Winter Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten
Are you beginning to plan some upcoming, wintery-fun for your preschooler or kindergartener? If so, here are a few great, winter actvitiy ideas to get you started!
Goals for winter activities
Before we begin, lets decide what our goals are for planning these activities. Here are a few of my educational objectives:
- Identify seasonal characteristics and weather of winter
- Differentiate winter from the other seasons
- Build preschool and kindergarten skills through winter-themed music, crafts, activities, math, language, and imaginative play.
Do your kids know their seasons?
The best way to teach kids about their seasons is to take them outside and explore! For winter, let them observe the bare trees and the chilly temperatures. Let them hear the crunch of the icy ground as they walk around and smell the air for wood-burning fireplaces throughout their neighborhood.
Let them play in the snow, then come inside and warm up with a hot cup of cocoa. As you warm up, read some books about winter, do a craft, or practicing counting using winter-related items.
The more kids get to experience (outdoors and indoors) , the more they will associate new feelings and characteristics with the winter season.
Outdoor Winter Activities for Preschoolers
- Go on a nature walk
- Play in the snow
- Start a collection (rocks, sticks, etc)
- Practicing Sorting using outdoor findings (nature sorting mats)
- Go bird watching
- Go Sledding
Picture books about winter
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- Sleep tight Farm by Eugenie Doyle
- The Big Snow by Berta & Elmer Hader
- Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter by Kenard Pack
- Winter on the Farm by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett
- The Mitten by Jan Brett
- Quiet Bunny and Noisy Puppy by Lisa McCue
- Winter Story by Jill Barklem
- Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
- Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
What is Winter Poem for Winter Unit
I always like to add a memory piece to our units. Here is our Winter poem download if you would like to add a printed copy to your unit as well.
Toy and prop ideas for Winter unit
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- Arctic Animal stamps
- Penguin Figurines
- Plastic white snowflakes
- Seasonal wall tree
- Toy kitchen
- Woodland animals
Winter-themed music and videos
- How Do You Know Its Winter? (Book read aloud)
- Animals with Animal Coats (Video)
- Snowflakes Song (Music Video)
- Winter at the North Pole (Video)
- Season Vocabulary Song (Music Video)
Winter crafts for preschoolers
- Coffee Filter Snowflakes
- Fork Painted Polar Bear
- Easy Icicle Winter Craft
- Craft Foam Hot Chocolate Mug
- Four Seasons Tree Craft (Tree painting part)
Winter activities for preschool and kindergarten
- Sensory Table (woodland animals in faux snow)
- Make Hot Chocolate together
- Play in the Snow
- Take a nature walk and observe the seasonal changes
- Snowstorm in a jar experiment
- Printable Winter I spy game
Winter Math Activities for Kindergarten and Preschool
- Winter Busy Book (counting)
- Counting Snowflakes Emergent Reader
- Winter Math Activity Pages
- Snowman Shape Puzzles (Free Printable)
- STEM Mitten Match up (Free Printable)
- Watercolor Winter counting clip cards
Winter Literacy and Handwriting
- Name-Building Snowman
- Snowflake Alphabet Clip Cards
- Winter Literacy Activity Pages
- Winter Prewriting Notebook
- Practice shaping letters in faux snow tray
- January Preschool Activity Binder
Winter Emergent Readers
Dramatic play ideas for preschool winter unit
- Weather reporting station
- Iceskating rink
- Gingerbread man baking center
- Pretend play hot chocolate stand
Printable Winter-Themed Unit Builder
For my homeschool moms and teacher friends, I’ve put together all these ideas into a printable resource. This unit builder includes everything in this post and also leaves room for you to add material lists and notes.
Whether you are creating a winter-themed lesson plan for preschool or kindergarten or just thinking of adding some activities into your winter homeschool preschool unit later this year, this is a great printable preschool resource to reference with a lot of ideas to choose from!
Download Winter Unit Study Plan
This printable is part of the Inspire the Mom free resource library. If you are already a member, hop on over to the free resource page. If not, fill out the quick form below and join for access to this freebie as well as other great content.
What are some of your favorite Winter activities for preschool and kindergarten?
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