Explore Must-Do Low Prep Snow Activities for Kids in the Classroom

There’s just something magical about snow! The way it seems to just appear on the ground when we awake, the soft blanket we can jump in, and so many more aspects that make it seem magical! We don’t get a lot of snow in Texas, but when we do the kids’ faces light up! Snow is a natural phenomenon that just leaves us in awe. Winter was one of my favorite seasons to incorporate activities within the classroom. Let’s chat about some great snow activities for kids you can do in your classroom this winter!

5 Snow Read Alouds for Kids

There are so many great books you can read-aloud to your students to teach them about snow. Building background knowledge is essential. Many of these are favorites teachers have, while others may be new! There are great fiction and nonfiction books.

• Sneezy the Snowman– This is one of my favorite winter books! This is a cute story about a cold snowman who tries to warm himself but keeps melting! My students loved this one! We always had a class discussion afterward where we brainstormed other ways a snowman could melt.

• The Story of Snow– This is a great, new-to-me book that explains the science behind snow and snow crystals. Fascinating! The pictures are beautiful! This is a great book to teach main idea and details with! This lesson is included in the January 2025 Read Aloud Library lessons! Join us inside the membership HERE!

• Snowflake Bentley– This is a true story about a man named Wilson Bentley who was fascinated with snow and snowflakes. I enjoyed learning about him and what he learned about snowflakes. This is a great book to use for teaching determining importance! Find this lesson inside The Read Aloud Library for January 2024, or grab it HERE on TeachersPayTeachers.

• Blizzard– This story is based on the author’s experience of waking up to lots of snow one morning in his childhood. Blizzard has great illustrations! I really enjoyed this book, and it is great for teaching character traits and feelings! Find this engaging lesson HERE.

• Snowmen at Night– This is an oldie but a goodie! I remember reading this book every year during winter. We loved imagining what a snowman might do at night after! It’s a great read aloud to use as you discuss and learn about point of view. You can find the read aloud lesson HERE to use with your students!

Snow Science Activities For Kids

What better way to bring science and literacy together than doing snow activities for kids with your class? In science, we are encouraging kids to see science beyond the classroom. We want kids to see science everywhere! As I said earlier, snow is a natural phenomenon that seems so magical! Here are some snow science activities.

• Snowstorm in a Jar– This is a FREE activity I created that you can do with your students to show them a snowstorm in a jar. You probably have lots of the materials handy in your teacher cabinet! I have a FREEBIE with teacher notes and a student journal page HERE!

• Snow Science Unit– If you are looking for simple, low-prep science lessons about snow, this unit is for you! This unit has 5 lesson plans and lots of activities that incorporate snow! Your students will learn about snow formation, snow safety tips, and activities they can do in the snow! Find the Snow Unit HERE!

Extra Fun Snow Activities for Kids

• Puffy “Paint” Snowman Writing– Make a melted snowman using equal parts shaving cream & glue. Drop the shaving cream/glue mixture on our papers, and it will dry to make a puffy, melted snowman! I would also let them cut out a scarf, hat, nose, and eyes for their snowman from scraps of paper. These turn out precious, and the students love making them!

• Paper Snowball Fight– This activity is perfect to use as a behavior incentive. Save all of your recycling and divide the class into two teams or groups. Give them 5 minutes to crumple as many paper balls as they can. Then, use those to have an indoor snowball fight. They loved this one!
  • **BONUS PHONICS IDEA** Before crumpling, write phonics patterns on the paper, 1 per piece. Then, if a kid gets hit and is “out,” they can come back in by uncrumpling the snowball they were hit with and correctly reading the phonics skills written.

• Snowball Phonics Toss– Use large, white pom-poms and cups labeled with various phonics patterns to play a snowball toss game! Read more about that HERE in this blog post.

What are your favorite books for teaching about snow? Do you have any favorite activities to do with your class? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!