The winter season brings colder weather, warm layers, and lots of learning opportunities for your preschool class. While the weather outside might be frightful, the months of December through February offer plenty of inspiration for engaging winter activities for preschoolers.
Seasonal themes and activities can help promote children’s sensory, fine motor, and language development. Read on for festive winter activity ideas that are sure to fill those long winter days with learning and fun!Winter themes for your childcare program
Incorporating themes in your lesson planning is a great way to bring more fun and interaction into your classroom. With themes, you can organize lessons around one central topic, encouraging children to make connections and think critically.
As you create your preschool lesson plans, integrate simple, engaging activities using everyday materials that explore the winter theme.
Winter clothes theme
This theme centers around different pieces of winter clothes and the proper way to wear them. Introduce this concept by having children paint or color items like boots, mittens, ear muffs, or scarves on a single sheet of paper. Collect all the drawings, and have the children identify each of them. Ask them questions like, “Emily’s hands are cold. What does she need to keep them warm?”
Holiday traditions theme
This is an excellent activity to partner with families in the learning experience and expose your children to new holiday traditions. Have the children tell the class about their family holiday traditions—food, gifts, books, songs, and celebrations. Ask them to bring at least one element of their tradition to show or share with the class.
Gingerbread theme
For this theme, you can incorporate plenty of art activities that will help children practice their fine motor skills. Have children practice their pencil grip and color gingerbread printouts or use finger paint or sponges to paint a gingerbread figure on an easel. For a table activity, you can have a gingerbread picture puzzle they can put together. The children can also squeeze play dough into gingerbread-shaped cookie cutters to make little figures.
Snowflake theme
This December preschool theme can help you teach about different types of weather in the colder months. For an art activity, have the children paint snowflake crafts with shimmery liquid watercolors and stick them on a large piece of paper for a wall display.
For a sensory bin activity, add dyed blue and white rice, snowflake shapes, and scoops to a container for the children to play with. You can also challenge children to cut out snowflake shapes from pieces of paper to practice fine motor and scissor-cutting skills.
Winter animals theme
While some animals hibernate during winter, others are out and about. Plan activities around both. Consider a puppet show for circle time where the puppet is a winter animal, like a squirrel or beaver. Introduce the animal to the children and have a short conversation with it before reading a winter animal story like When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan. For a dramatic play activity, set up a pretend bear cave with a big stuffed bear inside. Read the book Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson to teach about the concept of hibernation.
Reindeer theme
Preschoolers will enjoy learning about these fascinating animals during the winter months. During this theme, you can teach your children where reindeer live, when, where, and why they migrate, what they eat, and why they are called reindeer. You can then have your class color pictures of reindeer and create antler headbands.
Arctic theme
Even though winter may only last a few months in your area, you can teach your class about places where winter weather can last all year. During an Arctic theme, you can teach your children where these extreme locations are in the world and about the animals and people who live there. Then, you can plan activities that will help your preschoolers learn more about the locations, like looking at a globe, drawing pictures of polar bears and penguins, and making paper plate walruses and snow owl paintings.
Chinese New Year theme
Chinese New Year is celebrated by millions of people around the world, and incorporating it into your classroom as a theme can be a fun way for all of your preschoolers to celebrate. Not only will it make children who celebrate it feel included, but it will also introduce the holiday and its customs to children who don’t celebrate it. During this theme, you can read books about the holiday to your class and hand out empty red envelopes to your preschoolers and encourage them to add small pictures and tokens to them and hand them out to their friends.
Holiday songs theme
Because the winter months are filled with holidays, it could be fun to focus on all of the songs associated with them. Music is a great learning tool, so this can be the perfect opportunity to help children learn about holidays they don’t celebrate. During this theme, you can introduce a song every day and encourage the children to draw scenes from them. Then, you can hang the drawings up in your classroom as a fun daily collage.
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Holiday activities for preschoolers
The holiday season can be a great source of inspiration for your December preschool themes. Get your class in the festive spirit with these creative activities:
Make a snow globe
Have your preschoolers build their own winter wonderland as a decoration or gift. This activity sparks creativity and develops fine motor skills. It also reinforces executive functioning skills, as children practice following instructions through listening or reading, planning ahead, organizing their materials, and using their working memory.
For a simple snow globe, you will need a glass jar with a lid (a great recycle project), water, a plastic figurine or object (snowman or any landmark), glue, and glitter.
Build a marshmallow snowman
This marshmallow snowman activity supports children’s fine motor skill development. You’ll need paper, mini marshmallows, a marker, and pretzel sticks. First, draw three circles on the paper to outline the snowman. Place glue along the circles' edges and have the children place the marshmallows on top of the glue. You can also use cotton balls in place of marshmallows. Next, glue on the pretzel arms and draw in eyes, a nose, and buttons.
Play with a winter-themed dice
On a large, dry-erase dice, write actions like “prance like a reindeer” or “swirl like a snowflake.” Have each child toss the dice and perform the action.
Create handprint mittens
This craft makes an excellent gift for families. Have children cover their hands in paint, press them onto colored paper, and cut them out in a mitten shape once dry. Then let them glue pom poms to the cuffs and a string to hold them together.Read books about holiday traditions
Reading books enhances language skills and increases attention spans. Read books that celebrate diverse holidays to teach your class about different cultures.
Make gingerbread ornaments
This activity helps preschoolers develop their fine motor skills and attention spans. Decorate pre-made or cardboard gingerbread figures with buttons, googly eyes, and ribbon.
