6 Fun Wintertime Activities for Students

Don’t get caught in a winter slump — encourage growth and fun for your kids with fun winter projects. As the seasons change and the cold sets in, getting your kids to focus can become harder. Get the most out of the chilly season by incorporating fun ways for your child to do arts and crafts and improve their skills. Let’s look at some fun winter educational activities you all can do during the colder months.

1. Winter Writing Prompts

Many activities done in winter can take place inside to help beat the cold. You can get kids into the winter spirit by exercising their creative writing skills. Dive into different winter-themed writing prompts to encourage your child’s imagination and writing skills simultaneously. These prompts can help them enhance their storytelling and descriptive talents while encouraging them to get into the winter spirit. Potential prompt topics include:

• What it would be like to live in an igloo
• My favorite winter memory is…
• How would you make the world’s best hot chocolate?
• Write about a day in the life of a snowman.
• My favorite thing about winter is…

2. Melting Snow Science Experiment

Science projects are always fun winter school activities. Kids love seeing results in real-time — there’s nothing like making a prediction and seeing if it comes true. This melting snow experiment will help children understand volume and how water in different states can have different properties. For this experiment, you’ll need the following:

• 3 same-size jars
• Water
• Snow
• Ice

Fill your three jars — one with water, one with snow, and one with ice — to the same level, leaving room at the top. Have your child form and write down a hypothesis predicting whether all three jars will have identical amounts of water once the ice and snow melt. After everything has melted, go over the results with your child and explain why the jar volumes are different.

Talk about how snow has air molecules trapped inside that get released when the snow melts. This is a great activity because children get to see the results clearly right in front of them.

3. Cotton Ball Art Activities With a Winter Theme

Cotton ball art is an easy craft that allows children to express themselves while staying within a specific theme. They can create endless winter-themed art using cotton balls, markers, and more. Some potential subjects they could make include penguins, snowmen, snowflakes, or Santa.

For this art project, you’ll need the following:

• Cotton balls
• Craft glue
• Craft paper
• Scissors
• Markers
• Googly eyes
• Sticks
• Stickers

Either draw a template or print one out on your craft paper. For example, if they’re making a snowman, have the three balls that make up the snowman drawn onto the paper already for them. Then, let them use glue and cotton balls to fill in the snowman’s body. After this, they can use sticks for the arms and add googly eyes, draw clothes or backgrounds, and place stickers on the piece to enhance their snowman. Let their imaginations run wild with this silly winter craft.

4. Snowstorm Jar Experiment

Building a snowstorm in a jar is the perfect way to create the gorgeous look of a blizzard without dealing with the actual freezing temperatures. You can do this activity with your kids in winter to give them a little piece of winter while they’re inside. To make a snowstorm in a jar, you’ll need the following:

• White paint
• Alka-Seltzer
• 16-oz mason jar
• Baby oil
• Iridescent glitter

Once you’ve gathered up your gear, it’s time to make a snowstorm. Fill around ⅔ of the mason jar with your baby oil. Then, stir a small amount of paint into ¼ cup of water. Stir until mixed. Add your paint mixture to the jar — watch out for some slight fizzling. Throw a small amount of glitter in to get a little sparkle.

Next, break up two or three Alka-Seltzer tablets into small pieces — these will create a snowstorm. The Alka-Seltzer reacts with the water, causing the paint to swirl into a blizzard. The whole reaction will last around 45 seconds. If you want to keep creating tiny blizzards, just add more Alka-Seltzer and water.

5. Sugar Cube Igloo

Sugar cube igloos are a sweet activity the whole family can get in on. Pair your igloo-building with some facts about igloos to make this an informative and fun activity. For your sugar cube igloos, gather:

• Cardboard
• White paint
• White glue
• Box of sugar cubes — one box makes one igloo

Sugar cube igloos are easy to assemble, but you might get messy from all the sugar, glue, and paint. Lay down some newspaper if you want to protect your table. To make the igloo:

1. Pour sugar cubes into a dish.
2. Lay your cardboard on a flat surface and coat one side with your paint.
3. Once the paint is dry, use a pencil to map out the shape of your igloo.
4. Trace your shape with glue and lay out your first layer of cubes.
5. Once you complete the first layer, begin the second. Place a layer of glue on top of your first sugar cube layer so everything sticks. You’ll want to stack them slightly inwards, so the igloo eventually meets up at the top.
6. Continue until you have four layers, putting glue in between each. Leave the igloo to dry overnight.
7. Add the rest of your layers, letting them dry thoroughly in-between rounds as needed.
8. Use glue bottles and other items to prop the igloo up from the inside as you make it.
9. Spice up your finished igloo with fish, characters, trees, and other decorations.

6. Winter Tree Art Project

This is another easy craft you can make using items you probably have around the house or in the yard. Including twigs and sticks in this craft encourages kids to get outside and hunt around for materials, boosting their brains and helping keep them active. Additionally, putting everything together for this craft improves their fine motor skills — a necessary part of development for children.

To make a winter tree, you’ll need:

• Construction paper
• Cotton swabs
• White paint
• Small twigs
• Glue

Head outside and have your child gather up small fallen twigs. Take your haul inside and have them examine the sticks up close — what do they notice about the sticks? Are there any interesting bugs or patterns on them? Once you’ve collected your materials, it’s time to craft. Here are the steps for creating a winter tree:

1. Lay the construction paper on a flat surface.
2. Before gluing anything, have your child map out their winter tree. Talk about truck and branch placement, but encourage them to design the tree they want.
3. Once they’re happy with the design, it’s time to glue. Take one stick at a time and use the cotton swab to rub glue on the side that will go on the paper.
4. Stick the twig flat on the construction paper. Continue gluing and laying sticks until the whole tree is done.
5. Use the round end on the cotton swab to make glue dot snowflakes for extra fun. Cover the “ground” with a layer of glue dots and sprinkle some in the “sky” to look like falling snow. You can shake silver or blue glitter over the glue for extra sparkles.

Enjoy Education at CCA

Don’t stay stuck inside doing nothing this winter — get your kid’s creative juices flowing with some fun winter activities. Crafts and experiments allow children to improve their mental, physical, emotional, and educational skills for better development.

Try out exciting indoor and outdoor games with your child to help entertain and enrich them as they learn and grow. Additionally, encourage them to step away from their screens and get outside for some fun activities when they can. The outdoors provides mental and physical stimulation, along with the open space and fun every kid needs.

At CCA, we believe in personalized learning for all our students. Every child is unique — why give them all the same material at the same pace? When your child attends our cyber school, they’ll receive an education designed for them. We provide students with the tools and support they need to succeed in school and beyond. Learn more about our programs and how they can benefit your child online today.