A winter theme means being able to explore a major seasonal change that summons snow and fun filled activities such as building snowmen, snowball fights, and learning about animals that live in cold climates.

January Themes Ideas

• Hibernation.
• Penguins.
• Snow, Snowmen, Ice.
• Winter Clothing.
• Five Senses.
• Arctic Animals.
• Opposites.
• Day and Night.

If you love the outdoors, winter brings about tons of activities, such as skiing, ice skating, and sledding. If you’re more indoor-oriented, winter is the perfect excuse to stay inside with a good book or movie. However you prefer to spend the season, these are 20 things you need to do this winter.

Put winter clothing like hats, gloves, coats and scarves in your dramatic play area. If possible, provide a large mirror so the students can see themselves dressed in the different types of winter clothes. Let the children paint and decorate a large appliance box to be used as a bear cave for the dramatic play area.

Add books that show pictures that represent the winter season. You can also take photos of the trees and other plant life around your school showing how they look in winter to display in the science center. Place two English muffin halves on a plate, one above the other, like a snowman.

Clear cups are inexpensive and fun to add to the block center. I told my class these are like ice blocks. Kids can use these to decorate their winter block creations and they can sit the animals on top or inside the cups. Sheets of white felt can be purchased inexpensively at craft stores.

Use these ideas for setting up winter-themed learning centers in your preschool classroom. Cut several pairs of mittens out of construction paper. For each pair mark one with a numeral and the other with the matching number of dots. You could also use the mittens to match shapes or colors.