Sub Friendly Winter Activities for Kindergarten

You never know when unexpected plans will come up and you'll need a substitute teacher to take over, especially during the winter months.

That's why it's always nice to have quick prep winter activities for kindergarten on hand that can be used in your normal daily schedule or if a sub is covering your class for a day or two.

The key to setting a substitute teacher up for success is to ensure they have all the information they need, such as class info, schedules, how students go home, etc, as well as easy to implement activities for all subjects.

Sometimes, it can be hard to plan hands-on activities on those off-schedule days or when a sub is there. However, when you have a stash of winter themed math and literacy activity mats that align with the skills your students are learning, you or a sub can pull them out at a moment's notice.

Another easy way to incorporate hands-on learning during tricky times is to pull out manipulatives for students to explore with or simple puzzles. Students learn so much through play and by simply exploring, building, and creating.

Winter Time Filler Games for Kindergarten

As teachers, you know that down time should be avoided in the classroom. However, planning activities for every second of every day can be exhausting.

An easy way to avoid down time without overwhelming yourself is to keep quick time filler games and listen and color activities on hand at all times.

Not only are they fun and educational, but they're the perfect way for a sub (or yourself if you're having an “off” day) to pass the time in a meaningful way.

Sometimes, you have just a couple of minutes before a transition or while waiting in line. For these instances, keep a list of quick no prep time filler games in your sub folder or at your desk for those last minute occasions where you need something to keep your class on task.

Winter Worksheets for Kindergarten

As students head back to school after winter break, it's important that they continue to review previous skills while building on them in the new semester.

You can easily incorporate skill review, extra practice, or quick skill checks into your day with no prep winter math and literacy worksheets for kindergarten.

While hands-on learning activities are important, there is most definitely a time and place for engaging worksheets.

They can be used anytime of day and are great to print, grab, and go on those days where you may have a late start due to weather, need a quick activity for your students to do while you're helping another student, or want to send home some extra practice for a student who's been out sick.

Onset and Rime Winter Freebie

No matter what this winter throws at you, this fun and engaging onset and rime word work freebie is one that you can prep at the beginning of the season and keep in your back pocket for a fun literacy activity to use all winter long.

This engaging winter activity for kindergarten is perfect to add to your back-up plans for a sub to use, too!

This literacy center includes activity mats, onset and rime cards, a recording sheet, and an “I Can” direction page for students.

You can also use this activity without the recording sheet, which makes it a great option for morning tubs and early finishers.

To prepare the activity, print, cut, and laminate the activity cards and the onset and rime cards on card stock so they last a long time. If using, print the recording sheet.

Students will say the name of the picture on the card to identify the onset and rime. They will match the onset and rime cards to build the word. Then, students will find the corresponding picture on the recording sheet and write the word.

You can download your copy of the Winter Word Work freebie by clicking here.

I hope you and your students love these winter activities for kindergarten and the word work freebie! 

If you're looking for more winter activities, centers, freebies, and teacher tips, click here to find more on the blog.

Benefits of Kindergarten Morning Tubs

Incorporating kindergarten morning tubs into your daily routine has a ton of benefits for students. January is a great month to implement this strategy into your day so you can experience the benefits for the rest of the year.

Open-ended learning.

Morning tubs provide open-ended learning for students. There is no stress to get a certain amount of problems done. Students can simply learn and play at their own pace with their hands-on morning tub activities.

Stress-free start to the day.

Instead of coming into the classroom and jumping right into paper and pencil work, students can warm up their brains in a hands-on, engaging way. This sets them up for a productive day of learning. Morning tub activities are less rigorous and feel like play.

Predictable, consistent routine.

Kids crave consistency and predictability, just like adults. Knowing what is coming each morning when they arrive at school makes students feel more in control and confident. Morning tubs provide this structure right away.

Meaningful skill practice.

Even though morning tubs feel like play, students are exploring various concepts and enhancing many math, literacy, and fine motor skills.

Manipulatives for January Morning Tubs

The great thing about January morning tubs is that they're hands-on, but still use basic classroom manipulatives.

Some of the manipulatives used in these winter-themed morning tub activities are magnetic letters, dry erase markers, plastic math cubes, play dough, and more.

You can also customize the manipulatives you use by seeing what you have on hand in your classroom.

You can also make it more fun by using winter-themed mini erasers, pom-poms, etc.

For more tips on how to store and organize kindergarten morning tubs and manipulatives, check out this blog post.

January Morning Tubs for Kindergarten

These January morning tubs for kindergarten are a great way to start a day full of learning. However, they aren't just for mornings. You can use them anytime throughout the day.

They are great for keeping students engaged as everyone arrives in the morning, but they also work well as math and literacy stations, early finishers, or filler activities.

