Winter Changes for the Classroom  

• Add snowflakes and snowmen all around your room.
• Add books about winter to your classroom display.
• Add blankets and sleeping bags to your book area.
• Add snowmen, snow or winter flannel board stories.
• Add winter books and tapes to your listening area.
• Add winter clothing to your house area.
• Add a thermometer to your science area.
• Put out a big welcome sign that says "Welcome Winter".
• Keep a bag of cut up tissue paper and throughout the day, randomly sprinkle a handful of flurries down on the children.
• Add lots of cotton balls and other white materials to your collage area. Add in small twigs, buttons, scrap material, etc.
• Use packing Styrofoam peanuts to make a snowstorm in your class. Throw it on the floor and then give the children gloves, mittens, scarves and hats to wear while they "play" in the snow. It's messy but it is well worth the clean-up time.
• Bring in a sled and let the children sit on it. Have the children estimate how many can fit on it before you actually let them sit on it.
• Cut large pieces of Styrofoam to resemble blocks of ice and add them to the block area. You can also add penguins and polar bears.
• Add pictures of snow, winter animals and other cold places cut from magazines or real photos you may have taken. Encyclopedias and the Internet are also great to find pictures.
• Set up a hat shop or winter clothing shop in your house area. Be sure to add shopping bags, a cash register, small notepads and pencils, play money, etc.