruments at the same time.

Skating by Vince Guaraldi Trio

This wonderful jazz piece is from the Charlie Brown Christmas movie and it instantly evokes the image of skating on a frozen lake outside in the softly falling snow. I use this song to practice ABA form, either by having students do some basic moves contrasting moves for each section on the beat, asking them to raise their hand when they hear the music change, or most often showing the contrasting sections with paper plate skating (see below).

Paper Plate Skating

If you haven't tried paper plate skating yet you are missing out! Have each student put a paper plate under each foot and they can "glide" around the room like they're skating! I have carpet in my room so it works great- you'll want to test it out first if you don't. I use this to teach 2 different concepts: with younger students I use the Vince Guaraldi Trio song above to show ABA form by gliding around the room in the A section, then staying in place and doing spins/ jumps in one spot in the B sections. For older students I use similar moves to practice legato and staccato: glide for legato, do a "ballet spin" (tip toe around in a circle in place) for staccato. If you have 4th/5th graders that you can convince to let loose and be silly, this is one of the best things you'll ever do- trust me.

Skater's Waltz by Émile Waldteufel

This is a great orchestral piece to use for teaching triple meter and to review the instruments of the orchestra. I'm always looking for songs with a strong triple meter feel and this one is a perfect tempo for students to move with the downbeat or even do a very basic waltz step to get used to the triple meter feel. I also like using the linked video recording specifically to have students visually and/or aurally identify instruments of the orchestra, which is something I do with 3rd and 4th grades this time of year. It has different spots in the music that feature different instruments and sections of the orchestra so it's a good piece to have students either try to identify instruments by sound or by watching the video. It could also be another good one to use those paper skates with too!

I hope this gives you some fresh ideas for connecting with the winter olympics in your music classes, or just incorporating a wintery theme that's fun for everyone! What other songs or music lessons do you teach with an ice skating theme? I'd love to hear more ideas in the comments! You can also find more winter themed elementary music lesson ideas in this blog post, and snow themed lesson ideas in this post!

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Making the "Other" Familiar

I believe one of the most important roles we play as music teachers is bringing the world to our students- giving them a language to connect with more people, and giving them experiences that make the "other" less foreign, more familiar. I think most music teachers agree, but many struggle with how to do so effectively, or feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. Here are some of my thoughts on how to make your classroom a place that fosters empathy through opportunities to connect with a broader range of perspectives.

First a little about me, because my background has definitely shaped my perspective on this. I grew up across 3 continents, mostly living outside my passport country until college, spent the better part of the first decade of my teaching career in international schools, and since then have taught as a white teacher in a primarily non-white, low-income population school in the US. I became a music teacher because of my experience moving to schools as a child where I did not speak the language, and finding a place where I could participate in the music room. 

Normalize, not exoticize.

I think the most important thing to keep in mind that will be the difference between sharing unfamiliar music in a way that is harmful vs helpful is to remember the goal is to normalize, not exoticize. Exploring new perspectives and ideas should be exciting, but we should present them as new to us, not new to the world, different from us, not unusual or different from the "standard". I've written an entire post on how to do this concretely here, especially as it relates to cultures around the world, but I think the most important aspect of this practice is to both use songs from a wide range of cultures, languages, and genres in your everyday lessons when the background of the song is not the main point of the lesson, and also spend time doing a deep dive into some specific genres, cultures, and perspectives to give students a deeper understanding of the context.

Watch your language,

Be careful with the word "we/ us". Who is "we"? And this may seem obvious but be very careful with the word "normal/ standard". What is "normal"? This is really at the heart of how students understand what is "other". No matter how positively it is presented, if a genre, culture, or people group are presented as "unusual" or "not us", it is by definition being "othered". Instead of presenting a new idea or perspective in a "we vs them" or "normal vs unusual" way, present it as additional information. Instead of "we use the violin but China uses the erhu", try "we learned about the violin last year, and today we're going to learn about another instrument called the erhu", for example.

Focus on transferable skills.

One of the biggest setbacks for teachers I talk to is feeling like to do it right, they need to make sure to include every culture, every perspective, equally. While broadening our materials by adding more different perspectives is definitely important, it's also important to remember that the skills students gain from interacting with a new perspective will transfer. The same way that teaching students to read and perform one song with quarter notes will allow them to learn more songs with quarter notes, the skills of cultural navigation and empathy will transfer to new perspectives and cultures they encounter outside your classroom. So focus on giving students the opportunity to interact with and understand new perspectives rather than making sure you include every perspective that exists.

Learn from the source.

Hopefully this goes without saying but you can't expect to learn about Japanese music from a Kodaly song collection compiled by a white American who "learned it from their levels instructor" (it makes me angry just typing that because I've heard it so often). Certainly those types of resources can serve as starting points, but before you present it to students it's important to trace it back to a native source. The same goes for anything on my website! I try, when it is not something from my own personal background, to include my native sources in the articles I share. I encourage you to go back to those and learn from those sources, not just directly from me- that is the point! If you see a song that is labeled as "from" a certain country but you can't find any source from that country referencing the song, there's a good chance it's not from there. Here are a few examples of commonly circulated songs that are actually American, not from the cultures many books and presenters claim they are from. Learning directly from a native source will also give you important context that you will most likely miss out on otherwise. I have been learning a lot about hip-hop since moving to the US, but it wasn't until I had the opportunity to speak with hip-hop artists themselves, and share with them the lesson ideas I was working on, that I gained an understanding of important context that I needed to include in my lessons. Even when people are sharing directly from culture bearers themselves, they are sharing the parts that they learned, not the entire picture. You need to always go back to the source.

There is certainly a lot more to be said on this topic but these are the most important points I think to keep in mind to move further down the path of creating an equitable, inclusive classroom that brings the world to our students. If you are looking for a place to learn more about how to do this effectively, and find materials, ideas, and resources from culture bearers to add to your teaching, I've created a page on my website called Music Education Equity Resources where you can search by country, language, genre, and more topics to find resources to use in your classroom. And if you want to see a (regularly updated) full curriculum that seeks to put these ideas into practice, I've published my K-6 general music curriculum here.

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