Winter – Wineberry Wood Press

30Jan 2025 by catbird No Comments

“Over and Under the Snow”

Craft Project, Hike Ideas, Learning, Picture Book Buds, Picture Book Hikes, Play, Recipes, STEAM, Winter

Picture Book Buds are a fun and easy way to incorporate literacy into nature study. Read a book (you can even read it outside!) and then enjoy the related activity and snack suggestions! Over and Under the Snow Written by: Kate Messner, Illustrated by: Christopher Silas Neal Over and Under the Snow is a classic winter time picture book read. It manages to be both fun to read and packed with information about what various animals do to survive during the winter, making it great for mixed age groups. I always include it in my hibernation study recommendations, but where is really shines in my opinion is in it's description of the Subnivean Zone. The hibernators seem to get all the love this time of year, and all while the shrews, mice…

29Dec 2024 by catbird No Comments

“Yours, Befana: A Letter from the Winter Witch”

Craft Project, Folklore, Picture Book Buds, Play, Recipes, Twelfth Night, Winter

Picture Book Buds are a fun and easy way to incorporate literacy into nature study. Read a book (you can even read it outside!) and then enjoy the related activity and snack suggestions! Yours, Befana: A Letter from the Winter Witch Written by: Barbara Cuoghi, Illustrated by: Elenia Beretta, Translated by: Genni Gunn Yours, Befana: A Letter from the Winter Witch is a picture book that has been translated from its original Italian which tells the story of Befana the Winter Witch. If you have read my blog before you may know that I am a huge fan of Befana (check out my Befana bread here) and always include her in our Twelfth Night festivities, I have even considered writing a picture book about her because all of the ones that…

22Dec 2024 by catbird No Comments

Sun Pop Tarts

Recipes, Winter, Winter Portfolio

Looking for a special breakfast on the Winter Solstice? These sun poptarts are an easy and impressive way to welcome back the sun. And if I'm honest, also a good way to use up some of that yummy persimmon butter from the sun bread.. You can make the pie crust and the filling, or you can buy both. You can assemble the tarts and then stick them in the freezer to make ahead as well. They cook brilliantly from frozen so you don't even have to remember to defrost them. (I am all about making things adhead during the holiday season) Ingredients: pie dough (homemade, store bought, gluten free, vegan, whatever works for you) persimmon butter or any orange colored jam (recipe for persimmon butter here) egg wash sugar for…

21Dec 2024 by catbird No Comments

What is Winter Solstice?

Folklore, Learning, Winter, Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice is the day that the earth is tilted the furthest away from the sun and consequently has more hours of darkness and less hours of light then any other day of the year. Every day after the Winter Solstice there is gradually a little more light until the Summer Solstice. The sun is at its lowest point in the sky on the Winter Solstice and shadows become stretched out and longer than usual. Ancient people thought that the sun was dying and being reborn on this day. The Winter Solstice most often falls on December 21st and has long been a day of celebration. In fact, it was a whole season of celebration in ancient times. The time between Winter Solstice and the Twelfth Night was once…

11Dec 2024 by catbird No Comments

Tomten Scavenger Hunt

Craft Project, get outside, Scavenger Hunt, Scavenger Hunts, Winter, Winter Solstice

For a fun and easy "elf shelf" type of activity without the all the work and the weird surveillance. My kids have been loving it and I have been loving not moving an elf around every night. (Not that we ever did the popular version) I used Astrid Lindgren's classic book The Tomten as a jumping off point, but I don't think you necessarily need it. It did inspire some of my hiding places and I think it helped the kids figure out some of the clues. I made my little tomte from sticks-- if you have been thinking about learning to whittle this the easiet project to try. All you do it make a point of one end of a stick. There's no shaping or complicated cuts, just make…

11Dec 2024 by catbird No Comments

Sun Buns

Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice

We loved the sun bread we made last year so much that I decided to make another variation this year-- sun buns!! (Also admittedly I just really like saying sun buns) Same idea, just smaller and easier to serve. Sun Bread, is of course a beloved book by by Elisa Kleven about baking a sun bread to coax the sun to come back- perfect for the Winter Solstice. In the book they bake a big bread to share, which is of course delightful too, but since I had already deviated from the recipe in the story, I decided to keep going. I use a gluten free brioche recipe from Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple (actually the babka recipe which makes a double batch) to make this sun bread gluten free. You…

10Dec 2024 by catbird No Comments

Deer Mother Winter Solstice Cookies

Folklore, Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice

After drawing my 2024 Winter Solstice Countdown calendar I couldn't stop thinking about the beautiful image of the deer carrying the sun in it's antlers. I was thinking about all of the Winter Solstice cookies I have made and wondering how I could make one that really is Winter Solstice. Full stop. My Longest Night cookie almost does that, but for the most part they would be perfectly appropriate for a variety of holidays. Generally I like that, we celebrate secular Christmas and Hanukkah too. But I wanted to make one cookie that was unabashedly for the Solstice. Hence the Deer Mother Cookie was born. First, a little background on the Deer Mother. There has been a deer mother/ winter solstice tale making the rounds lately with most claiming it…

10Dec 2024 by catbird No Comments

“Greenglass House”

Craft Project, Learning, Middle Grade Book Buds, Recipes, Winter

Next up in middle grade book buds, is Greenglass House. I have been reading a ton of middle grade books lately, but would love to hear your suggestions for more book buds! Middle grade books are substantially longer, so I have broken the middle grade book buds into a lesson, a craft or two, and a snack. All are driven by the themes and ideas in the respective book. These could be the jumping off point for a more in depth academic book study, or just a fun project to further immerse yourself in the worlds of your favorite books! Greenglass House Written by: Kate Milford Greenglass House is sort of an unusual choice for me, it's not particularly nature focused and it falls pretty solidly into the mystery genre, but there…

04Dec 2024 by catbird 1 Comment

Pomander Mushrooms

Craft Project, Nature Art, Winter, Winter Solstice

I started making dried orange mushrooms to use up the rounded parts of the orange when making dried orange garlands. They are super cute just left plain, but I had a brainstorm while I was making pomanders recently-- if I stuck cloves into the "cap" before drying them, they would look super mushroom-y and even better, smell amazing. They make lovely winter holiday decorations, great handmade gifts, cute ornaments, and super special gift tags. They would even be adorable nestled in some potpourri or a winter wreath. A perfect craft to spruce up and make your home smell like the holidays! Pomander Mushrooms Materials: oranges or clemetines knife whole cloves toothpick sticks glue dried moss twine (optional) Method: First prepare and dry the oranges. If you are using clementines just…

02Dec 2024 by catbird 1 Comment

Pretty Plentiful & Pleasant Pomanders

Craft Project, Play, Recipes, Simmer Pot, Winter, Winter Solstice

Sorry! Sometimes I have to give in to my terrible alliteration tendencies. This post is all about pomanders in every form. I love the smell of oranges and cloves together more than most things-- it's one of those things I never get tired of. So I decided to go nuts and collect a whole bunch of the various pomander projects I've done over the years in one convenient place! Pomander balls have been associated with Christmas and/or Winter Solstice for some time, but that isn’t how they originated. We think of them as oranges studded with cloves, but in medieval Europe, people would keep little satchels of herbs on them because most everyone and everything smelled bad. They became a status symbol and the wealthier you were the fancier your…

Category: Winter