Fun Winter Activities for the Classroom

When snow covers the ground in the winter, students will want nothing more than to go outside and play. However, by incorporating winter-themed activities into the classroom, you can bring the spirit of the season inside! Discover these three kinds of winter classroom activities to help students celebrate the colder months of the year.

Winter-Themed Craft Ideas

There’s no shortage of classroom activities when it comes to winter arts and crafts! Teachers have many options when it comes to setting up creative winter art projects that capture the spirit of the season. Here are a few crafts you can choose from if you’re looking for winter classroom activities:

• If your school has a kitchen or allows food, consider having a cookie decorating activity! Choose shapes evocative of winter, such as snowflakes, snowmen, or other imagery that brings the season to mind. To preserve the creativity of your students, don’t forget to take a picture of the decorated cookies before they’re eaten!
• Macaroni snowflakes are another fun option, but unlike the cookies, these aren’t meant to be eaten. The many shapes that pasta comes in allow students to create a variety of snowflake designs, which they can then customize with paint, glitter, and other art supplies. Afterward, they can turn it into a fridge magnet or holiday decoration!
• Arts and crafts give students an excellent opportunity to make holiday gifts for their families. One option is to have them make their own books out of construction paper and photos.
• Another fun winter activity that students can partake in is creating snow globes out of used jars! Teachers can provide them with the necessary materials so that they can add a new decoration to their bedroom.
• A fantastic follow-up art project is to have students create custom wrapping paper for a previous craft they made. This personal touch will make for a memorable gift and can be created through various means, such as fingerpaint, allowing students of all ages to participate.

Lesson Plans With a Winter Twist

Teachers can implement the winter season into their lessons in more ways than just decorating math sheets with snowflakes. Language arts classes can provide students with winter-themed writing prompts, like their favorite aspects of the winter season or more imaginative ideas like what would happen if snowmen came to life. Additionally, teachers can read winter books to younger students during storytime or can assign them as reading to middle school students.

The winter season is a phenomenal time for social studies classes to explore the origins of cultural traditions celebrated during the season. These lessons don’t just include Christmas, but other holidays like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and more, celebrated around the world. This is a great way to help broaden the classroom’s knowledge of different cultures. Further, teachers can explore the history of other winter-themed events, like the Iditarod, in their classroom activities.

Winter-Themed Activities for High School Students

High school students don’t need to miss out on winter-themed classroom activities just because they’re older; there are many ways for teachers to incorporate the winter season into their lesson plans. For example, science classes can learn about the science behind snowflakes and conduct experiments about melting snow, the weather, and other similar topics. English teachers can have students read classics associated with the season, such as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Classes can use the book to explore literary devices and learn more about the time period it was written.

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