Watch a Full Video Walk-Through Here~

Let’s Get Started

2. Begin the Story & Add a Steady Beat

As you read the opening pages, introduce Rabbit’s little… tantrum.

Rabbit wants snow. Immediately. Right now.

This is the perfect moment to have students add a steady beat with “snowflake taps” as Rabbit chants:

“I want it! I want it! I want it right now!”

Nothing fancy—just a simple way to anchor the story in rhythm.

4. Add Solfege Into the Song

We review do–mi–sol again—because repetition = confidence—and then layer it into the little chant-song version of “I will make it snow.”

My favorite trick for hesitant singers?
Put the solfege in their bodies.

• Sol = tiptoes

• Mi = tall standing

• Do = low squat

It lowers the vocal pressure and keeps them physically involved.

5. Smartboard Movement: Drag the Animals

Before their wiggles take over, I let students come up and drag the animals (Beaver, Moose, etc.) to their correct spots on the Smartboard.

Pro tip:
Only make the things you want them to touch interactable.
If you know, you know.

This gives a little reset before the next big piece…

6. The Snowy Rhythm Movement Break

Rabbit begins drumming to call down the snow, and this is where students need to move.

I turn the next few pages of the story into a tiered rhythm-and-movement sequence:

Whole Note (“snow”)

• Bend down

• Touch toes

• Rise back up

Half Note (“ice”)

• Slow side-to-side sway

Quarter Note (“cold”)

• Quick jumps

Eighth Notes (“chilly”)

• Tiptoe steps

We build one layer at a time, then mix them.
It gets wonderfully silly, wonderfully snowy, and wonderfully musical—fast.

And yes, sometimes your kindergartners will shout “snow!” while tiptoeing “chilly!”
Just roll with it. You’ll get there.

7. Return to the Story, Add More Movement, and Build the Tension

Each time Rabbit drums faster, I return to the movement sequence and increase the tempo or mix up the orders. Students feel the story intensifying without you ever saying the words “tempo” or “form.”

This is sneaky teaching at its finest.

8. Connect to Your Seasonal Lessons

Even though Rabbit’s Snow Dance is snowy (very snowy), I still use it in November—especially because:

• It’s an Iroquois folktale, which brings cultural storytelling into your music room respectfully and meaningfully.

• It transitions beautifully from fall themes into winter themes.

• You can easily pair it with:

  • My Thanksgiving Rhythm Play-Along

  • A Nutcracker scarf dance

  • Any “snowy rhythm” video

It’s a flexible hinge lesson for that mid-November lull.

9. Wrap-Up: What Students Learn Without Realizing It

By the time the story finishes (and no spoilers here!), students have:

• Practiced steady beat

• Sung do–mi–sol

• Analyzed ta, titi, and quarter rests

• Experienced whole, half, quarter, and eighth note movement

• Connected storytelling with musical structure

• Participated in call-and-response singing

• Joined a movement break that actually teaches something

And they leave class feeling like they just played in the snow.

Final Thoughts~

Final Thoughts

Stories like Rabbit’s Snow Dance give us the perfect doorway into deeper musical concepts without losing the joy of early childhood learning. They let kids feel successful, curious, musical, and part of something bigger.

A huge thank-you to the authors who created this story—it’s been one of my favorite ways to open students’ eyes to the world, to culture, and to the sheer magic of making music together.

If you want to see how the rhythm movement breaks and playalongs work in real time, check out the lesson preview on my YouTube channel.

Happy teaching—and stay warm out there. ❄️

Happy playing,
Leanna O’Brien
Founder of The Soaring Scarves Academy

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