Best Toddler Winter Books that Keep Them Engaged

Inside: On the hunt for good toddler winter books? These short and interactive books are our choice for January, during our snow and bear themes.

When planning our January theme activities, the first thing I do is decide on which books I will read.

Because toddlers and young preschoolers have shorter attention spans, I prefer books that aren’t too wordy and get the children involved.

I talk about this in my most popular video, The Secrets of a Successful Circle Time.

When filling out my planner, I look for books that will hold their interest, getting them involved.

I might even use props that can be displayed on the flannel board, or stick puppets the children can hold while I read.

(See our Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star props.)

This collection of toddler winter books is our favorite for January, and I refer to them as I plan the rest of our activities.

Selecting Toddler Winter Books According to Our Activities

So that you can better understand my choice of books, let me share an outline of our January areas of interest:

Week 1: Snow and Ice

Week 2: Snowmen

Week 3: Winter Clothing

Week 4: Bears in Winter

Often these areas will overlap, especially if I see that the children are really interested in a certain area.

I keep my planner flexible so that I can tweak our activities after carefully observing how engaged the children are.

Another thing to point out is that books are available throughout our preschool morning, not just during circle time.

We have a bookshelf filled with books in our reading area, plus baskets of books in various areas.

If you were to walk into our classroom, you might find a teacher sitting on the couch or the floor reading to a child, or a small group of children.

This might be during centers time, with children who finished their snack earlier than the others, or while transitioning to the next part of our morning.

This collection is also nice for the home library, too!