Winter in the classroom can sometimes be rough. Students need to switch it up with fun winter activities in the classroom in order to stay engaged and on top of things. These fun and easy winter activities will keep your kiddos engaged in rigorous work all winter long!
Winter Read Alouds
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
This book is great for teaching and practicing inferencing! This winter read aloud is about a young boy and his father who go “owling” in the winter. It is slow-paced but allows for lots of discussion about inferences and predictions.
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
This book is GREAT for writing in the winter. It is a great mentor text to talk to students about how to add descriptive details to their writing.
The Story of Snow by Mark Cassino
This is a nonfiction read aloud all about the science behind snow! I suggest reading this and working on using and identifying text features! Then, create snow as a science project!
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Florence and Richard Atwater
This is a great chapter book read aloud for the winter months! Your students will love listening to a story about a family who has penguins living in their house!
Digital Winter Activities for The Classroom
Keep your center work engaging and fun during the winter months with these digital winter activities!
I pick a theme for every other week and let the kiddos do digital centers around that theme! They watch videos, play games, complete word work and vocabulary activities, and so much more!
Different themes you can teach are the science of winter, winter animals, winter sports, and more!
Winter Reading Challenge
Many students return from winter break and forget like everything, am I right?!
It was like they weren’t even in school for those first few months. So, why not do a FUN winter challenge in the classroom where they review reading skills and show you what you need to reteach.
During this challenge, students read passages and use their reading skills to answer questions. Each challenge earns them one material for a stem project. By completing the challenges they earn their materials to do a winter STEM project!
It is great integration and also a great way to see what you need to focus on during the second half of the year.
Read more about this reading challenge in this blog post!
Snowball Fight Worksheet
Are you doing any worksheets during the winter? If so, turn them into a snowball fight!
This is super simple! Give the kiddos a worksheet and have them do the first problem. Go over that problem or question and have them crumple the paper up into a snowball. They have a snowball fight until you yell the magic word. Then, they pick up a random paper and start working on the second problem. This only works with worksheets you are doing as a whole group because they will be answering and working on different papers each time!
I hope you can use some of these ideas in your classroom this year!
Hannah Wilde
I am so glad you’re here! I love helping 3rd-5th grade teachers by providing ideas, engaging resources, and professional development they need. I am a literacy coach who is here to help lessen the workload for teachers while making them more confident! I want students to be continually engaged in a rigorous environment!