8 Winter Activities

1.Snowflake Alphabet Match

I think you could make multiple variations of this for the seasons - flowers in the spring, suns in the summer, little pumpkins in the fall, fireworks in the New Year, etc.

Materials: cupcake liners, painters tape, contact paper

Steps: Select the amount of contact paper you want to use based on the wall space you have. Unroll it, sticky side out (the backing will be facing you). Adhere it to your wall using painters tape on all sides. This is important so the surface remains flat. Write lowercase letters on the contact paper, and the uppercase letter match on the cupcake liners. You're ready to match!

2. Snowflake BINGO

This game is fun for all ages! You can ramp it up by adding a BINGO prize, playing multiple "cards," or pulling in additional family members/classmates.

Materials: white paper, stapler, mini marshmallow, scissors

Steps: Cut 3 strips of white paper, and staple in the center. These will be your BINGO "cards." Write letters on the end of the snowflake cards. You could do capital, lowercase, or both. Make several different variations of these, depending on your group size. Cut "snowball" circles and write one letter on each, A-Z. You can use mini marshmallows, white pom poms, mini blue legos, or clear gems to cover. To play, draw one "snowball." If a player has it, cover it. The game continues until the first person has 6 letters covered.

3. Snowflake Graphing

Attaching a quantity to the number requires you to slow down and make sense of the value. So we do this throughout the year, using various loose parts (wildflowers in summer, acorns in fall, shells in spring, etc.)

Materials: paper, small bowl, gems

Steps: All you need is paper and loose parts. If I could return to this activity, I would use a ruler for line accuracy and add an X and Y axis title so he could become familiar with the function of different sides of a graph. I also chose not to write in numerical order to really see if he could identify them.

4. Arctic Animal Sensory Bin

I love sensory bins and use them often, and while rice is one of the easiest bases to use, it is one of my least favorite to clean off the floor. My youngest, age 1 /2, is also still mouthing things so it's best if you have a young toddler to stay in the room and monitor if you choose to do this activity. This bin is also best used after reading a variety of books on Arctic animals.

Materials: rice, small animals, pom poms, gems, scoops

Steps: Dye rice, or you can keep it white. My favorite way to dye rice is place it in a bag with acrylic paint and a little rubbing alcohol, shake it, and pour and spread it evenly on a cookie sheet to dry overnight. Add in Arctic animals (caribou, wolf, snowy owl, penguin, fox, walrus, polar bear), white and blue pom poms, clear gems, and a few scoops.

5. Building a Snowflake (STEM Activity)

The best "toys" are not actually "toys," in my kids' opinion. Their favorite things are ones they find around the house - floss, a rubber band, one of Daddy's tools, a tiny box - which is why I think they enjoyed this so much. Kids like to tinker, and any opportunity they have to build creatively is a positive.

Materials: marshmallows (big and small), toothpicks

Steps: Provide two bowls, one with mini marshmallows, and one with toothpicks. I actually created one to model how to get started, but really no two snowflakes are alike, and there is no "right" way to build one. Experiment with quantity and pose questions:

Does putting more than one snowflake on make the base stronger?

If I use three toothpicks, I can make a triangle?

If I put the same amount on both sides, are they equal? We call this symmetry.

6. Pinecone Bird Feeders

My boys love to play outside, no matter the temperature. We have a lot of trees lining our backyard, and see various birds throughout the day. My youngest has become interested in birds so even though he didn't understand the concept, he enjoyed participating, while my oldest and I talked about birds we liked.

Materials: peanut butter, birdseed, pinecones, yarn, paper plate

Steps: Using a spoon, spread some peanut butter on a plate. Then you can sprinkle on birdseed with your fingers, twisting the pinecone, or you can pour some on a plate and roll the pinecone. Wrap yarn around the base of the pinecone and tie it to a tree. NOTE: Squirrels unfortunately grabbed ours, because the next day all three pinecones were gone - but the yarn was still there. At least someone ate deliciously?

7. Mini Ice Hockey

My husband is a big New York Rangers fan, so when he said he wanted to get our 4 year old into the sport, this is how I interpreted that.

Materials: bin, water, popsicle sticks, small square of cardboard, one gem, avocado netting, small animals or gems (these are optional)

Steps: Fill water in a long shallow container. I used an IKEA bin here. Throw in items such as gems, pom poms, or little figurines they can "excavate" later. Place container in the freezer, being careful it is completely flat, or your water will freeze with a slant. Meanwhile, make your hockey nets. I used avocado netting, popsicle sticks, and hot glue to make these. Stretching the nets taut in the back with make for a stronger structure. The hockey "sticks" are popsicle sticks and a little piece of cardboard, and the "puck" is a flat gem. Then it's time to play! We showed our 4 year old a little video prior which may help if they actually want to know the basics. With our 1 1/2 year old, we took one goal away and just let him into one net. I would consider hot glueing down the goals so they don't slide around. This was a fun one!

8. ABC Snowball Fight

My mom brought this over for the kids, and we are still playing with it. It's one you can play, put away, and return to often. You could purchase a mat like this or easily draw one out on craft paper, using letter, numbers, shapes, whatever your unit of study is. Just know it may go from an alphabet snowball fight to a real one - be prepared.

Materials: mat, 10-12 large pom poms or balls of white paper

Steps: Stand 3-5 feet away from your mat. You may want mark the floor with painter's tape so they know where to stand. Have them gently toss the "snowball" onto the mat. Whatever letter it lands on, have them call it out. You could also do this with numbers, shapes, or colors.