The January Morning Tubs for Kindergarten resource includes kindergarten appropriate literacy and math activities with a fun winter theme. The skills included are ones that your students are most likely working on during the winter months.

Each activity comes with an “I Can” card to promote independence. In addition, each piece or card is labeled to help you stay organized.

There are no recording sheets included, which means no grading on your part as the teacher, which is a total time-saver.

Literacy January Morning Tubs

There are so many important literacy skills for students to practice in the winter months. This is the time of year that they are really diving into reading skills.

Check out this sneak peek of a few of the literacy activities included in the January Morning Tubs for Kindergarten.

Hot Cocoa Onset and Rime

Hot Cocoa Onset and Rime is a kid-favorite January morning tub activity! Students say the name of the CVC picture on the hot cocoa cup. Then, they match the marshmallows to spell the word.

To set students up for success as they complete this activity independently, go over the picture names as a class before they get started.

Sound Buttons

This Sound Buttons activity is a great way to practice decoding and sounding out CVC words. Students say the name of each picture and identify the middle vowel sound or the word family.

Then, they use the snowman button color code to cover the corresponding pictures. This activity includes middle vowel sounds and CVC word families for a total of 4 activities in all.

Flip and Cover Onset and Rime

Flip and Cover Onset and Rime is an interactive way for students to practice sounding out CVC words.

First, students say the name of the CVC picture on the card. Then, they identify the onset on the card and find the matching rime on the mat and cover it.

After they make the word, they can read it aloud to practice decoding the word.

Math January Morning Tubs

After the first of the year, kindergarteners work hard on several key math concepts, including number sense, teen numbers, and one more, one less.

The hands-on math activities included in the January Morning Tubs for Kindergarten are a great way to help students master these skills.

Roll and Race

Roll and Race is the perfect math game for students of all levels to use to practice counting numbers to 20, 30, and 50.

Students roll the dot cube and count to determine the number they rolled. (These Ten Frame Dot Cubes work great for this activity). Then, they cover that many spaces on their game mat.

The first player to cover all of the numbers wins. In order for a player to win, they must roll the exact number needed. If they have one space left, they must roll a one to win.

Snowman Show

If you're working hard on the concepts of one less, one more in kindergarten, this Snowman Show morning tub activity will help you do just that.

First, students identify the number on the snowman. Using small manipulatives, they count and show one less and one more.

There are cards for numbers 1-20 included, which makes this activity easy to differentiate.

Hot Cocoa Orders

Hot Cocoa Orders is a fun way for students to work on addition skills with sums to 5 and 10.

Students begin by selecting an “order card”. Then, they count out the pieces to fill the order. They add the pieces together to determine how many toppings were added to the hot cocoa in all.

You can have students use a dry erase marker or magnetic number to show the sum.

I hope this sneak peek has inspired you to try out this powerful strategy in your own classroom!

If you have any questions about morning tubs and using them in your classroom, check out this Kindergarten Morning Tubs FAQ blog post.

You can grab all of these activities and more in the January Morning Tubs for Kindergarten resource!

These winter-themed activities will make coming back to school in the new year more fun and less chaotic for everyone.

I'd love to know which morning tub activity you'd be most excited to see your students complete. Tell me in the comments below!

Building Number Sense Skills

The first half of the year in kindergarten has a strong focus on building number sense skills with numbers 1-10. When January rolls around, it's time to focus on expanding number sense skills with the teen numbers of 11-20.

The winter months also bring colder weather and being stuck inside more. This means teachers need unique ways to keep their students actively learning.

To keep students on task and give them a fun, hands-on way to practice their teen number skills after winter break and all through the colder months, read on to grab your copy of this Spin to 20 free kindergarten math game.

Free Numbers to 20 Math Game

This Spin to 20 winter math game is perfect for practicing counting numbers to 20. It is versatile and can be used as a partner game, small group game, or independent game.

The prep and materials are simple. All you need is a copy of the Spin to 20 game mat, 20 mini erasers or small manipulatives per player, and a pencil and paper clip to make a spinner. You can also use a plastic spinner.

This math game is the perfect addition to your math centers, independent work, early finishers, morning tubs, or as a fun activity anytime of day.

How to Play the Numbers to 20 Winter Math Game

This Spin to 20 game is both easy to prep and easy to play. This makes it the perfect option for kindergarteners.

First, print the game mat on cardstock and laminate it for durability.

To start the game, students spin the spinner on their game mat to see which partner goes first. The student with the largest number (or smallest number if you want to switch it up) goes first.

To play the game, students take turns spinning the spinner on their game mat. They read the number that they spun aloud.

Then, they count and add that many game pieces to their ten frame. The first player to fill up their ten frame to 20 is the winner!

