Do you want to enjoy a snow nature study with your children? As a homeschooling mom, I often conduct nature studies. Nature studies are one of my favourite ways to teach scientific principles, and I love that they provide an opportunity for us to get outdoors.
Here are some ideas for planning a spectacular and dynamic snow nature study for your children.
CREATE THE ATMOSPHERE
I love setting up learning provocations for my children. By creating an engaging display or a thought-provoking atmosphere, you can lure your children into a topic/unit study.
Here are some provocation ideas:
- Watch the snow falling.
- Bring a bin of snow into the house for the children to play with.
- Place various books about snow on the table or in a basket.
- Decorate a corner of the room to be snow-inspired.
SNOW LANGUAGE ARTS ACTIVITIES
READING
The best way to start a nature study is to make sure you have plenty of high-quality picture books available to read. A few of our favourites include:
WRITING
There are numerous writing activities your children can do which are inspired by snow:
- Write a research report about snow.
- Create a story about snow or a big snowfall.
- Craft a poem about snow.
- Do a SNOW acrostic poem.
- Write a book report about one of the snow books they read.
This snowflake paper set is a great download and background for notebooking activities and reports.
Spelling
Have your child practice spelling key snow words. Here’s an essential list to get you started:
- snow
- snowflakes
- squall
- blizzard
- fractal
- flurries
- flake
- drift
- winter
- skift
- sleet
SNOW SCIENCE
Snow is a fascinating and diverse science topic to study. If you want plenty of nature study activities, then check out the comprehensive Snow and Ice Nature Study Guide by Our Journey Westward.
In the meantime, here are some activities you can do with your children.
Observation
Have your child observe the snow in your yard or the snow falling outside. Encourage them to “document” the snow.
- Take a photo of the snow.
- Draw a snowy scene in their nature journal.
- Catch a snowflake on a dark metal pan (and look at it with a magnifying glass).
- Measure snowfall by placing a pan outside when it’s snowing and periodically checking the depth with a ruler.
Watch
Check out this video on how snowflakes are formed.
- Place a glass measuring cup of snow in a room and document, every five minutes, how much snow is in the cup.
- Test these three fake snow recipes!
SNOW MATH
- I love this idea from Math Geek Mama – doing math in the snow.
- Snow and snowflakes are a great opportunity to explore the topic of symmetry. Cut out snowflakes from paper and discuss their symmetry.
- Weigh two identical cups without snow and then filled with snow. Do they weigh the same? Why or why not?
SNOW FIELD TRIP IDEAS
- Visit a ski hill.
- Take a trip to a tobogganing hill.
- Visit a nature preserve while there is snow on the ground.
SNOW PHYSICAL EDUCATION IDEAS
There are many ways to incorporate physical education into your snow exploration. For instance, snowy nature walks, snowshoeing, sledding, and having a snowball fight are delightful ways to incorporate snow into your physical education plans.
- You can also do things like building a snow person or a snow fort.
- Go skiing! Downhill skiing or cross-country skiing is always a great exercise.
- My family has a set of two kicksleds, which we often use in the winter months.
SNOW ART IDEAS
There are various ways to use art in a project on snow. Here are a few inspiring ideas to try out!
- This snowflake painting with salt is a wonderful activity!
- These winter chalk pastel video art lessons are amazing and so much fun to do, too!
- Watch this video on Snow Art by Simon Beck, and then go outside and encourage your children to make their own snow art!
ADDITIONAL SNOW IDEAS
Every project and unit study for my little family needs to include some edible treats. Here are a couple of snowy edibles to create!
REFLECT
As you can see there are many ways to do a snow nature study. This is a comprehensive unit study that could span over several months!
Which snow activities would you add to this list?
SHARE WITH OTHERS
