Winter

Crafts

• Winter diarama's: provide cotton, tinfoil (for skating rinks/snowflakes) paper, etc. for children to make a winter scene in a shoebox; pipecleaner or clay people can be made to add to the scene.
• Birdfeeders: roll pinecones in peanut butter or suet then in birdseed, add a string and hang outdoors for the winter birds.
• Animal tracks: cut different tracks from a 1/2 potato or sponge and stamp onto paper.
• Winter mural: provide collage materials to make a winter scene.
• Mitten lacing: cut 4 mittens from coloured paper, use a hole punch to go around the outside, have children lace the pairs of mittens together and then decorate
• Pinecone skier: glue a pinecone to two popsicle sticks - one placed slightly ahead of the other (this will be the body of your skier on his skis),Glue an acorn for the head, add a felt hat and a pompom on top if you wish, cut a pipecleaner in half and attach one end to the body of your skier and the other end, make circles for the hands and attach the toothpicks for the skipoles. (Thank-you Ruth S. for this neat craft!).
• Ice Pictures: Place water in a metal pie tin and put outdoors to partially freeze. Cut a picture from old cards or magazines. Place the picture on the partially frozen water and add a string in a loop. Press these to stick to the ice. Fill container with water. Check to make sure that the picture and loop remain in the middle. Freeze completely. Pop out of container and hang from tree.

Science

• Thermometer experiments: place in warm, cold and ice water, record results.
• Animal tracks: go for a winter walk and identify any tracks you find in the snow.

Block Area

• Add slopes of white paper for snow covered mountains.

Dramatic Play

• Add winter clothing for dressing up.

Circle Time

• Mitten Song
• Red Nose Poem
• Sing a Song of Winter

• The Hockey Sweater
• The Mitten
• Curious George Goes Sledding
• Winter Fun

• Mitten match-up

Water & Sand Play

• Add ice cubes to the water table.
• Fill the water table with snow and provide mittens for snow play. Children can use eye droppers and food colouring to colour the snow and/or shovels and pails to build snow castles.

Outdoor Play

• Go toboganning.

Field Trips / Special Days

• Go skating.
• Have a Winter Olympics.

Songs

Mitten Song

Thumb's in the thumb hole
Fingers all together
This is the song we sing
In Mitten weather
It doesn't matter
If they're made of wool or leather
Thumb's in the thumb hole
And fingers go together!

Red Nose

Where did you get that little red nose?
Jack Frost kissed it I suppose.
He kissed it once.
He kissed it twice.
Poor little nose as cold as ice.

Sing A Song of Winter

Sing a song of winter, frost is in the air
Sing a song of winter, snowflakes everywhere
Sing a song of winter hear the sleigh bells chime
Can you think of anything as nice as wintertime?

Printables

Mitten Colours Matching Game
Mitten Patterning
Winter Birds Patterning Strips

Related Sites

• My Snow theme page.
• Visit my Snowmen related feltboard page to print off patterns for Button Snowmen, 5 Little Snowmen,and A Chubby Little Snowman
• Perpetual Preschool - Winter
• Perpetual Preschool - Winter Animals