To finish the game, students need to spin the exact number on their game mat to end the game.

If they have 18 spaces filled and they spin a 3, they lose their turn. The same goes with the number 19, as they would need to spin a 1 in order to win the game.

As students play the game and practice counting, they'll quickly learn to look at the ten frame and immediately recognize the number represented.

For example, they'll begin to understand that a full ten frame is 10 and they can count on from there to determine the number. This is a great number sense skill.

You can download this free kindergarten Spin to 20 winter math game by clicking here (or clicking the image below).

I hope your students enjoy this numbers to 20 math game and have a blast mastering teen numbers this winter!

Drop a comment below once you download your free copy!

By this stage in the school year, students have settled into a routine. They are growing by leaps and bounds each day.

As a teacher, you've finally found your groove. As a result, you are hopefully feeling comfortable and enjoying the school year. You've worked out those back-to-school kinks and established solid routines and procedures.

While I definitely don't recommend that you throw all of that out the window, I do recommend allowing yourself and your students to have fun on the 100th day of school!

The 100th day is a huge milestone during the school year. It's a day where you are allowed to break away from your normal schedules and routines.

Let the excitement of the day guide your lessons. There is so much quality learning that can happen through 100th day of school activities.

Ways to Make Celebrating the 100th Day of School Fun

There are so many fun ways to celebrate the 100th day of school that don't cost a ton of (or any) money and don't take a ton of prep or explanation time.

Check out this list of 100th day of school activities and choose your favorites to incorporate into your lesson plans for the big day.

Dress up as 100 year olds.

You may want to check with your school administration to ensure this option is ok with them. If so, you can send a note home a week or so in advance letting families know that their child can dress up for the special day.

Use the AgingBooth app.

The AgingBooth app is available on the Apple store and Google Play store. Students can take their picture and with a click of a button, turn their picture into the 100 year old version of themselves. Just be sure to check with your administration to make sure it's ok to take pictures of your students with the app.

This is a great alternative to dressing up for the 100th day of school. You can also turn this into a writing opportunity for students. Have them write about something their 100 year old self loves or is proud of. The options are endless!

Gather 100 of an object as a class.

You can have your students work together to gather 100 of an object from around the classroom. Some ideas are mini erasers, plastic math cubes, stickers, beads, crayons, etc. Count out loud together until you reach 100 of the object.

Chocolate Scavenger Hunt

For this 100th day activity, use small colored circle stickers (like the ones you use for a garage sale), and write numbers 1-100 on them.

Either before school or while your students are at specials or lunch, stick one sticker on the bottom of 100 chocolate candies. Hide the candies around the room. Set up a hundreds chart on the carpet or table.

When the students return, direct them to walk around the room gathering the candies one at a time.

Once they find a candy, they come over to the hundreds chart, read the teacher the number, and place it on the corresponding number on the hundreds chart. Continue until all of the candies have been found.

Count to 100 as a class.

Stand in a circle and have the first student say the number “1.” The student to their left says the number “2” and so on. Play continues until they reach the number 100 as a class.

Build something with 100 manipulatives.

Students can work together in small groups using different manipulatives or supplies. Some options are blocks, pattern blocks, plastic math cubes, dominoes, plastic party cups, etc.

Students will work together to build something using 100 of that manipulative or supply. Set the timer for 15 minutes. At the end of the 15 minutes, each group will share what they created.

Do 100 moves of an exercise.

This is a great way to get your students up and moving throughout the 100th day. Call out an exercise move, such as arm circles, bunny hops, or twists. Students will count out loud to 100 as they complete the moves.

You can also write different moves on notecards. Have students take turns drawing an exercise card throughout the day until each child has had a turn to draw. You can use these exercise cards throughout the entire week of 100th day as brain breaks.

100th Day Math and Literacy Centers

Even though the 100th day of school is just one day out of the year, why not incorporate 100th day of school activities in the days leading up to and after 100th day?

One of the best ways to do this is with 100th day math and literacy centers for kindergarten! These 6 pack centers come with 3 math and 3 literacy centers that are hands-on and perfect for incorporating 100th day into your learning.

Plus, there are 6 no-prep activities that you can add to your 100th day center rotations. With these centers, you'll be set for an entire week of 100th day themed learning.

Skills included are: uppercase and lowercase letter recognition, beginning writing, sentence writing, number identification to 100, missing numbers, counting by ten, and more.

100th Day Trail Mix Freebie

One of my absolute favorite 100th day of school activities is this 100th day trail mix and sorting mat freebie. What makes this trail mix 100th day worthy, you may ask? It has 100 pieces of course!

Not only is this a tasty treat to compliment your 100th day celebrations, but it is a great way to practice math skills too. Students will count out 10 of each of the 10 ingredients to make a special 100 day snack.

