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Snowflake PatternsUse with “Letter Match” on page 4.

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Fish PatternsUse with “Ice-Fishing Fun” on page 2.

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Totally Tracks!Play Dough Center

Set white play dough at a table along with a rolling pin and plastic woodland animals and trees. Also provide items such as rocks and small twigs. A child flattens a portion of dough so it resembles snow. Then she arranges the rocks and trees to complete the snowy scene. Finally, she engages in pretend forest play, pressing the animals’ feet into the snow to make tracks.

Letter MatchLiteracy Center

Fill your sensory table with white packing peanuts or cotton balls to represent snow. Then hide snowflake cutouts (patterns on page 6), each labeled with a different letter, in the table. Label a large snowball cutout with the matching letters and place it nearby. A youngster digs through the snow and places each snowflake he finds atop the matching letter on the snowball.

It’s Snowing!Art Center

Set out construction paper, crayons, slightly diluted glue, and a container of instant potato flakes. A student uses a white crayon to draw an outdoor scene on a sheet of black paper. Then she spreads glue on a portion of the paper and sprinkles it with potato flakes (snowflakes). She repeats the process to create a snowy outdoor scene.

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Fluffy SnowballFine-Motor Area

Provide sheets of paper—such as copy

paper, writing paper, or newspaper—cotton

balls, and glue. A child crumples a sheet

of paper into a snowball shape. Then she

stretches and tears cotton balls and glues the

pieces to the paper ball. She continues until

the entire surface is covered. The result is a

soft, fluffy snowball!

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Flurries or a Snowstorm?

Math Center

Set out a large construction paper cloud,

number cards, and white linking cubes (or

any type of white manipulative). A student

takes a card and identifies the number. Then

he counts aloud that many manipulatives

(snowflakes) and places them below the

cloud. When he is finished, he removes the

snowflakes from beneath the cloud and sets

the card aside. Then he repeats the activity

with a different card.

Wonderful Winter Centers

Textured Polar BearSensory Center

To prepare, mix equal parts shaving cream and white

glue; then add pieces of torn white facial tissue and

cotton batting to the mixture. A youngster fingerpaints a

paper plate with a thick layer of the mixture, noticing the

texture as he paints. When he is finished, he glues two

white semicircles (ears), a black circle (nose), and two

jumbo wiggle eyes to the project.

Ice-Fishing FunDramatic-Play Area

Place lengths of aluminum foil on your floor

and then put a black circle atop the foil so it

resembles an ice-fishing hole. Attach jumbo paper

clips to fish cutouts (patterns on page 5) and place

the fish on the hole. Provide a magnetic fishing

pole along with items such as a plastic pail, winter

wear, camping chairs, a mock campfire, a frying

pan, and cookware. A child uses the props to

engage in pretend ice-fishing play.

These splendid center activities are just

perfect for the winter season!

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Snowman and Hat PatternsUse with “Snowman Match” on page 7.©

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Just Add Eyes Your little ones will really enjoy throwing themselves—and a couple of black pom-poms—into this easy-to-create center. Begin by drawing a large snowman on bulletin board paper and then taping it to the floor in a corner of your classroom. Add facial features to the snowman, using orange vinyl tape for the nose and black tape for the mouth and buttons, but do not add eyes. Stock the center with two black jumbo-size pom-poms (eyes). Have each child stand on a designated spot and toss each pom-pom eye onto the snowman. If he misses, have him try one more time before passing the eyes to the next child. Fun!

Play Dough Center

Snowy Dough Brrr! It’s cold outside! Bring some of the coldness into your classroom with this chilly play dough idea. Begin by mixing up a batch of your favorite play dough; then knead in some iridescent glitter. Chill the play dough in the refrigerator before placing it in your play dough center. Encourage your little ones to roll the dough into balls to make snowmen. Stock the center with rolling pins, plastic snowman cookie cutters, craft sticks (snowman arms), and craft foam facial feature cutouts.

Sand Table

Snowmen—Beach Style No snow? No worries! Simply dampen the sand in your sand table and provide various sizes of ice-cream scoops along with craft sticks and twigs, and encourage students to create snowmen—beach style! Have each child gently use the point of a pencil to “draw” facial features on her snowman. For added interest, provide miniature straw hats, found at your local craft store, and lengths of ribbon to serve as snappy scarves for these sandy snowmen.

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Colorful Snowmen

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Copycat Snowmen No two snowmen are alike—except the ones

you’ll find created by students at this center. In

advance, cut two large snowman shapes from

poster board. Stock your blocks center with

the snowman shapes. To play, pair students

and have one child use blocks to make a face

on his snowman cutout. Then have him add

blocks to represent buttons. Next, encourage

his partner to duplicate the snowman, using

the same number and colors of blocks. Have

the two students clear their snowman shapes

and start again, this time with the other

child designing the snowman to be copied.

