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Winter brings a special spark that awakens curiosity and wonder in students. Harness this seasonal energy to design fun and meaningful lessons that celebrate the holidays, the magic of snow, and influential figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. while connecting seamlessly to your curriculum.
Bring winter into the classroom with indoor activities
Snowfall brings a chill, but frigid temperatures don’t have to hinder your winter courses. Bring the season indoors with creative activities related to CCSS—think icy STEM challenges or winter writing to boost engagement despite dropping temperatures.
- Build the snowflake structure: Challenge students to build the strongest snowflake using marshmallows and toothpicks.
- Matching Gloves: Place equivalent fractions (or equations) on the gloves and have students match them.
- Performance in Ice and Snow Theater: Have students write, produce, and perform a one-act play with a winter-themed plot.
- Plan your winter carnival: Have students design an indoor carnival, including layout, booths, and prizes.
- Design Frozen Artwork: Create winter art with glue and watercolors, then hold a gallery walk.
- Decoding Winter Primary Sources: Analyze photos and diary entries of famous winter events to determine what happened and who recorded it.
Winter Ice STEM Challenge | Characteristics of Physical Science Activities | Grades 4 5
Kimberly Scott Science
Grade: 4th-6th grade
Standard: CCSSW.5.3c; CCRA.W.1, W.4.3c
Explore one of the defining elements of winter through practical projects. Students explore how water freezes and melts, how salt affects the freezing point, and use the scientific method to guide observations.
Winter Vocabulary Picture Display – Adult ESL Seasonal Vocabulary
Rick Neville
Grade: Grade 10-12
Help your students better understand winter-related terms with this digital presentation of 30 essential winter vocabulary words.
winter math
by lanfaro
Grade: Pre-kindergarten to first grade
Bring winter fun to your math class! Students in pre-K through first grade can count snowmen, use winter objects for addition and subtraction, and practice skip counting with snowballs.
Winter ELA Packet ESL ELLs Poetry Acrostic Cinquain Shape Haiku Poetry Template
by promoting success
Grade: 4th-6th grade
Get students excited about the fun of winter by having them write poems about all the winter sports they can play. They will explore and become champions of seven types of poetry writing through this resource: acrostic, haiku, cinquain, shape, diamond, I hope, and limerick.
Connecting Interdisciplinary Winter Learning
Integrate history, math, ELA, and science to make your lessons shine like falling snowflakes.
- Investigate Arctic tribes: Study the indigenous tribes living in the Arctic and the adaptations they relied on to survive.
- Writing a winter news story: Take on the role of a reporter and cover historical winter events, such as the Blizzard of 1888.
- Write a snow story about strength: Create short stories about Black History Month characters who persevered through the winter, such as Harriet Tubman’s journey on the Underground Railroad.
- Calculate snow savings: Determine your household budget to manage higher winter expenses.
- Create a snowflake circuit: Design a snowflake circuit using paper snowflakes, LED lights, and copper wire.
- Winter Weather Draft: Use descriptive language to create an imaginary winter storm, including scientific terms.
- Create a winter adventure map: Write a short story and design an imaginary map with basic directions, distances, and topography.
- Developing the Winter Mystery Box: Group into groups and fill a box with winter items. Students hypothesize its content and write a short story about it.
Hibernating Winter Animals Mini Book {Hibernation, Animals, Winter}
planning a garden
Grade: Pre-kindergarten to second grade
Standard: CCSSL.K.1a, K.1b, K.2d
Add this fun winter activity to your science lessons about animal winter behavior. Students can use it as a number matching and coloring activity or as a physical mini booklet to learn the scientific concepts of hibernation, adaptation, and migration.
Winter Speech Therapy WH Questions Extended Sentences Speech Therapy Activities
Speech and literacy by language
Grade: Pre-kindergarten to second grade
This print-free digital speech therapy activity helps students practice extending sentences. There are 21 winter-themed scenes that teach pronouns, verbs, “wh” questions, basic concepts, and simple sentences. Ideal for non-readers, teletherapy, mixed groups, and students using augmentative or alternative communication.
Vamos a escribir en invierno – Winter Writing Center – Spanish and English
Hilda Escamilla
Grade: K-5
Let elementary school students draw pictures and write stories in Spanish or English to celebrate winter. With a variety of character and background templates to color and choose from, students will have plenty of inspiration to get started.