If you use parent volunteers in your classroom, this is a great activity for them to help with.

100th Day Trail Mix Ingredients

Before the big day, be sure to check with parents or the school nurse to see if any of your students have any food allergies or special dietary needs.

It's a good rule of thumb to avoid any kind of nut or ingredients make with nuts.

Some great ingredients to include are: Cheerios, Kix cereal, Fruit Loops, Chex cereal, goldfish crackers, Cheez-Its, marshmallows, chocolate chips, pretzels, raisins or dried cranberries, teddy grahams, popcorn, M&Ms, and Skittles. 

100th Day Trail Mix Directions

To make the 100th day trail mix and use the sorting mat activity, begin by setting out 10 bowls, each containing one ingredient. Split students into groups of 3-5 students to rotate to this station.

This would be a great station to add to your 100th day math and literacy center rotations. Before starting, have students wash their hands and take a seat in front of their sorting mat.

Each student gets an ingredient bowl. They count out 10 of the ingredient, placing them on their sorting mat. After students are all finished counting out their ingredient, rotate bowls until each student has counted out 10 of each ingredient.

To save yourself from potential spillage, I recommend only putting in a little bit of each ingredient at a time. This makes for more refilling on your part, but it's totally worth it! It also means less little fingers touching the ingredients!

The sorting mat is a great way to help students with one-to-one correspondence. It also provides students with a way to organize and count their ingredients into groups of ten before adding them to their snack bag.

Enjoying the 100th Day Trail Mix

Staple the bag topper on the bag. Write each student's name on the front when the students are done filling their bags.

You can enjoy your 100th day snack at school or you can send it home to provide a home-school connection. Students will love telling their families all about how they made their special 100th day snack!

You can even send home the sorting mat to encourage families to re-count and re-sort the ingredients at home.

You can download the sorting mat and bag topper for free by clicking here. There is a colored version as well as a printer-friendly blackline version of the bag topper included in the download.

I hope you've enjoyed these 100th day of school activities and ideas for kindergarten.

For even more 100th day read alouds, activities, and a 100th day roll and race math game freebie, check out this blog post.

Comment below and let me know when your 100th day of school is!

Winter Sight Word Books Freebie

This set of 6 free winter sight word books is perfect for kindergarten beginning readers. These sight word books feature predictable text patterns and key kindergarten sight words that students are practicing during the winter months.

These books have clear, kid-friendly pictures, which helps students decode the words in the sentences. They also get exposure to new winter vocabulary words.

The best part of these sight word books is they are no prep and easy to put together. Students can even put together their own books, because there is no cutting or stapling required!

These free winter sight word books are one-page, foldable books. Students will simply make 2 folds on the lines to create their own mini books.

As they read the sight word books, students will point to the words as they read. To take this a step further, students can use a highlighter or crayon to highlight the focus sight word.

There are 3 stars on the cover, so students will color a star after each time they read the book all the way through. Students can use their creativity to color the pictures in the book.

Benefits of Using Sight Word Books in Kindergarten

There are so many benefits of using sight word books in kindergarten. Sight word books give students effective practice with one-to-one correspondence and reading sight words in context.

While students need to be able to identify sight words on their own, they also need to be able to recognize and read them in the context of sentences.

Sight word books also give students exposure to new vocabulary words, which is important for reading comprehension.

Students also need many opportunities to practice reading short, predictable sentences repetitively. This helps with reading fluency. Using sight word books is a great way to provide students with these opportunities.

How to Use the Free Winter Sight Word Books

These free winter sight word books are so easy to prep and use with your students. First, print the one-page winter sight word books. You can print all 6 books in the set at once and file the extras until you're ready to use them.

Students will fold the books on the lines to create their book and write their name on the front cover. Students can color the pictures in the book before they read. This gives them a sneak peek at the words and pictures they'll see as they read.

Encourage students to look at the pictures and think about what they look like in real-life as they color.

Students will read the winter sight word books, using their finger or a pointer to touch each word as they read.

After they read the book all the way through, they will color a star on the front cover. This will help them track their progress and will give them a sense of pride!

Each of the 6 books in this winter set has 3 stars. Therefore, students have 18 different opportunities to practice in all!

You can encourage students to read the books even more times and add an additional star or a sticker to the front cover.

How to Differentiate the Free Winter Sight Word Books

Another great thing about these free winter sight word books is they are very easy to differentiate. You can use these books to reach your readers at any level. They are also versatile to use in a variety of instructional settings.

To help students focus more on specific sight words, they can highlight the focus sight word in each book with a highlighter or crayon. You can even have students count how many times they see the sight word in the book. This is great for visual learners.

