We love snowmen, and these frosty friends will make great companions to your winter curriculum because they’re versatile AND adorable.
While many of you may not live in the arctic tundra, it’s still fun to incorporate snowman activities into your January plans.
This year, these snowman ideas will bring endless, chilly joy and learning to your classroom.
Snowman Crafts
These Popsicle Stick Snowmen are a simple craft that students can create using basic supplies from around your classroom. I’d even recommend making a visual recipe for students to follow to work on independence with this craft. And when they’re done, students can put on a wintery puppet show or re-enact their favorite snowman song or book. For some of our favorite winter books, click here.
Hello, fine motor skills! While we love crafts because they naturally foster fine motor skills, this Marshmallow Snowman Craft takes the snow cake. Students will put their fingers to work! They’ll draw different-sized circles, and then cover them with marshmallows for an adorable puffy snowman. This activity is fun to make, but we all know that the excitement is really in eating the mini marshmallows!
Want to take this activity one step further? Check out our January Visual Recipes featuring mini marshmallow fun!
Incorporate recycling into your plans with this Snowman Snow Globe Craft. After you’ve collected these bottles, students can use them to create a keepsake craft they can gift to their families at home. This does take a pretty specific shaped bottle, so be sure to plan ahead! If you can’t get your hands on these round ones, you can use regular water bottles to create snowman sensory bottles. Add them to your classroom calm down corner or library.
If you’re looking for an alternative to the run-of-the-mill painting technique, look no further than this Resist Art Snowman. Resist art is when an area of painted paper is covered by a cut-out, revealing an unpainted shape when the cut-out is removed. This activity features a friendly snowman and a winter color palette, but you can adapt resist art to fit any lesson theme. Once the paint is dry, students can decorate their snowmen. You can even put out a tinker tray with recyclable materials to use as decoration for an eco-friendly craft!
If you want to sneak some cutting practice into your classroom craft time, try these Spinning Snowmen! There is A LOT of cutting in this craft, so you may want to prepare some shapes beforehand. These spinning friends make great classroom decorations and will look adorable hanging around the room.
Snowman Science
Snow science is exciting because it teaches students about the weather and how it works. It’s probably even more fascinating for the kids who live in warmer climates and don’t get the chance to experience winter weather firsthand!
Demonstrate what happens when baking soda is exposed to vinegar in this Melting Snowman Experiment. The fizzing and bubbles make for a multi-sensory experience that’s bound to be a blast. Students who enjoy messy play can explore the goopy aftermath of these melted baking soda snowmen in a sensory bin. Smocks are definitely recommended for this activity!
Who doesn’t love a good bubble experiment? And this Winter Bubble Science Experiment doubles as a craft as well! This fun winter activity will teach students about light, chemistry, and cause and effect. With this experiment, students will whip up a batch of bubble solution and use a straw to blow the biggest bubble mountain they can. Bonus points if you bring this activity outside in the cold weather to watch the frozen air’s effect on it!
Try the How Much Water Is In Snow? Experiment for those of you who live where it snows! Take your students on a quick trip outside to gather snow into a glass or plastic jar, then bring it inside to watch it melt. Students can record their observations on a piece of paper or in a journal, and you can discuss the results!
An alternative to this is to have students fill their own jars and predict how much water they think there will be.
See how avalanches work with this exemplary, hands-on Avalanche Experiment. This is another activity that allows students to put the power of prediction to work. Take the time to discuss different types of snow and different landscapes (i.e., mountains, valleys, etc.).
Snowman Catapults are a great snowy day activity that gets students excited about energy and force! Help students build a catapult using sticks and rubber bands, then put them to work knocking down cups or other objects in the classroom. Disclaimer: This activity will need teacher support and maybe a good one to do in small groups.
Snowman Visual Recipes and Lesson Plans
Last but certainly not least are January’s visual recipes- an absolute staple in any elementary classroom. These step-by-step instructions give students the tools they need to visually and independently explore the art of cooking! For a tutorial on how to use visual recipes in your classroom, watch the video below!
For January, we’re bringing you five winter-themed no-bake snacks your students will enjoy! Check out the January Visual Recipes download here, and keep reading for recipe and lesson ideas.
Recipe 1
The creamy Hot Cocoa Dip is my absolute favorite and can be a reason to host a pajama party at school! Then, plan a winter-themed day, and read snowman stories. Sneezy the Snowman is always a fun one that has so many possibilities for lesson extensions. To make your planning simple, we’ve put together a Sneezy the Snowman Book Companion pack for you that includes the Adapted Book Piece Set for sequencing practice.
Recipe 2
Students get a kick out of the simple Melted Snowman recipe, which includes string cheese, baby carrots, and pretzel sticks put into a trail mix. Next, share the wintery story, Snowmen at Night, before diving into the visual recipe and accompanying it with the adapted book piece set.
Word in the halls is that “Kids love adapted books! It helps keep them more engaged which helps with retention and is a win in my book!”
A little note about the adapted book piece set: we recommend using it in a whole class setting and then again during your ELA blocks in smaller groups for repetitive exposure. Learn more about Adapted Piece Book Sets in this video walkthrough here.
Recipe 3
The Snow Mix is a sweet and salty snack that students can munch on while tackling independent tasks.
Then, put the Snowman Disguise Boxes out for center time, where students can match dressed-up snowmen to occupations. They might just get a laugh out of Frosty the Policeman while enjoying some brain food!
Recipe 4
The seasonal cranberry + raisin logs will allow students to practice their fine motor skills while spreading sticky peanut butter (or almond butter if allergies require that). Yum!
Pair this visual recipe with Winter Step-By-Step Directed Drawings for a double dose of sequencing skills and following directions. After all, who doesn’t love a child-drawn penguin?!
Recipe 5
Add the no-bake Lunch Box Kabobs to your students’ lunch of the day. They’ll take pride in knowing that they made their own meal and that it was delicious!
Third grade teacher Ms. Cassie J says, “My students love making these recipes. The sequencing pages help them understand the directions, and the visuals make the recipe super easy to follow when we make it.”.
In other words, the January Visual Recipes are the *chef’s kiss* of lesson extensions and fun!
Does it snow where you live? What are some of your favorite classroom snowmen activities? Let us know in the comments!
