Rainbow Snowman Fine Motor Activities

Snowman activities bring so much joy to preschoolers, and these winter fine motor activities are no exception! Perfect for integrating into your winter preschool lesson plans, this fun activity combines fine motor skill practice with color sorting in a winter-themed setup.

Plus, the adorable rainbow snowmen are available as a free printable, making it an easy and engaging addition to your classroom or home learning environment.

Winter is the perfect time to incorporate themed activities that keep preschoolers engaged while developing essential skills.

These winter fine motor activities focus on strengthening small hand muscles, which are crucial for tasks like writing and cutting. By pairing fine motor practice with a fun snowman color-sorting activity, you’ll be teaching foundational skills in a way that feels like play.

These activities are easy to integrate into your winter preschool lesson plans and are a great way to add hands-on learning to your daily routine. With free rainbow snowman printables, it’s never been simpler to combine fine motor development with seasonal fun!

We also have Christmas Tree Color Sorting Cards, too!

Snowman Fine Motor Activities

These winter themed fine motor activities are geared toward preschoolers, but not to worry, as always I offer a few ways to use this same printable for toddlers, too!

I have a two-year-old little boy who loves to “go sool”, (go to school), so I’m always inventing ways to include him without having to completely redesign the activity. honestly, all my color sorting cards are my favorite ways to teach toddlers their colors.

What’s Included

This freebie is a set for snowman cards that some in all six rainbow colors. They can be printed on white cardstock in full color, or you can use the blackline master to print on colored paper. Each page featured two snowmen, making each card just the right size for preschoolers or on-the-go activities.

Materials

• free snowman printable (grab it at the end of this post)
• pom poms in rainbow colors (or other rainbow colored manipulative)
• small tongs or tweezers

The Set-Up

Print the snowman printable on heavy cardstock. There are two versions available. You can print the snowmen in color or alternatively you can print the blackline copy on colored paper instead.

Place the snowmen on a table with a set of rainbow manipulatives of some sort. Here are some ideas of manipulatives you can use:

• pom poms
• buttons
• math counters
• floral pebbles
• connecting cubes
• crumpled paper
• cotton balls

Place the counters on a tray, all mixed up, alongside the snowman printable.

Winter Fine Motor Skills

The primary activity that inspired this simple (but oh-so-fun) preschool activity is straightforward. Invite your preschooler to use the tongs or tweezers to sort the colored pom poms onto the snowman printable mats. I referred to the pom poms as snowballs, which my preschoolers loved all the more.

Using the tweezers was a little challenging for some. They are hard to “tweeze”, which is by design because it really works on strengthening their hands.

If your preschooler chooses to use their whole hand to grasp the tweezers, that’s ok. Just like in pencil grasp development, using tweezers comes in stages. It takes coordination and a lot of strength.

Check out our Guide to Pencil Grasp Development.

If your preschooler is using his whole hand to squeeze the tweezers, it’s because his fingers are not strong enough. Whole hand strength comes before fine motor strength. In fact, some preschoolers or toddlers might even use two hands.

How to Teach Colors Using Rainbow Snowmen Printable

One of my favorite things about these color sorting cards is that they are such an inviting way to teach preschoolers their colors. Your preschoolers will naturally sort the colored pom poms into colors, even without direction.

Color recognition can be reinforced as the children move the pom poms from the original tray to the color mats by saying each color as they do so. You might find your preschoolers naturally doing that too! They might also sort through the tray of pom poms to find all those in a single color.

Fine Motor Activities for Winter Theme

One challenge of teaching preschoolers is that they come to you with such a wide range of skills. Here are some ideas of how you can use this snowman printable with various skill levels in your classroom.

1. Provide older preschoolers with various color sorting manipulatives that may be more difficult to use with tweezers. Connecting cubes, for example, might be more difficult.
2. Add even more fine motor fun by inviting your preschoolers to make their own rainbow “snowballs” by crumpling up construction paper or tissue paper.
3. Invite younger preschoolers to just explore using the tweezers or tongs. Don’t worry about the color sorting.
4. Or, do just the opposite and eliminate the tweezers or tongs and just invite your younger preschooler to sort the pom poms by hand.
5. Add a math component by rolling a die and inviting your preschooler to count sets of pom poms onto the snowmen printables.
6. Use the blackline copy of the snowmen and staple into a booklet. Invite your preschoolers to color their own snowmen in rainbow colors.
7. Make small copies, and multiple copies, of the snowman printable to place in a sensory bin. Throw in all your rainbow pom poms and some scoops to make a complete winter sensory bin.

Did you know we have Christmas Color Sorting Cards, too?

Grab Your FREE Snowman Printable

Think this snowman printable fits in with your winter fine motor activities? Grab your free copy by clicking the image below.

Snowman Activities for Preschoolers

Check out these other snowman activities by some of my favorite kid bloggers! So fun!

• Snowman Ten Frame Counting Activities
• 6 Winter Math Activities for Preschool
• Snowman Matching Activities
• Snowman Number Counting Mats
• Roll-a-Snowman Playdough Mat
• Snowman Fine Motor Busy Bag

How about a Snowman Paper Plate Craft? It’s the cutest!

Sarah Punkoney, MAT

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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