You can have students read these books during morning work, literacy centers, small groups, as an early finisher activity, or with a partner.

Students can even take these sight word books home to read with their families. This is especially effective on weekends or over winter break.

If you utilize reading logs with your students, you can encourage them to read their sight word books and add them to their reading log.

Another great way to use these free winter sight word books is as an informal sight word fluency assessment.

Sit down one-on-one with your students and have them read their winter sight word books to you. As you listen, take note of their sight word accuracy and reading fluency.

Grab your FREE copy of these winter sight word books by filling out the form below. They'll be sent straight to your inbox, just in time for the winter season!

I hope these sight word books make planning your winter lessons easier and brings a ton of reading fun to your students!

Why Using Centers Is Important In The Winter

I'm a firm believer in using centers with kindergarteners anytime of year, but especially during the winter.

The winter days can be long and cold. It can be easy to get bored and feel unmotivated. This goes for both kids and adults!

The best way to keep your students engaged, excited, and motivated to learn is with activities and routines that will keep them moving, thinking in different ways, and having fun.

Using a variety of hands-on kindergarten center activities will keep students active and on task.

Centers are also a great way to ensure you are reaching all of your students, no matter their learning style.

By switching up the activities, your students will use all the different parts of their brain. This leads to true comprehension and mastery of skills.

Centers also allow you to differentiate activities for your students to meet them where they're at. Therefore, all of your students can practice the same skill, but at the level that is just right for them.

Winter Literacy Center Ideas

When it comes to teaching literacy, there are a vast amount of skills to teach in kindergarten. You may have students reading at a 2nd grade level while others are working to master their letters and sounds.

The best way to ensure you are giving each student exactly what they need while keeping them engaged all winter long is to use winter kindergarten literacy centers.

The winter themes, such as snowmen, snowflakes, polar bears, and penguins will catch their attention. However, the array of winter kindergarten center ideas will keep them on task all winter long.

Students will practice key literacy skills such as rhyming, beginning sounds, sentence building, CVC words, and more.

You can even try a DIY version of this Winter Sentence Shuffle center. Simply write sight words and winter words on notecards to make up a sentence.

Shuffle the cards and have students unscramble the words to build a complete sentence. Have them write the sentence on a piece of lined writing paper and illustrate it.

Winter Math Center Ideas

Just like with literacy skills, there are a lot of important math skills to cover in the winter months.

From addition and subtraction to teen numbers and missing numbers, there's a lot of ground to cover this season.

While it's important to differentiate the skill level of your winter math centers, it's also important to differentiate the way students practice these skills.

Using various manipulatives and tools to help students work with mathematical concepts is the best way for them to learn. This also helps them find the strategy that works best for them.

For example, in these winter math centers for kindergarten, one of the activities is called Let's Make 10. Students look at the page to determine how many more are needed to make 10.

In this particular center, students use a bingo dabber to record how many more are needed.

However, some students may need a more hands-on approach. They may need to use manipulatives to count how many more are needed.

You can use plastic math cubes, mini erasers, or pom-pom balls to help them with this strategy. Other students may choose to keep track using tally marks to determine how many more are needed.

That's the beauty of winter math centers. You can always differentiate by adding basic manipulatives and encouraging students to try a new strategy.

Winter Writing Center Ideas

The first half of the school year focuses a lot on fine motor skills, handwriting, and helping students build up to writing complete sentences.

Once winter comes, it's time for your students to apply their beginning writing skills. They'll begin working to gain independence and use their creativity in writing.

By using winter-themed writing centers in your classroom, your students will learn seasonal vocabulary words as well as different types of writing. Some examples are opinion writing, story writing, sequencing, labeling, list making, and more.

You can give winter writing centers a try in your classroom by completing a DIY version. Make a list of winter words with your students on the whiteboard.

Write the sentence starter “I like ______ because __________” on the whiteboard.

After discussing the words, have each student choose one word to write about to complete the sentence starter.

Have students use lined writing paper to complete the sentence and draw a picture of the animal they chose.

Free Kindergarten Writing Prompts

Another quick and easy winter kindergarten center idea is to use these FREE kindergarten writing prompts at your independent writing center.

With various seasonal and non-seasonal writing prompts, your students can practice writing and illustrating while focusing on handwriting and writing conventions.

You can even encourage students to read their writing pieces aloud to practice reading fluency, speaking, and listening skills.

Just fill out the form below and they'll be delivered straight to your inbox!

I hope you enjoyed these winter kindergarten center ideas! For more winter activities and learning ideas, check out this blog post.

