Winter Math Activities for Preschoolers
Are you surrounded by ice and snow, or simply looking to bring a bit of winter wonder into your classroom? Regardless of the weather, preschoolers are sure to enjoy these winter math activities featuring playful “icicles” and “snowballs.” These engaging preschool math activities encourage children to explore and count with enthusiasm right from the start.
Don’t forget to check out the free number formation printable available at the end of this post, perfect for enhancing various math activities and lessons time and time again.
This winter math activity is a staple in my classroom, capturing the attention of preschoolers year after year.
Using beads and pipe cleaners, children engage in sorting and sliding to create snowy icicles. The best part… counting is so naturally woven into this activity that it was automatic that the preschoolers counted and sorted and compared as they engaged in this hands on math activity.
They never knew they were practicing counting… they were too busy having fun!
It’s a fun and educational way to blend play with learning, making math an enjoyable part of their day.
Winter Math Activities for Preschoolers
Using fun manipulatives and these engaging number formation cards is a great way to infuse learning and seasonal fun for your preschoolers! Using these number formation cards is a great way to practice pre-writing skills and develop confidence in number recognition and number identification.
For even more number fun, check out our Christmas number counting activities or for any time of the year, we have a dozen number identification activities for hands on math fun.
Winter Books for Preschool
We love those winter books for preschool! With fun and adorable storylines, these preschool winter stories bring the chilly season to life!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no cost to you, I may earn a small sum if you click through and make a purchase.
- Wright, Maureen (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Tiger Tales (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Smith, Sian (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- In the follow-up to her bestselling Too Many Carrots, Katy Hudson delivers a charming picture book,…
- Hardcover Book
- Dean, James (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Messner, Kate (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- ISBN13:9780439567039
- Format:Paperback Book
- Shaw, Gina (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Rustad, Martha E. H. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
Winter Math Activities with Number Formation Cards
With a single number formation math printable and a few materials, I’ll show you five winter math activities for preschoolers! They’re perfect for your winter theme.
What’s Included
You’ll get numbers 0-9 included with the number tracing cards with corresponding arrows to indicate the correct way to form the number. Tip – Model first how to write the number with their finger and then invite the child to try it themselves.
Additional Materials
- Iridescent pipe cleaners
- White pony beads
- Light blue pony beads
- Number formation cards
NOTE: These number formation cards have been updated and now feature a ten frame representing the numeral on the card. Now, you can do even more counting activities with preschoolers using these cards.
The Set Up
Place the pony beads in a bowl, all mixed up. Alternatively, you can invite your preschooler to sort out the wintery colors from a larger set of beads. (That’s a super easy activity to add to your sorting lesson plans in preschool math).
Set the bowl of beads and the iridescent pipe cleaners on a tray with the printable number cards and invite your preschoolers to join you in a little fine motor fun!
Preschool Winter Math Activities
With a variety of ways to use the number formation cards and ten frame sets, these are just a few ideas that we loved using in the classroom!
If your preschooler thinks that math is play, then I’d say we are winning at this learning thing!
Winter Fine Motor and Sorting
So, I invited my boys to sort out all the winter colored pony beads but you can come up with your own sorting rules. As you can see, we were not limited to white and light blue, but there were a few grays and off-whites in there, too, which made it more fun and a little more challenging! It’s winter!
Sorting out the pony beads required a lot of skill work as they delicately picked out the winter colored pony beads.
And sorting is one of the first math skills related to algebra! In fact, I spend several weeks working on sorting skills with my preschoolers.
Counting and Threaded Beading
After the beads were all sorted out, I allowed a little time for my boys to just add the beads to the pipe cleaner. That’s when we decided that the beads were snowballs and the pipe cleaners were icicles.
This is a really important step that shouldn’t be skipped when removing traditional winter worksheets and replacing them with fun winter play-based activities instead. The rest of your lesson will go more smoothly if the children are allowed to play with the materials a little bit first. (But I did ask my preschoolers not to bend the pipe cleaner).
So the boys “poked” the snowballs with icicles as they practiced threading the beads onto the pipe cleaner. This is fantastic fine motor work, and you gotta’ love having a winter theme to it, too!
When the icicles were full of snowballs, we counted together as each snowball was pulled off and placed back into the bowl. The boys were able to count easily to about 15 before they lost track and I modeled counting to finish for them.
Number Tracing
After the initial activity above, I then offered the boys number formation cards. We’ve used these for a ton of activities before, but this is the first time I’ve ever shared them on my blog.