Snowman twins—cool!

Art Center

Colorful Snowmen Who said snowmen have to be white? In advance, stock your

art center with a supply of large round coffee filters and three

bowls of water tinted with food coloring (red, blue, and yellow).

Give each child three coffee filters and have her stack and then

fold them several times. Instruct her to dip each corner of the

filters into a different bowl of colored water. Help her unfold

the filters and lay them on paper towels or newsprint to dry.

Encourage students to name the colors they see on the filters.

They’ll be surprised to discover colors other than red, yellow, and

blue. Explain to little ones that when two colors mix, a new color

is made. After the filters have dried, cut one of each child’s filters into a

smaller circle. Have each student glue her filters into a snowman

shape on a 12" x 18" sheet of construction paper. Stock the

center with plenty of craft materials to complete these colorful

snow characters, such as crayons, pom-poms, sticky dots, crepe

paper, construction paper scraps, and glue. Mount the completed

projects on a bulletin board titled “Colorful Snowmen.”

Blocks Center

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Build It There’s no snow required for this clever snowman-

building activity! In advance, stuff several small, medium,

and large white plastic bags with newspaper or packing

peanuts. Use permanent markers to draw faces on the

small bags and to draw buttons on the medium-size

bags. Then invite youngsters to don their mittens and get

busy pretending to roll and stack the snowballs to build

snowmen. Building snowmen couldn’t be more fun!

When it’s cold outside, nothing’s hotter for your centers than

snowmen! Youngsters will warm up to these fun centers in no time!

Literacy Center

Snowman Match

These sassy snowmen will perk up your flannelboard center

and reinforce letter-matching skills too. To prepare, make six

copies of the snowman and hat patterns on page 10. Color each

snowman’s buttons and hat and label each pair with a matching

letter as shown. Laminate the patterns and then cut them out.

Attach a piece of self-adhesive felt to the back of each pattern to

ready it for flannelboard use. Place the patterns in a basket near

a flannelboard. Invite a pair of children to the center. In turn, have

each child draw a snowman and hat from the basket. Instruct him

to look at the letter on each pattern and determine whether

they match. If they do, have him attach the patterns to the

flannelboard. If they don’t match, instruct him to return

the patterns to the basket. Have his partner check his

work and then switch roles.

Dramatic Play

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Mitten PatternsUse with “Match the Mittens” on page 11 .

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Sweater PatternUse with “Sassy Sweaters” on page 11.

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Super StripesMath Center

Obtain a solid-colored scarf. Then use double-stick tape

to attach the scarf to a tabletop. Place a supply of colored

craft sticks nearby. A youngster places craft sticks along the

scarf in a simple pattern to make stripes. How lovely!

Winter BootsWriting Center

Trim a sponge so it resembles a chunky winter boot.

Then place the sponge at a table along with cotton balls,

glue, a shallow container of tempera paint, and a supply

of paper. A child makes two boot prints on a sheet of

paper. She glues cotton balls at the tops of her boots.

Then she decides where she would like to go when

wearing her winter boots. An adult helper writes her

words under the prints.

All Bundled UpReading Area

Fill a small children’s wading pool with foam peanuts

so they resemble snow. Place winter clothing items

near the pool. Then gather several winter-

themed books and place them nearby.

Invite each youngster to don any

desired clothing and then sit in the

snow and look through the books.

That’s so cozy!

I would wear my winter boots on a trip to my Nana’s house.—Sara

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Sassy SweatersArt Center

Attach several self-adhesive craft foam shapes to a scrap

of lamination film. Then securely tape the film to a protected

tabletop. Enlarge the sweater pattern on page 13 and

make a construction paper copy for each child. A child

visits the center and uses a small foam paint roller to

paint the shapes. Then she places the sweater pattern

over the shapes and smooths the surface of the paper

with her hands. When she removes the paper, she

reveals a lovely winter sweater. After the paint dries,

the youngster cuts out her sweater.

Match the MittensLiteracy Center

Cut out several construction paper copies of the mitten patterns on page 14 and label each

pair with matching letters. Laminate the mittens for durability and then place them in a basket

along with a supply of spring-style clothespins. Suspend a clothesline between two chairs and

place the basket nearby. A child chooses a mitten and then finds its matching mitten. Then he

uses the clothespins to attach the mittens next to each other on the clothesline.

CentersWinter Clothing

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Warm up with a cozy bunch of centers that

are all about winter clothing!

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