Winter Activity Ideas

The ideas below are adapted from the article 8 Must-Try Winter independent study Ideas.

1. Teach about winter weather. Take time to learn about the different types of snow and ice weather, as well as why temperatures turn colder during winter. Here’s a great explanation of why we have seasons, including winter.
2. Teach about emergency preparedness. Teach a lesson on how to make sure your home is ready for colder weather and why it’s important.
3. Learn how and why snow melts. Snow is magic! It’s a cold solid that turns into water! This is the perfect way to teach about solids and liquids! You could even have them bring snow indoors to the sink and watch what happens when it melts. Our Superhero States of Matter science lesson offers a way to teach this concept, even if you don’t have snow outside!
4. Get creative and build a snow castle or artistic snowman. Need a winter art lesson? By making a snow castle or artistic snowman, they’ll be learning art! Don’t have snow in your area? Make our pinecone snowman craft instead!
5. Make winter themed slime. Make a winter themed slime that includes fake snowflakes and teach your kids about the chemical reaction that makes the slime feel slimy. To make wintery slime, change DIY Flubber recipe by skipping the food coloring and adding silver glitter!
6. Have a winter themed scavenger hunt. Bundle the kids up and send them outside with a list of things to find for a winter scavenger hunt. Be sure to include things such as pine cones, a tree branch without leaves, and other things that are common in winter. Once they have found them all, have a discussion about how each item is different in winter and summer and what causes those changes.
7. Have a science lesson on how cold affects the human body. Most kids know they have to bundle up to go outside, but do they know why? Having a winter lesson about what cold weather can do to the body is the perfect way to teach them! Here’s a great informative resource on the topic.
8. Make paper snowflakes. Snowflakes are amazing little things and your kids will love learning about them! Use the Snowflake Math Factor craft and let kids cut out and decorate each snowflake before solving the math factor problems on each one. Be sure to hang them on the windows afterward!