Second Grade Common Core: Winter Themed Math and ELA Packets 100% Aligned
247 teacher
Grade: 1-3
Standard: CCSS2.MD.B.5, 2.MD.C.7, 2.MD.C.8
Develop primary school children’s math and language skills with this comprehensive winter-themed pack. It’s filled with fun yet rigorous activities aligned with CCSS that can be assigned all at once or spread out throughout the winter.
Winter Evaluate Expression with One Variable and Exponent Math Color via Code
misty miller
Grade: Grade 5-7
Standard: CCSS6.EE.A.1, 6.EE.A.2, 6.EE.A.2c
Add some color to your algebra homework with this fun winter math activity. Students solve the problem with a variable and exponent, then use their answers to color the skis.
Solve a system of equations
Author: Tammy Akins Dickens
Grade: Grade 8-10
Standard: CCSS8.EE.C.8; HSA-REI.C.6
Math can feel like a riddle, and in this activity, it certainly is! Students solve algebraic equations, match answers to letters, and fill in the characters to reveal the answer to “How do you scare a snowman?”
Explore winter outdoor activities
No winter activity for kids would be complete without snow—and maybe a prairie dog. Take students outside to build a snowman in January or explore Groundhog Day activities in February. Add some math and science with fun winter outdoor experiments.
- Observing and experimenting with snow: Compare the melting rates in sunlight and shade, then plot the results.
- Follow animal tracks: Photograph and map the tracks to study which animals created them.
- Enjoy the Winter Scavenger Hunt: Look for wild animals around the school and sort them by shape, texture and colour.
- Drawing in the snow: Use watercolors to create pictures on snow.
- Explore wind patterns: Build a simple weather vane out of a cup and straw, test direction and chart data to connect to weather trends.
- Create Winter Freelance Writing: Sit in the snow and write nature freely with your senses.
- Build a scientific snowman: Use geometric principles to construct a snowman with consistent proportions.
- Designing ice sculptures: Use snow and ice to create sculptures.
Light up learning with global winter holidays
The winter holidays aren’t just about Christmas and New Year’s. Random Acts of Kindness Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day also ranked high. Create a Martin Luther King Day event about fairness and friendship, or a loving Valentine’s Day card paired with ice science. These activities keep students’ brains warm in the cold.
- Explore winter festivities: Assign groups to regions to research winter holidays around the world, such as how to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Students can then demonstrate what they have learned.
- Making the “I Have a Dream” Quilt: Have each student create a quilt square that shows how they can create a kinder world and keep the classroom warm.
- Write a love letter to the earth: Make connections to science with these Valentine’s Day printables and have students write a love letter to the Earth, thanking it for all it has to offer.
- Slide into Zodiac Storytelling: Students research their zodiac animal and write a fun short story that includes its characteristics.
- Have a secret snowflake exchange: Students draw names on small snowflakes and perform anonymous acts of kindness.
- Light up winter with freedom: Celebrate National Freedom Day by creating the Freedom Wall, which teaches students what it means to be free.
- make a snowball: Make your Pi Day activity more active by having students measure the base of a circle and use the circumference to determine the size of a globe.
- Design a warm winter story picnic: Host a picnic on the classroom floor and have students read winter stories to each other to celebrate National Read Aloud Day.
- Towards Frozen First: Research the people who made winter discoveries during Women’s History Month and create an infographic highlighting their impact.
Celebrate the season with simple, classic winter activities for kids
From sledding to exploring the science of ice and snow, these ideas keep students engaged and learning while celebrating the magic of winter year after year.
- paper snowflakes
- winter escape room
- Cotton ball snowman art
- snowflake symmetry art
- Winter Bingo
- Hot cocoa cooking
- winter glove design
- Winter postcard design
- Winter themed math puzzles
- Winter Storytelling Circle
- Winter Writing Prompts
- Snow-themed sensory bin
- Winter themed puzzles
Attend TPT Kids’ Winter Activities
Bring the magic of winter into your classroom with TPT’s winter resources! Whether building snowflake structures, exploring holiday-themed math, or crafting icy masterpieces, these ready-made activities make teaching festive and stress-free. Discover Classroom’s winter resources that give you everything you need to make winter learning fun and festive with minimal preparation.
