The Snowman

One winter's night, a snowman comes to life and an unforgettable adventure begins.

Book Author: Raymond Briggs

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Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• ‘One winter’s night, a snowman comes to life and a magical adventure begins…’. Use this idea as the starting point for your own story.
• Watch the animated version of the story. Which do you prefer? Why?

• Make a list of the similarities and the differences between the book and the animated movie.
• Compare this book to the sequel: The Snowman and the Snowdog. Write a review of your favourite.
• Use the images of the boy making the snowman to write a sequence of instructions that teach others how to make the perfect snowman.
• Choose a series of images and write captions to accompany each one. Use time words (e.g. first, next, then, after, later, finally) to show the sequence of events.
• Think of speech / thought bubbles and captions to accompany some of the images.
• Retell the story from the boy’s point of view (or from the point of view of the Snowman).
• Think of some questions that you would like to ask the boy. How might he respond?
• Write a newspaper article about strange sightings of a flying snowman.
• Could you write a play script that retells this story (or a part of it)?
• Write an alternative ending for the story and imagine a new adventure that the boy and snowman could have together.

Science

• Why can’t the snowman go near to the fireplace? Use this as the starting point for discussions about temperature, freezing and melting.

Computing

• Create a game in which a snowman has to fly through the air to reach a particular point.
• Design an app to accompany this story. What activities could it have?
• Use publishing software to create your own comic strip.
• A trailer for 'The Snowman and the Snowdog' is shown below. Could you make a trailer for 'The Snowman'?

• This video shows an ‘animatic’ (which is an animated storyboard). Could you make an animatic based on your own story?

Design Technology

• Use a range of materials to make your own model of a snowman.
• Design (and make) a new set of clothes for the snowman.

Art

• Could you make your own comic strip that retells a story without words?
• Imagine that you were flying in the air with the snowman and draw a picture of the view below you.

Music

• Could you rehearse and perform the song 'Walking in the Air' to an audience?

History

• This book was first published in 1978. How has life changed since then? How is the boy’s childhood in 1978 likely to be similar / different to your childhood today?

PSHE

• Think of different kinds of emotion and choose images from the book that show them (e.g. excitement, wonder, despair, fear).