The winter months….as in December, January, and even February are full-fledged madness. It’s no wonder you probably worry you won’t survive the holidays as a teacher. With so many holidays that can be covered, a classroom full of antsy kids itching for a break, and the holiday treats with enough sugar to fuel a jet engine, it’s a wonder how teachers survive these winter months.
Just in the span of 3 months, these are just SOME of the holidays celebrated.
- Kwanzaa
- Hanukkah
- Christmas
- New Year’s Eve
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- 100th Day of School
- Groundhog’s Day
- Super Bowl
- Lunar New Year
- Valentine’s Day
- President’s Day
Not every student celebrates the holidays so if you are looking for tons of winter ideas instead, I have you covered there as well! Morning routines honestly go out the window during the cold months! I have lived in Arizona for two decades but spent my youth in the midwest. I can still remember coming into the classroom and spending soooo much time taking off all those layers!
Themes for Winter
One of the biggest tips about celebrating holidays and the winter season is to have a theme! Instead of starting something completely new, brush up on old skills. Depending on the age, diversity of the school, etc. there are many ways you can go with this!
Have everything winter-themed, arctic-themed, penguin-themed, etc. Or do mini-units on those favorite books for the season. The Polar Express is obviously a great standby during the winter season, but there are so many other books you can make an entire week’s worth of fun with! Just a few to name: Snowflake Bentley, Over the River and Through the Woods, The Mitten, and The Snowy Day. Books for Celebrating the Winter Season
Another fun way to use these snowmen is first read the book Snowmen At Night and then have students write about what they think would happen if snowmen come alive at night!
For an even easier snowmen themed activity, check out my Winter Snowman Writing Craft and Display!
Winter Bulletin Boards for the Winter Season
Teachers are so busy in October-January that I am sure many wondered why they have pumpkins still displayed when it’s snowing! Designing bulletin boards don’t have to take long. Try to see what can be used for a season rather than just one month. For example, sure that Christmas tree display will look great the three weeks you are actually in school, but what about after? Keep it simple and focus on the season, rather than a certain holiday. Plus, this is great for classrooms with a diversity of students and not specific to just Christmas!
An easy bulletin board to do is make a winter snowscape. I had a MASSIVE amount of wall space outside one classroom and the kids turned the area around the door into an entire snow scene. They made snowflakes and drew themselves skiing, making snowmen, etc. Sorry, the pictures aren’t the greatest because they were taken before the era of Smartphones, editing apps, and hallway lighting that wasn’t gross.
Another REALLLY easy board to make involved foam snowflakes and kids pictures….that’s it!
Grab some foam large snowflakes by clicking here.
One of my favorite bulletin boards was this one with a fun-looking fireplace! Each kiddo picked one of their favorite books and write a brief summary and drew a picture.
All you need to make this board are paper towels or toilet paper rolls for logs, and white paper folded in half and glued to construction paper. To make flames, just use large pieces of construction paper or butcher paper. Many teachers or craft stores have brick bulletin board paper, but if for some reason you can’t find it, or don’t want to trek out in the snow, Amazon has it!
Another really easy and cheap bulletin board was when I made a snow globe “shelf”. The students each drew their families and it was great to see the varying dynamics of each family. After they were done drawing, they cut around the drawing and then glued it to a blue plate. After adding snow and glitter, they then glued a clear plastic plate to the blue one. That’s it! It is such an easy and inexpensive bulletin board.
If you are looking for even MORE winter activities and ideas, what began as a HUGE blog post years ago is now broken into smaller posts for the winter months. Read on to get ideas, tips, activities, and more for the winter season and holidays! This will hopefully help you survive the winter holidays as a teacher.
Posts for Surviving the Holidays As A Teacher
Now, if you have come here in full panic mode and need activities RIGHT NOW, you can skip the blog posts and check out my Winter Holidays MEGA Bundle! It is full of NO PREP and digital math and ELA activities for December, January, February, and winter! You will be able to have activities that cover many second grade standards such as main idea, elapsed time, parts of speech, 2 and 3-digit addition and subtraction, sentences fragments, word problems, creative writing, and so much more. Plus this bundle includes 22 centers for winter and December and 2 writing crafts! It’s the ultimate winter bundle that will save your sanity during the winter months!
Disclaimer: The items linked in this post are affiliate links for Amazon. All that means is that if you purchase the item after opening this link, I will get a small stipend.
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