Easily organize winter events and volunteers
Planning winter celebrations, holiday potlucks, or looking for volunteers for these fun activities? Coordinating with families can be time-consuming. With brightwheel’s Sign-Ups feature, you can simplify event organization and save hours of administrative work.
Create and share digital sign-up sheets for conferences, volunteer events, or classroom supply lists in just a few minutes. Families can RSVP directly from their mobile devices, and you can track responses in real-time from one central dashboard. Eliminate back-and-forth emails and messy paper sign-ups so you can focus more on creating memorable winter experiences with your children.
January activities for preschoolers
New year activities for preschool are fun and educational. Start the year on a joyful note with these exciting activities:
Make confetti
Let children use one-hole punchers on papers of different colors. The squeezing action helps strengthen their finger muscles. Use the punched-out shapes to decorate a banner for the classroom, or have the children sort them by color or shape and then throw them in the air.
Create a snow window
This snow window activity is excellent for children’s creative and motor skills development. First, tape contact paper to a window, sticky side out. Let children stick cotton balls, Q-tips, and cotton pads to the paper to create a winter scene.
Go on a snowflake scavenger hunt
Hide paper snowflakes or manipulatives around the room for the children to find. Make this activity more interesting by reading a letter from “Mr. Snowman” saying he’s lost a certain number of snowflakes and needs help finding them. Include a picture of a snowflake in the letter so they know what they’re looking for. Once they think they’ve found them all, count them together to ensure they’re all there.
Celebrate diversity and equality on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Teach your class about the principles of human rights and equality by reading age-appropriate books and creating a banner with multi-colored handprints to symbolize diversity and unity.
Book recommendations include Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport, Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr? by Lisbeth Kaiser, and Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Kid’s Book About Advancing Civil Rights with Nonviolence by Mary Nhin.
Taste hot cocoa
This sensory activity engages children’s taste buds. You can also discuss science concepts like why the chocolate mix dissolves in water and why marshmallows float.
February activities for preschoolers
The month of February is still a great time to incorporate snow activities for preschoolers and other educational lessons inspired by the second month of the year. Try these winter activity ideas to keep your class engaged:
Use a Valentine's Day-themed sensory bin
Create a sensory bin with dyed rice, red paper confetti, heart-shaped boxes, and scoops to promote sensory development and fine motor skills.
Try a melting snow experiment
Snow activities for preschoolers aren’t limited to the outdoors. For this science experiment, bring snow inside and place it on two plates. Sprinkle salt over one heap and ask the children to observe which one melts faster. You can also use a magnifying glass to closely examine the ice crystals melting.
Celebrate President’s Day during circle time
During circle time, ask the children who the president is and briefly explain the president’s duties. Show them pictures of current and past presidents and the White House.
Have a Black History Month storytime
Black History Month is officially observed in the United States in February and is a time to recognize and celebrate Black people’s achievements and contributions throughout history. While there are many Black History Month activities you can incorporate in your classroom, books are one great way to introduce this topic to preschoolers:
- Dream Big, Little One by Vashti Harrison
- Young, Gifted and Black: With A Mirror! by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins
- Follow Your Dreams, Little One by Vashti Harrison
- I Look Up To… Michelle Obama by Anna Membrino and Fatti Burke
Sort candy hearts
This activity helps children learn about color patterning and facilitates cognitive development. Have children sort and match candy hearts to corresponding colored paper.
Outdoor winter activities for preschoolers
Contrary to popular belief, children need to play outside during winter. Playing outdoors is excellent for getting fresh air, vitamin D, and exercise as long as they're dressed up nice and warm. As you plan your curriculum for the winter months, consider including active and educational outdoor activities for your preschoolers.
Build a snowman
If it snows in your area, this classic outdoor winter activity is a must-do. You’ll need a scarf, hat, branches, carrot, and buttons. Help the children roll and assemble the snowballs and decorate the snowman. Choose a shady area to keep the snowman from melting quickly. You can even go beyond building a snowman and encourage children to make other creations like a castle or an animal. Let them use natural accessories around them, like leaves to decorate.
Try a water-to-ice experiment
Turning water into ice outdoors in winter makes for an exciting science experiment. Fill different sized containers with water at different levels. Challenge the children to observe which freezes faster and which takes the longest. Ask them why they think that is so. Make the activity enjoyable by putting drops of food coloring in the containers before freezing. When it freezes, pop out the colored blocks onto the snow for the children to build something.
Go on a scavenger hunt
For this fun outdoor activity, organize children into small groups and create a list of items for them to find, for example, sticks, rocks, pinecones, and leaves. Give them a container to collect as many items as they can. Add descriptors like “something smooth,” “something hard,” or “something brown” to build their observation, categorization, and sensory skills.
Blow bubbles
Blowing bubbles isn’t just a summer activity. The only difference is that during summer, the bubbles pop when they touch a surface, while in winter, they crystallize, forming a paper-thin bubble shell. Watch the children’s amazement at this discovery. Note that this activity works best when temperatures fall below freezing and if the bubble solution is cold beforehand.
Make a simple bird feeder
Use this fun activity to teach the children about the bird species and other wildlife that stick around during winter. Have the children mix nut butter with corn meal, then coat an empty tissue paper roll with the mixture or spread it into a pinecone. Let them roll the paper roll or pinecone in birdseed until fully covered. Tie a string around the pinecone or thread yarn through the paper roll and tie the ends. Hang the bird feeder in a tree and wait for the birds. Have the children describe the birds they see visiting.
A fun-filled and educational winter
The winter season is the perfect opportunity to use seasonal themes to teach your class new concepts and practice their skills. With a little bit of inspiration and preparation, you can keep your children busy learning and having fun all season long.
