Books and Giggles
Winter kids activities & crafts
Just when winter is getting oh-so-dull, we hit the 100th day of school and have an excuse to liven things up in the classroom! These cute 100th Day of School printables for preschool and kindergarten will help you celebrate with your students. Has it really been almost 100 days since your kids donned their first…
Grab your watercolors for this cute little set of winter paint-by-letter worksheets. You’ve probably heard of paint by number. For your preschoolers who love to paint with watercolors, we’ve created an early literacy offshoot of that. Winter Paint by Letter With these free worksheets, students will find the letters and paint them a specific color….
Your kids will be thrilled to decorate their own winter hats with this editable winter hat name craft! They’re a fantastic way to practice letter identification, scissor skills, and spelling their own name, and they look fabulous on a winter or holiday bulletin board! These editable hats are so much fun and very easy to…
Your students can work on tracing curvy lines with this free printable winter tracing activity. Sometimes you just want a simple, no-prep activity that keeps your kids busy on a cold winter day. Other times you have specific fine motor skill goals that you need your students to work on. These free printable winter line…
Dive into a mini hibernation unit with these fun bear hibernation hats for kids! They’re the perfect way to practice sequencing while teaching about winter animals at the same time. Kids are fascinated by the concept of hibernation. It’s hard to imagine that animals can sleep for months at a time! This makes hibernation a…
With this free printable Christmas letter tracing activity students can also work on fine motor skills and uppercase lowercase matching. Today I’m sharing another low-prep Christmas alphabet activity with you. This one is very similar to my winter letter tracing activity. So if you get your students familiar with how to use these in December,…
Get your kids excited for the holiday season with these customizable Christmas tree lot name puzzles! They’re a fantastic way to practice letter identification, spelling their name, and fine motor skills all at the same time. There’s nothing quite like receiving something made just for you. These editable name puzzles will make your students feel…
Are your students learning lowercase letters? These Christmas tree ABC spinners are a fun way to practice discriminating easily confused letters while still getting into the holiday spirit! Christmas Tree Lowercase Letter Activity This easy prep letter-matching activity is such a perfect morning starter or independent activity during the holidays! Kids love using spinners, and…
Inside: free printable Polar Express alphabet worksheets and tips on how to use them with preschoolers or young kindergartners. Polar Express Alphabet Worksheets It’s that magical time of year! If you’re planning to read or watch Polar Express, then your kids will love practicing the letters B, C, E, H, and T with these free…
Help your students make the most adorable gingerbread houses this year without baking a single cookie! These printable color your own gingerbread house templates are so much easier than decorating cookies and are a wonderful holiday activity for pre-K and primary students! Your kids will absolutely love this gingerbread activity! It feels more like playing…
Christmas is just around the corner! Your preschoolers can help Santa’s elves build lowercase letters with this hands-on alphabet activity. Elf ABC Activity It’s the season of shorter-than-ever attention spans, but I hope these free printable alphabet cards will help you sneak in some fun early literacy practice! Skills Covered Once students can sing the…
This free printable reindeer alphabet activity is self-checking and also provides engaging fine motor skills practice. Letter Matching with Santa and His Reindeer When your students are wide-eyed with excitement waiting for Christmas, it’s not hard to turn that energy into engagement! Read aloud books about Santa and pull out this cute hands-on letter-matching activity…
Inside: a free printable uppercase and lowercase letter match activity that you can use after reading aloud The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett, or with a polar bear unit. I love Jan Brett’s beautiful winter books and have made activities for The Mitten and a cute craft for The Snowy Nap. Today I’m adding…
Do you have a penguin lover in your life or are your students learning about penguins? Don’t miss these children’s books about penguins!
Inside: Match the snowmen to their hats with this cute printable winter beginning sounds activity for preschool or kindergarten. These snowmen need their hats, but they each want a certain hat… Winter Letter Sounds Activity In this hands-on snowman-themed activity, children will identify the picture that each snowman is holding, and then find the hat…
Inside: these free, editable winter name worksheets give your preschoolers practice recognizing and writing their names. Last fall I emailed out a simple “My name is…” worksheet for back to school, and I received a lot of positive feedback from subscribers. So, I thought I’d make you a winter themed one, decorated with a cute…
Inside: a list of polar bear books for kids with descriptions of each title so that you can choose the best book for your preschool, kindergarten, or early elementary students. Polar bears are such a popular animal for kids! Whether your young reader is obsessed with polar bears or you are preparing for a unit…
Inside: this winter syllable sorting printable activity is a fun, interactive way for preschoolers to work on phonological awareness. They will practice distinguishing one- and two-syllable words, and segmenting the two-syllable words. Weeeeee! Raise your hand if you love sledding! (or you did as a kid) Today we’re pretending to slide over a bump or…
Inside: this Christmas letter tracing activity has preschoolers tracing and finding lowercase letters. Imagine the squeals and laughter as children squirt frosting onto sugar cookies. These paper letter tracing “cookies” are almost as much fun, but not nearly as messy. (Not that you shouldn’t do both!) Christmas Letter Tracing Activity If you’re looking for an…
Inside: This free printable Christmas stockings letter sounds activity gives preschoolers hands-on practice working on letter recognition and initial sounds. “The stockings were hung by the chimney with care…” One of the exciting things about Christmas is hanging up stockings for Santa to fill. You can use that idea to make working with the alphabet…
This free Christmas fine motor skills printable is perfect for your Holidays Around the World unit, especially for Christmas in Hawaii or Australia. Preschoolers can use these to practice line tracing and scissors skills. Surf’s up! Santa is catching some waves in this fun, easy-prep activity. You can pair this with our tropical Christmas sensory…
Inside: this tropical Christmas sensory play activity includes a mini Santa hat tutorial, recommended books, and more. Whether you’re teaching a Holidays Around the World unit, live somewhere where there is more sand than snow, or are just looking for some interesting December sensory play ideas, your preschoolers will love this activity. You might even…
This holiday letter J activity for preschool is just right for the winter season! You can use it during Polar Express week, after teaching the song Jingle Bells, or whenever else it fits in your December or January plans. The ring of jingle bells always puts me in a festive mood. They remind me of…
Inside: this list of hibernation books for preschoolers includes both picture books and nonfiction choices perfect for teaching and celebrating animals in winter. Kids are fascinated by the changing of the seasons. They naturally wonder what happens to the animals in the cold of winter. Where do they go? How do they stay warm? Where…