Number formation is a big deal in kindergarten! These cards can be added to your kindergarten math activities. Remember the updated cards have ten frames on them, so they are appropriate for many number sense activities.
The boys drew a card at random, traced the number with their finger, and then counted out the corresponding number or snowballs onto their icicle.
Alternatively, you can also place these number formation cards in a dry erase pocket and use dry erase markers, too. Sometimes I offer them that way just to make them seem new again.
Number Formation Ten Frame Cards
Of course, these cards can be drawn at random and students can count out the corresponding number of snowballs to thread onto the icicle.
Since the updated free winter counting cards have ten frames, the children can practice one to one correspondence twice by first placing the beads onto the ten frame and then threading them onto the pipe cleaner.
Number Matching
Later in the week, we followed the opposite of the above activity and the boys added a few snowballs before finding the corresponding number card from a pile. Once selected, they traced the number with their finger and then identified the number, followed by one more time counting as they removed the beads from the pipe cleaner.
If your preschoolers or kindergarten students struggle with the matching activity, have them remove the beads from the pipe cleaner to place on the ten frames on the card to self-check if they match or not.
Winter Addition Activities
Since we were working with two basic colors, blue and white, some addition practice naturally came about. One of my little boys drew a number formation card, and both boys identified the number and traced it with their finger. Then, they added the corresponding number of beads…in a single color.
Let’s say white.
Then, we drew a second card and repeated the above to essentially make a number sentence. 3+2=5
The two different colors of beads represented part-part-whole adding. To help my little boys understand this better, I use language like, “You have three white snowballs, and then you added two blue snowballs. So now you have five snowballs on your icicle!”
Winter Math Activities for Preschoolers
Infusing your math time with mathematical seasonal math activities is a great way to practice new skills with a twist!
- Patterning Activities for Winter
- Penguin Winter Graphing
- Winter Counting Activities
- Sensory Bin for Winter
- Counting Snowballs Winter Activity
- Snowman Shape Puzzles
Winter Math Worksheets for Kindergarten
Looking for some winter math worksheets for your preschool and kindergarteners? The list below has some math ideas that are really special!
Winter Preschool Toys
Spice up your preschool toys with these fun winter themed toys that build fine motor skills, art, and even learning about animals that love the winter time weather! Grab a few and add them to your winter time themes for even more engaging fun in the classroom.
- ❤Winter themed sewing cards kits: the lacing cards includes 12 different winter themed cardboard…
- ❤Lacing cards size: The lacing card is about 7 x 5 inches, perfect for kids to sewing and lacing,…
- ❤Double sides sewing kit: cute winter holiday unique design, snowflake, penguin, Christmas tree,…
- PACKING INCLUDES: 5 pack cute Christmas snowman nesting dolls
- EXQUISITE DESIGN: Christmas snowman nesting dolls are handmade of wood, high quality acrylic paints
- SIZE: Comes with 5 different sizes nesting dolls.The largest one is around 5.39″ High.The smallest…
- Included-10 arctic animal toy set including 1 polar bear, 1 reindeer, 1 arctic hare, 1 arctic wolf,…
- Safe material-Our animal model toy set is made of high-quality and durable PVC plastic, hand-painted…
- Realistic simulation details-This polar animal character suit is hand-painted and has a highly…
- SPARK MORE CREATIVITY! Let’s try something new! Educational Insights toys and games provide…
- SELF-CONTAINED WINTER-THEMED SENSORY STATION: The Playfoam Winter Sensory Bin includes everything…
- BUILD FINE MOTOR SKILLS: Sifting, sorting, scooping, and extracting builds the fine motor skills…
- Package quantity: there are 36 pieces of Christmas snowflake stamps with 6 different styles, 6…
- Self-inking stamper: our winter assorted snowflake stampers are all designed with colored ink…
- Various snowflake styles: come with different snowflake patterns and classic colors, you can choose…
- Create Your Own Snowflake: Get festive by building a 3D Snowflake! This toy set includes all the…
- STEM / STEAM Toy: Develop creativity, logic, and fine motor skills through hands-on play. This kit…
- Easy-to-Follow Instructions: The Snowflake Tube comes with step-by-step instructions, so even…
Want the FREE Number Formation Cards?
You can grab them right here! I’ve used them for a ton of activities, so stay tuned for more! Just click the image below.
Get Free Winter Lesson Plans for Preschool
Looking for winter themed lesson plans for your preschool? Here are some free winter preschool ideas to get you started.
I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
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