Winter Lesson Ideas |
Trace umbrella shapes for children to cut or prepare pre-cut umbrella shapes. Have children paint them and when they are dry glue on silver sequins to represent raintdrops. Help the child to tape a pipe-cleaner to the back of the umbrella and bend it to make a handle |
Umbrellas |
Raindrops Trace around raindrop shapes on blue card and have child cut around two. Cut out the middle of the raindrop (adult to do this) . Provide silver or blue cellophane raindrop shapes (pre-cut by an adult before activity). Children glue one of these pre-cut shapes onto one of the raindrops they have cut from the card. An adult needs to then staple the other raindrop that the child has cut over this so that the two raindrops are joined together with silver or blue cellophane in the middle. The raindrops with blue cellophane in the middle look very effective in the sunlight. |
Clouds and rainbows. Provide pre cut cloud shapes for the children to paint with black and grey paint to make storm clouds. We also allowed the children to glue on cotton wool balls as some children wanted to make their clouds look fluffy. The rainbows were photocopied colour in sheets. We talked to the children about the colours of the rainbow and provided a rainbow to look at while colouring so they could try to get the order of the rainbow colours right. We then allowed the children to cut around their rainbow if they wished to do so. |
Rainbow We talked about how rainbows are made by sunlight shining through water droplets. We talked about the seven colours of the rainbow and then we cut out a large rainbow shape from thick card and divided it into seven strips for the colours. As a small group activity, children had turns painting the colours of the rainbow and when it was dry, they glued scrunched up pieces of crepe paper onto it. |
Winter Board Here's a sample of winter boards we have done. We pinned the figure onto the board and some of the items that the children had made such as clouds, raindrops and rainbows. We cut coloured strips of cellophane to make a rainbow and clear strips of cellophane to make rain. This would also look very effective against a light blue or grey background |
Small Rainbows We photocopied small rainbow templates (the same ones we used for the rainbow colouring in activity) and glued them onto card. We provided crepe paper matching the colours of the rainbow. The adults scrunched crepe paper into balls prior to the activity and we talked about the order of the colours of the rainbow with the children so that they were able to glue the crepe paper in an organised way. This was quite a time-consuming task for the children but I found that they enjoyed the challenge of collaging using scrunched paper and they were really impressed with how their artwork turned out. NB Start preparing the crepe paper a couple weeks ahead of doing the activity as you will need LOTS AND LOTS of balls. You could maybe put out crepe paper squares and containers and encourage the children to start preparing the balls during their free time. |
Little Umbrellas Prepare templates to make cone shapes on coloured card. Cut these out or have children cut them. Children then decorate using paints and glitter paints. When the template is dry, assist the children to fold it into a cone and secure it with tape, ensuring a small hole is left at the point of the cone. Through this small hole, thread a pipe cleaner and bend it at the bottom to create the umbrella handle shape. To secure the handle leave a little bit of pipe cleaner sticking through the point, bend this over and tape it against the side of the umbrella. The children will be able to help do all these steps. This is a good activity to reinforce the learning of different shapes such as cones. |
Developing Drawing Skills To help children learn about shapes and develop their drawing skills I teach them specific concepts such as drawing umbrellas and snowmen, and we talk about the shapes we need to use to draw these things eg. for the umbrella we talked about using arch shapes and "J" lines. |
Snowman I have spent the last 7 years in Canada where snow is a common experience. So snowmen are a must. These snowmen were traced on cardstock. This activity was done with older children who cut them out. Twigs (for arms) and scarves and hats were cut from felt for the children to choose from and glue onto their snowman. The children were able to somewhat cut noses, eyes and mouths from the felt themselves as they were older (gr 1-3) but these could be pre cut for little ones. |
Snowman Display Board The snowman were then put together to make a winter themed board. A snow hill was cut out and "washed" over with blue/grey watercolor paint. Batting (aka wadding) was glued over the top of the hill to give a 3D snowy effect. The large snowflakes were purchased from a dollar store (Dollarama in this case). As I am in Canada, these were very easy to find at Christmas. To give a bit of sparkle, lights and silver garland were also purchased from the dollar store and strung around the edge. The sign at the top of the board says "I Love Snow" and was also a Dollarama purchase. |