#1. DIY Snowman Craft

First up on the list of winter learning ideas for kindergarten is a fun, DIY snowman craft! All you need to make this craft are toilet paper rolls (or paper towel rolls cut in half), white paint, colored craft sticks, felt pieces, pipe cleaners, fuzzy pom-poms, stick-on eyes, scissors, glue, and a black marker.

Start by painting the toilet paper roll white. If you wanted to make this easier, you could collect toilet paper rolls that still have a bit of paper on them. Use scissors to make a slit on each side of the roll. Push the craft stick through the slits to make arms for the snowman.

Next, attach the stick-on eyes and add an orange felt nose. Complete the snowman's face by drawing on a mouth with the black marker. Create a scarf out of colored felt pieces and tie around the roll. Secure with a dab of glue. 

To finish the snowman, cut a piece of pipe cleaner and bend it to form the top of the earmuffs. Glue them to the top of the roll. Add the finishing touch to the snowman's earmuffs by gluing the fuzzy pom-poms to the sides of the roll.

#2. January Boom Cards

Do you want to incorporate technology into your winter learning ideas for kindergarten? The January Boom Card set is an interactive way to engage your learners all winter long! Plus, all of the winter-themed digital task cards are self-checking and include audio directions, so it saves you time and encourages independence in your students. 

The skills included in the 8 full-sized decks are: change the sound phoneme substitution, middle vowel sounds, spell the CVC word (beginning and ending sounds), CVC word recognition, addition within 10 using a ten frame, subtraction within 5, before and after teen numbers using a number line, and teen number ten frames. 

#3. Snowball Fight

Your students are going to have a ball with this winter learning idea for kindergarten. All you need is plain paper. Prep the paper by writing a sight word, CVC word, or number on each piece of paper. Pass one piece out to each student. In a very serious voice, tell them to listen closely.

“This is important, are you ready? What I need you to do next is…crumple your paper up into a snowball!” 

There will be a lot of giggles and stunned faces! Gather your students in a large circle. When you say “Snowball Fight” they will throw their snowballs at each other WITHOUT moving their feet. They must stay in place. When you say “STOP” they will pick up the closest snowball to them, open it up, and take turns reading the sight word, CVC word, or number aloud. 

#4. January Morning Tubs

If you are craving consistency and routine in the new year, January Morning Tubs are just the ticket! These hands-on, low prep activities are a great way to ease your students back into the school routine and review key math and literacy skills. There are 21 different activities included and various versions to allow for differentiation. All you need are basic classroom supplies.

Students will work on skills such as syllables, sight words, onset and rime, number comparison, teen numbers, addition, and more. With exciting themes like hot cocoa and snowflakes, your students will be in for a lot of learning this winter.

#5. Snowflake Sums

Snowflake Sums is an easy-to-prep, DIY activity that your students and their fine motor muscles will love. Simply write sums on snowflake foam cutouts. You can differentiate by writing sums to 5 or 10 based on your learners' needs. Next, write addition sentences on clothespins.

For this activity, students will lay out the foam snowflakes with sums. They will pick up a clothespin and read the addition sentence. Once they determine the sum, they will clip it onto the snowflake with the matching sum. You can easily prepare this math center by storing the snowflake sums and clothespins to 5, 10, and mixed sums in separate baggies. 

You can easily make this a subtraction activity by writing differences on the snowflakes and subtraction sentences on the clothespins.

#6. Penguin Craft Freebie

What kindergartener doesn't love penguins? This penguin craft freebie is an adorable, DIY craft. Each student's penguin will be unique, which is the beauty of this winter learning idea for kindergarten. All you need for this craft is construction paper, scissors, glue sticks, and a white marker. Add this to your penguin unit or winter lesson plans for creative fun!

#7. Snowman CVC Words

Working on CVC words and onset and rime is a key literacy skill this time of year. For this snowman CVC word game, simply use a die-cut machine to cut out several circles for snowballs. Students will decorate one circle to be their snowman's head. Write consonants and word family endings on the circles to make onset and rime snowballs. Separate the snowballs into onset and rime stacks.

To play, students will draw a snowball from the onset stack and a snowball from the rime stack. If the snowballs make a CVC word, the student gets to keep them and add them to their snowman. If they don't make a word, the snowballs go into the discard pile and play continues. The student with the most snowball words at the end of the game is the winner. 

#8. Penguin Snack

What's a sure way to motivate students? Survey says…SNACKS! This penguin snack is an adorable winter learning idea for kindergarten. They will enjoy building their penguin snack just as much as they enjoy eating it! This is a perfect way to incorporate winter and arctic animals into your snack time. Plus, they'll work on key listening skills too.

I hope these winter learning ideas for kindergarten have inspired your lesson plans for January. I can't wait to hear which of these 8 activities your students love most. Leave a comment below and let me know! 

