1-2-3 Come Do Some More Snowman Activities With Me
Whenever I toss in a bit of craftiness to our learning, I grab my kiddos' attention and they can't wait to get down to business. It's an absolute joy to see them so happily engaged.
The little bit of extra prep time is well worth the effort, as everyone is focused and on task, with no wasted time with discipline problems or re-explaining things to students who were not listening.
Plus, completed projects make wonderful bulletin boards and hallway displays, which promote pride in their work and increased self-esteem.
With this in mind, I designed a variety of snowman-themed activities, that practice a variety of standards.
"The Snowman's Nose" is a quick, easy and fun way to practice: upper & lowercase letters, numbers to up to 20 or backwards from 31, plus skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s, and can also be a way to whole-group assess.
There are 8 different snowman heads to choose from. Simply choose which one is appropriate for your kiddos.
"Snowy's Nose" by Kelly Asbury, is a sweet book to read before or after this craft.
Another way to practice upper and lowercase letters, counting forwards and backwards, as well as skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s, is with Pete the Puzzling Snowman.
Print, color, laminate and trim a set, keeping each puzzle in its own Baggie, and use them for an independent center activity, or do as a whole-group craftivity.
Children can color my snowman face, or they can draw one of their own, on the blank pattern.
After children cut up their puzzle template, they arrange the pieces on a blue sheet of construction paper, leaving a little gap in-between each strip, creating a cool mosaic effect.
For more alphabet practice, try my Dollar Deal Alphabet Wheels, which build the vocabulary needed to give an example of a word, with that beginning sound.
They feature 6 nouns that begin with that letter, and come in black and white, for individual word work, as well as color, so that you can use them as an independent center activity.
I've also included a worksheet where students trace & write the words in alphabetical order.
We revisit the letter Ss in January, with the Ss is for Snowman alphabet wheel.
To practice 2D shapes, make a set of "Shapely Snowmen".
Look closely at the photo, and you'll see that the snowman's facial features match the 2D shape of his head.
I put a sprig of holly on my hats, but a paper punched snowflake would also look cute.
Use them as giant flashcards, (Hold one up. Children call out what shape it is, along with its attributes, like the number of vertices), use them as a 2D bulletin board display, independent math center, or do as a craftivity, and have students make one of their own.
You can also play a variety of games with them. I've included directions in the packet.
My kiddos absolutely LOVE playing "4 Corner Freeze" .
It's easy-peasy for me, and only takes a few minutes, so it’s perfect for the end of the day, or when you want to give your students a brain break or get the wiggles out.
Finally, if your kiddos need some review with color and color words, the Colorful Snowman Games packet is an interesting and fun way to practice.
Students can play the color-matching game as an independent center, or choose a partner and play a spinner game.
Make an extra set and glue the puzzle hat and scarf pieces to the appropriate snowman and use them for your winter word wall, or a bulletin board display.
I’ve also included a plain set, for students to draw in their own snowman face, if you want to do this as a whole-group craftivity, where each child makes their favorite color snowman. The packet also includes a “Colors on a Roll” dice game.
The other snowman color activity is Snowman Colors, which features an emergent reader that covers lots of standards, as students read the repetitive sentences, circle capital letters, add end punctuation, trace and write the words, and color the pictures. Days of the week + color words are also reinforced.
The packet includes 3 graphing extensions, a game, bookmark and a worksheet, plus a cute snowman craftivity, where the “scarf” is a little flip booklet, featuring color words.
The featured FREEBIE today is a set of "I Spy" snowface worksheet games, which help reinforce upper and lowercase letters + numbers from 1-20.
I did "I Spy" daily, as a fun way for my Y5's to practice, as well as a quick and easy way for me to whole-group assess.
Well that's it for today. Hope you found something here that tickled your fancy. The sun is shining outside my office window and making the snow sparkle.
As Mr. Rogers used to say: "It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood." Wishing you a carefree day filled with Brrrrr-illiance!
"Some people are so much sunshine to the square inch." -Walt Whitman