I Love Snow Display Board Another year, I was a bit stuck for ideas for an interesting winter board. I had thought about cutting out pictures of children enjoying snow but then I had the brilliant idea of taking photos of my grade 1-3 students posing in the snow outside in various fun poses. If you can do the photos outside with real props such as snowballs, snow shovels and snow boards, this will make the most effective pics for your your board. These photos were then enlarged on my computer and printed out (8 x 11 or A4 size). It was then simply a matter of cutting them out and putting them on the board! They were very impressed by this (as were their parents)! |
No winter classroom is complete without snowflakes! These snowflakes were designed by older children who were able to do the cutting on their own. Many of the snowflakes were cut from templates. Perhaps its a "buddy" activity that could be done with an older class, or maybe even an activity that parents could come in and help with. Either way its a lot of fun to have snowflakes hanging from the ceiling so that its "snowing inside" . Thanks to the grade 4's at MMS for this pic. |
My class is a little younger (gr 1-3) so I cheated by hanging these beaturiful silver snowflakes that a parent donated to our class. |
Filter Snow Flakes Young students (preschool/kindy etc) can safely handle making these coffee filter snowflakes. Simply show the students how to fold, cut shapes, and then unfold their snowflake. Glitter paint can be brushed on or glitter can be sprinkled on over glue for a sparkly effect. Thanks to Janis and Kristy at MMS for this idea. |
This page was last updated on: April 18, 2009
Frosted Branches This is a pretty whole group activity called "Frosted Branches". Step one is to prepare big strips of aluminium foil. Have the children help you twist the foil into branch and twig shapes (older children can do this on their own). Intertwine and join the branches by twisting them around each other. Some extra foil might need to be added at joint spots for support. As branches are made, begin pinning them onto your bulletin board using long straight pins. Be creative with design and allow it to look 3D. Once all the branches are up, cut leaf shapes out of tissue (we used white, light blue and silver). As the leaves are cut out, brush them lightly with glitter paints (we used silver, gold, blue and fairy crystal). When the leaves are dry, allow the students to take turns standing on a step ladder to glue the leaves into place on the branches. This is a very effective looking wall sculpture! |
Other Ideas.... "Snow Art" - Fill small spray bottles with colored water. Take your students outside and have them spray colored desgins on the snow. Their designs will be frozen in place over winter. Another alternative is to freeze many trays of colored ice cubes which can then be taken outside to make an ice cube sculpture which will also be frozen in place! "Everyone is Unique" - This is a nice idea for a bulletin board, especially for a parent evening. Have each of the children design a snowflake and decorate it as they wish. Then take photos of each of the children's faces. Cut out their face and glue it into the centre of the snowflake. Arrange the snowflakes in an interesting display on your bulletin board. Just like snowflakes, every student is unique! |
Paper Plate Snow Scenes These winter scenes were made on paper plates. Paint a paper plate blue. The next step is to make the background. Use scrunched tissue pieces for the grass. Next design and glue on a tree (younger children can try to make their own or use a precut tree). Next use cotton balls to create a snowman and snow on the ground. Have pieces of felt for hats and scarves. Lastly, cut icicle shapes from foil or silver paper and glue on trees or in the background. Some of my students also chose to use the end of a paint brush to carefully dot white snowflakes in the background as well. |
Ice Skates These were precut iceskate shapes that my students painted with any design of their choice. We placed them on a bulletin board that was covered with shiny white card to look like an ice rink. The skates were put on the board in interesting ways to look as though they were "moving" |
My students really enjoy painting on small canvases. Here in Canada, I am able to find small canvases very cheaply at Dollarama. I also have a small class so its a project I can do easily. Here are some winter scenes painted on small canvases using acrylic paints. When they are dry, the students trace around the picture with black permanent marker to help the pictures to stand out. These were put on display in the main hall of the school. |
Portfolio Activity |
Teacher's Note- The beginning of this page reflects ideas for an Australian winter where there is lots of rain but no snow. Some of these ideas are also great for the North American spring season. For snow ideas, keep scrolling down! |
A winter tree. We change this tree every season. The snowflakes were cut from templates we found on the web. Batting (aka wadding) has been used to create the snow. |
Miss G's Aussie Kindergarten |
