Winter is coming, and with it, the excitement of hot chocolate and snow. With back-to-back holidays, celebrations and, in some places, snow days, it can be difficult to balance learning and fun in classrooms of all levels. Not to mention the added challenge of finding the time to prepare your lessons, your classroom, And yourself for the winter. Simplify your life and your lessons with these educational winter activities that can be used in many formats.
10 engaging and educational winter activities for rigor and fun
Explore these winter educational activities for your classroom for ideas and resources you can use today.
Winter Math by Lanfaloe
Grades: PreK-1 | Subject: Mathematics
Give your math lessons a frosty makeover with this winter-themed math packet. Have your preschoolers, kindergartners, or first graders count snowmen, add and subtract using winter objects, and practice skip counting with balls of snow.
Winter speech therapy, photos, visuals of WH questions, language, increase in MLU by language, speech and literacy
Grades: PreK-2 | Subjects: Special education, Speech therapy
This easy-to-use, no-printing speech therapy activity helps students practice expanded sentences. Featuring 20 colorful winter-themed scenes, this resource helps teach pronouns, verbs, wh-questions, basic concepts and simple sentences. Compatible with any digital device, this winter activity is ideal for non-readers, teletherapy, mixed groups, and students with augmentative or alternative communication needs.
Hibernation Winter Animals Mini-book {Hibernate} by Planning Garden
Grades: PreK-2 | Subject: Science
Add this fun winter activity to your science lesson plans and teach your preschool, kindergarten, 1st, or 2nd grade class about winter animal behavior. This educational winter craft can be used as a digital matching and coloring activity or as a mini physical booklet to help your elementary students learn the scientific definitions of “hibernation”, “adaptation” and of “migration”.
Vamos a escribir en invierno – Winter Writing Center – Spanish and English by Hilda Escamilla
Levels: K-5 | Subjects: Spanish, writing
Have your elementary students celebrate the winter season by drawing and writing a story in Spanish or English. With different character designs and backgrounds to color and choose from, your students will have plenty of inspiration to keep them moving forward.
2nd year common core: Mathematics and ELA pack on the theme of winter 100% aligned by 247 Professor
Years: 1-3 | Subjects: mathematics, English language arts
Build your elementary students’ math and language arts skills with this comprehensive math and ELA bundle filled with fun yet rigorous winter activities. Closely aligned with the Common Core State Standards, these activities can be assigned to students at the same time or separately during the winter months.
Worksheets for Poetry Writing Unit Acrostic Poem Haiku Cinquain Winter Sports Theme by promoting success
Years: 4-6 | Subjects: writing, poetry
Encourage your 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students to have fun in the winter by asking them to write poetry about all the winter sports they can enjoy. Your students will explore and become champions at writing seven types of poems with this resource: acrostic, haiku, cinquain, shape, diamante, I wish and limerick.
Winter Science and STEM Challenge | Experiment on the freezing and melting points of ice by Kimberly Scott Science
Years: 4-6 | Subject: Science
Teach your students about one of the defining elements of winter: ice. This hands-on science project will help your students understand the states of matter. As they explore how water freezes and turns to ice, how ice melts, and how salt affects the temperatures at which this happens, this winter science experiment will engage and guide your students through the scientific method.
Winter Evaluating expressions with a variable and exponents Mathematical color by code by Misty Miller
Years: 6-7 | Subjects: Mathematics, Algebra
Add color to your algebra homework with this fun winter math activity for 5th, 6th, and 7th graders. Students will solve problems involving a variable and a few exponents and use the answers to color by numbers. The result is a drawing of a snowboarder, perfect for the winter season.
Solving systems of equations by Tammie Akins Dickens
Years: 8-10 | Subjects: Mathematics, Algebra
Math can sometimes seem like a puzzle, but in this case it really is. As students solve these algebraic equations, they will match their answers to a letter on the key, then fill in the characters at the bottom based on the problem number. The result answers the burning question: How do you scare a snowman? The answer to this winter activity is sure to fill your classroom with giggles, giggles, and groans.
Digital presentation of Winter Vocabulary by Rike Neville
Years: 10-12 | Subjects: Vocabulary, ESL / ELL / EFL
Help your students better understand winter terminology with this digital presentation of 30 essential winter vocabulary words.
With these fun winter activities, your students will be able to celebrate winter and continue their learning in the classroom. Need more ideas for winter activities to do with your class? Find more resources on TPT.
This blog post, originally published in 2021, has been updated for 2023.