Ingredients You'll Need for the Penguin Snack

• Graham crackers
• Vanilla frosting
• Blue food coloring
• Oreos
• Edible eyes
• Orange tic-tacs
• Goldfish crackers
• Tiny pretzels
• Squeezable frosting

Each student will need:

• 1 Oreo cookie
• 2 edible eyes
• 1 orange tic-tac
• 2 tiny pretzel twists
• 1 graham cracker sheet
• a small about of blue frosting (about 1 tbsp)
• 3 goldfish crackers
• a little bit of white squeezable frosting

Students will also need a paper plate to use as a work surface and something to spread the blue frosting (a spoon, tongue depressor, or plastic knife).

The first step in this penguin snack is to spread the blue frosting on the graham cracker. This is where having a paper plate as a work surface comes in handy. 

Once the frosting is spread on the graham cracker, students place the goldfish in the frosting to set. You'll want to tell students to place the goldfish on one side so they can be sure to leave room for the penguin. 

Now it's time to get the star of this penguin snack ready!

To make the penguin, students will squeeze a small amount of white frosting in the middle of the Oreo and “glue” on the two eyes and tic-tac nose. 

You can add a small dot of white frosting for the belly, if you'd like. 

To attach the feet, squeeze out white frosting on the bottom of the Oreo. Attach the pretzels and hold for a minute to let the frosting dry. Then place the Oreo penguin in the “water”. 

If the blue frosting has hardened, you can add just a bit more blue frosting on to the top of the graham cracker to help the penguin stick. 

Penguin Read Alouds

Snack time is a great time to incorporate a read aloud. Students are enjoying the snack they made and I find them to be extra attentive. You might choose to do a non-fiction read aloud or read a fun fiction book about penguins. Either way, I'm including a list of some of my favorite penguin read alouds. 

• Penguins! by Gail Gibbons
• Little Penguin Gets the Hiccups by Tadgh Bentley
• If You Were a Penguin by Florence Minor
• Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester
• Little Penguin and the Lollipop by Tadgh Bentley
• Ella and Penguin Stick Together by Megan Maynor
• National Geographic Readers: Penguins! by Anne Schreiber
• Penguins by Jill Esbaum

Label the Penguin Freebie

To complete the penguin snack and add an educational component, I’ve put together a free Label the Penguin printable page.

This page can be completed before the penguin snack or use it as an extension activity. Whether it’s done before or after, labeling is a must when it comes to penguin activities for kindergarten.

There’s no prep work required for this Label the Penguin printable, which makes it great to pull out at a moments notice. 

Students will need glue, scissors, and crayons to complete the page. They will cut out the penguin labeling words on the right and glue them in the boxes to show the parts of the penguin.

Once the students have completed the activity, they can color the picture. 

This article, along with many other articles on The Printable Princess, contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through the links I earn a small commission.  Clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps this website to keep great articles and freebies coming your way. 

Each student will need:

• background – 9×12″
• black body – 6×8″
• white belly – 4×6″
• black flippers (2) – 2×6″
• black eyes (2) – 1×1″
• whites (2) – 1.5×1.5″
• orange beak – 1.5″x1.5″
• orange feet (2) – 1.5″x1.5″

All measurements are in inches.

Assembling the Penguin:

For the flippers, round the corners to create an elongated oval (similar to the turkey feathers we did for the Thanksgiving craft).

Cut circles out for both eyes. To do this, have students round all four corners.

For the beak, fold the square in half and cut a triangle. It is important that students do not cut on the folded side – model, model, model! 

For the feet, round the top, leaving the bottom part straight and uncut, just like the body below.

For both the black and white body, round the top, leaving the bottom part flat – just like the feet.

Glue the black body in the middle of the paper. Glue the white belly on top of the black body. Make sure that the black body and white belly are even at the bottom.

Next put glue on the flippers. Slide the flippers in place under the black body. You can do this step before the white belly. 

Finish off the penguin craft for kindergarten by gluing on the eyes – the white circle goes on first, then the black circle.

Glue on the beak, under the eyes. Glue the feet on, being sure to tuck the flat side of the feet under the black body.

To complete this penguin craft for kids, have students use a white crayon or marker to draw snowflakes in the background. If you're brave enough, you could also use glitter. 

You can even draw snow at the bottom for the penguin to stand on.

