What do you do with your homeschooler in the winter? Winter can be long, boring, and dull! Bring life to your homeschool lessons with these ideas!

photo credit: Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Winter is my least favourite season. It’s too cold, dreary, and a little depressing. I wasn’t always this way. I remember when I was little, I used to play for hours out in the snow. My favourite activity was building snow forts.

The other day I asked my girls if they wanted to play outside. Their response:

“NO WAY!”

I realised that I had passed my intense dislike of this season onto my kids and I needed to do something to help shift their perspective.

What to do with your homeschooler in the winter

Here are some ideas to implement with your homeschooler in the winter. If you want, you can pick and choose some of your favourite ideas and do a unit study about this season!

Language Arts

Here are various language arts winter-inspired ideas:

• try a winter writing prompt (this list of 25 is fantastic)
• write descriptive sentences (winter looks like, feels like, smells like, etc.)
• create instructions (i.e. how to build a snowman, how to make a snow fort, etc.)
• write a list of all the words you can think of that describe winter
• read some of these famous poems about winter
• write a poem about winter
• provide a wintery picture and ask your child to write a story about it
• do any of these winter word puzzles
• have a letter scavenger hunt and encourage your children to spell a list of winter words using the letters they find
• read one of the recommended books in the book list below

Books

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Snow by Uri Shulevitz

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Snowflakes in Photographs (Dover Pictorial Archive) by W.A. Bentley  

Snowballs by Lois Ehlert

The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader

When it Snows by  Richard Collingridge

Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton

Science

Winter is a fabulous time to do nature studies. There’s much to explore and observe during this season. Here are some favourite winter science activities:

• create a winter nature table (collect pine cones, pine needles, twigs, seeds, pods, etc.)
• measure snowfall and document the daily precipitation for a week
• observe the birds in the area (study the birds that stay in your area year-round)
• watch the snow melt (bring a container of snow into the house, measure the amount of snow you collect, let it melt and measure it again)
• catch snowflakes on black paper and use a magnifying glass to look at them
• look for animal tracks
• observe icicles, challenge your children to make icicles (how would they do it)
• if you’re up north, shorter days means your children can actually star and moon-watch at a decent hour (document constellations, phases of the moon, etc.)
• study trees and discuss how have they changed from the fall (use these FREE PDF sheets from Leroy Jones to document your study of a tree in your backyard)
• blow bubbles outside and discuss what happens to them

photo credit: PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay

Math

Math and winter?! You bet! Here are some math activities you can do that revolve around winter and snow:

• have your child predict what the temperature will be every day (document estimates and the actual temperature)
• play addition or multiplication Brr Bump! (FREE download)
• make a snowman store and have your children buy parts for their snowmen
• do this preschool counting snowballs activity
• measure the depth of the snow (this can be done daily for a few weeks)
• play this roll a snowman game
• do these winter ten frames worksheets
• use these FREE snowflake pattern block sheets with your children
• look at sunrise and sunset; calculate how many hours there are in the day; document findings
• play this snowball differentiated addition and subtraction game (grades 2-5)

Social Studies

There are a number of social studies activities to explore too:

• help a neighbour by shovelling their sidewalks
• watch the snow plowers do their work
• interview the person who maintains the community skating rink
• look on a map and discuss the places where your children think it would snow
• research the Arctic or Greenland and document findings
• collect winter clothing items for the homeless and deliver them to a local shelter

Sledding is always a fun activity! 

Physical Education

There are many winter physical education activities you can partake in:

• sledding
• skating
• nature walks
• shovelling snow
• snow shoeing
• cross country skiing
• downhill skiing
• snowboarding
• snowball fights
• go to the playground (exercise caution, as some equipment may be slippery)

Make ice ornaments to hang from trees.

Art

I love winter-inspired art! Many winter art projects can be done, inside and outside:

• create colourful icicles!
• I love Epsom salt paintings… they are so beautiful
• do some snow painting
• cut out some snowflakes of varying shapes and sizes
• ice painting (I especially love this idea for younger children)
• make coloured ice ornaments
• paint with homemade shivery snow paint
• make Borax crystal snowflakes
• work together to make giant popsicle stick snowflakes
• older kids can help thread cotton balls to make fake snow

I hope these ideas have inspired you to explore winter with your children! There’s much to teach (and learn)!

Reflect:

Do you like winter? Can you think of some enjoyable, educational winter activities you would like to try with your children?

Jennifer Bly

Author of My Kitchen, My Classroom: An Introduction to Homeschool and creator of The Deliberate Mom. Jennifer writes about parenting, homeschooling, her faith, and life with her husband and two girls. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Applied Human Service Administration Degree with a specialization in Early Learning in Child Care.