Homeschooling in the Winter – 10 Winter-Themed Activities & Lesson Ideas -

Homeschooling in the Winter – 10 Winter-Themed Activities & Lesson Ideas

It’s the start of the new year and while many may be already longing for warmer days, remember that winter officially began only a few weeks ago!

Even though the excitement of the holidays has passed, there is still plenty of time for fun winter activities! The winter months are traditionally seen as a time to slow down and rest and while we definitely want to take advantage of these months, as homeschool parents we also still want to make our days fun-filled and take advantage of all the season has to offer.

To help you make the most out of it, I’ve created this Winter Homeschool Bucket List of activities and lesson ideas to make your winter fun and educational!

1. Create Paper Snowflakes

Making some paper snowflakes is a great way to add some fun back into your home after the excitement from the holiday decorations are put away. Use this activity to teach your child about symmetry, as a complement to a science lesson about the season or weather or as your weekly art lesson.

2. Take a Winter Nature Walk

It’s good to stay active all year round, even when the weather is colder. Winter can actually be a great time to get outside and take a nature walk as we can observe the differences in an environment throughout the seasons. Make it interactive by creating a scavenger hunt and include things like winter plants and wildlife, animal tracks, pinecones, icicles and more.

3. Build a Bird Feeder

Help your local wildlife by making homemade bird feeders out of pinecones, peanut butter and birdseed. You can use this as an opportunity to learn about birds and how they survive in winter. Check back every day to see if you can spot any birds or other animals at your bird feeder.

4. Make Winter Treats Together

After spending time outside in the cold, warm up but making some winter treats together! Find a recipe for homemade hot chocolate, warm chocolate chip cookies or even a healthy soup recipe for lunch or dinner. Use this opportunity to teach about measurements, chemical reactions in baking or simply learning how to cook.

5. Enjoy Winter-Themed Books & Movies

Plan a cozy indoor day with some winter books, movies or documentaries. You can make it special by making an indoor blanket fort and having some yummy snacks. If you want to make it more educational, you could plan a writing or art activity for after that goes with the theme of the movie. Here are some of our favorite winter books, movies and documentaries:

Books:

Movies:

The Chronicles of Narnia
Balto
Happy Feet
Ice Age
Frozen

Documentaries:

6. Winter Science Experiments

Conduct some winter science experiments using snow or ice! Try making ice cream or add salt to an ice cube to observe the melting process and learn about freezing points. For some more experiment ideas and steps, check out these Youtube videos:

7. Study Arctic Animals

Plan a unit study on arctic animals with each lesson being about a different animal such as polar bears, penguins, narwhals, walruses, arctic foxes, snowy owls and more. Learn about their habitat, how they survive and create animal fact sheets. Here are some documentaries and books you could add to your unit study resource list:

Documentaries:

Books:

8. Track Weather Patterns

Start a weather journal and track the temperature, snowfall, and other weather changes each day. Watch some weather related videos and discuss why the weather changes with the seasons:

9. Do a Winter STEM Challenge

Create a winter-themed STEM Challenge to practice problem-solving and engineering skills. For example, you could have your child build the tallest “snowman” using only marshmallows and toothpicks or construct an igloo using sugar cubes and icing.

10. Take a Snow Day!

Growing up in public school, one of the things I always looked forward to in winter was snow days—no school and lots of outdoor fun! If you’re lucky enough to have a fresh blanket of snow, consider taking a day off of lessons and give your children a ‘snow day’. Get the family outside to build snowmen or an igloo, make snow angels or have a (friendly!) snowball fight.

You could also plan a fun day of sledding, ice skating, or even skiing and snowboarding. These activities not only keep everyone moving during the slow winter months but also create great family memories.

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