100th Day Read Alouds

The 100th day of school isn't just for math. There are some fantastic read alouds ideas that are perfect for such a special day. I've compiled a list of my favorites. In no particular order, here are my favorite 100th Day read alouds:

• 100th Day Worries by Margery Cuyler
• Counting Our Way to the 100th Day! by Betsy Franco
• William's 100th Day of School by Lisa Bullard
• I'll Teach My Dog 100 Words by Michael Frith
• The Night Before the 100th Day of School by Natasha Wing
• Ms. Goozenpop's Crazy 100th School Day by Sandy Sanders
• 100 Days of Cool by Stuart Murphy
• Henry's 100 Days of Kindergarten by Nancy Carlson
• Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
• 100 School Days by Anne Rockwell
• Jake's 100th Day of School by Lester Laminack
• 100 Snowmen by Jen Arena
• Ready, Set, 100th Day! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
• 100 Days Of School (Math Is Fun!) by Trudy Harris
• Centipede's One Hundred Shoes by Tony Ross
• Fancy Nancy: The 100th Day of School by Jane O'Connor

100th Day Activities

Here's a few 100th day of school ideas that require little to no prep. Be sure to grab your freebie at the end.

100th Day of School Ideas for Stem Activities:

• Build a tower using 100 paper or plastic cups.
• Put together a 100 piece puzzle.
• Make a structure using 100 toothpicks and marshmallows.
• Use 100 Legos or blocks to build a structure.

100th Day of School Ideas Just for Fun:

• Stay quiet for 100 seconds. At the end yell “Happy 100th Day of School!”
• Have students close their eyes and open them when they think 100 seconds have passed. Who came the closest?
• Calculate what year it will be when students turn 100 years old.
• Learn to say the number 100 in a different language.
• Have students bring in 100 small items (pennies, marshmallows, paper clips, etc).
• Give students a blank piece of paper and have them make 100 thumbprints.
• Dress up as a 100 year old.
• Make a paper chain with 100 links. Divide students in to ten groups. Each group uses a different color, then combine the links to make a long chain.
• Look through magazines and newspapers for the number 100. Cut them out and create a class collage
• Make a class banner with 100 handprints.

100th Day of School Ideas for Kindness:

• As a class bring in 100 cans to donate to the local food bank.
• Collect 100 pairs of mittens or pairs of socks to donate to a local shelter.
• Make a list of 100 ways to be kind to others. Spend the rest of the year doing them and cross them off as they are completed.
• Think of 100 chores that students can do to help out at home or around the community.
• Give 100 compliments as a class.
• List 100 ways you could help someone.
• Create 100 cards for a local nursing home or children's hospital.
• Collect pennies, separate them into groups of 100, and donate them to a local cause.

100th Day of School Ideas for Exercises:

• Do 100 jumping jacks.
• Run in place for 100 seconds.
• Do 10 sets of 10 exercises.
• Jump 100 times.
• Estimate where 100 steps would take you, then walk 100 steps to see how close you are.
• See who can walk the farthest in 100 steps.
• Dance for 100 seconds.
• Touch your toes 100 times.
• Run a 100 yard dash.
• Bounce a ball 100 times.

100th Day of School Ideas for Snacks:

• Make a 100th Day Trail Mix snack.
• String 100 fruit loops to make a necklace.
• Create the number 100 using a baby carrot and two cucumber slices.
• Make a 100 day snack using a stick wafer cookie and two round cookies.
• 100th Day Hershey Kiss hunt, then divide them and eat them.

100th Day of School Ideas for Literacy:

• Put 100 magnetic letters in a bag. Pick one at a time. Name each letter an/or sounds as you pull them out.
• Complete literacy centers with a 100th day theme.
• Have students draw a picture of what they will look like in 100 years.
• Finish the sentence “If I had $100, I would…”
• Write 100 words: sight words, cvc words, etc.
• Write a shared story of 100 sentences, each student adds one sentence at a time.
• Finish the sentence “I wish I had 100…” and then make a class list.
• 100 seconds to write your name as many times as possible.
• Writing prompt “Something I couldn't do 100 days ago, but today I can.”
• Naming writing practice! Collect 100 autographs (works great as a grade-level).
• Write the word “one hundred days” on the board. See how many words students can make using those letters.

100th Day of School Ideas for Math:

• Build a structure using 100 snap cubes.
• Write the numbers 1 – 100.
• Count to 100 by ones, twos, fives, and/or tens.
• Count to 100 as a class, each child says one number until you reach 100.
• Stack 100 pennies.
• Make 100 tally marks.
• Make a list of things you do in 100 seconds and 100 minutes.
• See how many numbers you can write in 100 seconds.
• Count out 100 plastic bears and stand them in a line.
• Count out 100 links and link them together.
• Have small groups of students flip a coin 100 times and record the results using tally marks.
• Die cut a number 1 and two 0's for each student. Let students design a picture.
• Play Roll and Race to 100.

I hope you can grab a few of these ideas and incorporate them into your 100th day celebration! I'd love to hear how you celebrate this special day in your classroom. You can check out my 100th day of school activity pack for even more math and literacy ideas!

Until next time,