Teach Mom Learn

How many times in the last month have you watched Frozen? In my house, we watch it at least weekly.  Rae dances along to the songs, but she’d rather play in her tent than pay attention to the dialogue. 

As she gets older, my plan is to take full advantage for her love of Frozen and build in some fun, easy Frozen-themed lessons.  Even though she’s too young for them right now, I’d love to share my ideas with you. 

Some require pausing the movie, but many could be completed before or after watching.  Here are 10 easy ways to make your next Frozen viewing a learning experience:

1. Snow Day Journal –Before you start watching, get your child thinking about snow.  For toddlers, use prompts to guide them and write down their answers.  I’ve included a free snow day journal template you are more than welcome to use.  Just click the link below to download.

For older children, have them make a story book about their favorite snow day so far.  If they have younger siblings, have them host a little story time.

2. Snowman Scavenger Hunt –Who doesn’t love a scavenger hunt? For younger children, this can be a great way to help them learn to scan their environment. 

Print or draw parts of a snowman, cut them out, and hide them around one room of your house.  For older children, expand the hunt to a larger area, and give them clues with each piece (great way to work on reading, interpreting, and problem-solving skills!). 

For extra fun, check out this awesome free printable Spin a Snowman game from Just Jonie.  Your children can find the pieces for their snowmen and then play the game to assemble it.  Any game involving a spinner is a great lesson in probability!

3. I Spy –Frozen is visually stunning, and there are so many details in nearly every frame of this film.  Sharpen those observational skills by pausing the movie during “For the First Time in Forever” and playing a few rounds of I Spy using the works of art around the castle.  Your children will love trying to stump you, and you’ll have fun watching them try to find your selections. 

You can also use this activity to build early math skills.  Have your child count various objects in the frame, then ask guiding questions (e.g., are there more women or men in the coronation ball scene?).  They can also build early geometry skills by identifying shapes in the snowflakes at the very beginning of the film.

4. Sequencing Activity –Sequencing is a great comprehension skill for all children to develop.  Write down 3 moments from a particular scene (e.g., Elsa makes it snow, Elsa and Ana play, Elsa freezes Ana by accident) for younger children.  Cut your moments into strips.  Then guide them with questions to help your child put the moments in order (What happened first? What happened next? What happened last?). 

Have older children work independently to generate a list of 5-10 things that happened in the movie in random order.  Then, if they have siblings, have them swap lists and put the items in the correct order.  Otherwise, you can complete this activity with them.

5. Snowman Facial Expressions Activity -Reading facial expressions is an important social skill.  Use my free Snowman Faces Activity to help your child learn the meaning behind common expressions.  I also included prompts to ask your child why the snowman feels that way because it leads to deeper understanding of emotions, but also some hysterical responses.

6. Cause and Effect Activity –Why questions are very important to comprehension skills.  As you’re watching the movie, stop to ask your child why a character asks a certain way (e.g., “Why is Elsa staying in her room?”)  Once they answer that question, ask the effect of the character’s actions (“What happens because Elsa keeps her powers secret?”). 

If you’re really motivated to build these skills, you can write your questions ahead of time and treat it like a written activity.  However, I’d recommend keeping it verbal and conversational.  That way, you’re using incidental teaching strategies -teaching without your child even realizing that they’re learning (or as I like to think of it, sneak attack teaching).

7. “Let it Go” Social-Emotional Learning Activity -If your child is having a bad day, watching Frozen might be the answer. 

When they are feeling down or upset (and are old enough to understand why), ask them what they need to let go.  Then, brainstorm ways that they can let their negative feelings go.  Once you find an idea they love, belt out the song together and push the negative feelings away through dance.

Another option is to be more tangible.  Write the source of their frustration down on a piece of paper, and then destroy it.  They can tear it into pieces, crumble it up and throw it away, or whatever else works for them. 

For younger children, make the activity more simple and more mindful.  Focus on the emotion they’re experiencing.  Acknowledge it, and if you can, explain why (e.g., “You’re feeling sad because Daddy’s at work and you miss him”).  Then, remind them that the feeling is not permanent (e.g., “Daddy will be home soon”).  Offer them a temporary solution (e.g., “Maybe we can call Daddy so you can say hi!”) And finally, give them the chance to let their feeling go. 

Breathing out the bad and breathing in the good is a classic mindful activity for children of any age.  Tell your child to blow like they’re blowing out a candle.  Start simple (e.g., “We’re going to breathe in happy and breathe out sad”) and guide their breathing. 

If they like the activity, go deeper and have them brainstorm happy things they can breathe in and sad things they can breathe out (e.g., breathe in cats, breathe out bedtime).  The deep breathing will calm them, and the brainstorming acts almost as a reset. 

8. Footprints Perspective-Taking Activity -Perspective-taking is an important part of developing emotional intelligence, and it’s a great way to learn to make inferences as well. 

Before you start watching, have your children trace their feet on a piece of paper.  Then, decorate the feet for the characters in the movie (e.g., Ana’s feet, Elsa’s feet, etc.). Pause the movie at a particularly tense point.  Then, have your children literally step into the shoes of the characters and talk about how they are feeling in that moment. 

After a little while, have them switch to the opposite feet so they can take on a new perspective.  You’ll be impressed by how much they are able to identify with the characters.

9. What’s Sven Thinking? -Oh Sven, our sweet, patient reindeer friend.  While Kristoff often talks for Sven, we never actually get a window inside his fuzzy head.  Ask your child to come up with some verbal dialogue for Sven.  You’ll love hearing their insights, and they’ll have fun narrating Sven’s point of view.

10. Snowflake Math -I love a good educational art project! Before you start watching, make some snowflakes with your child to decorate your TV room.  If your child is younger, have them pick shapes while you cut them into the snowflakes. 

If they’re older, have them build in reading skills by giving them a written task list as they make their snowflakes (e.g., cut your paper into a circle.  Fold it in half.  Fold it in half again. Cut a square into the fold, etc.). 

If you’re really ambitions, Martha Stewart has easy directions for cutting stunning snowflakes with visual supports. 

Hang your snowflakes around the room, then ask guiding math questions (e.g., how many triangles are in this snowflake? Which snowflake has more circles?).

For older kids, grab stacks of snowflakes and start working on problem-solving concepts (e.g., if you have 6 snowflakes and I have 7, how many do we have all together? If I take 3 of your snowflakes, how many do I have? How many do you have left?). They’ll love analyzing their own creations, and you’ll be happy to see their foundational math skills develop.

For more fun learning activities, please check out these 10 Strategies to Make Storytime Even More Fun!