During the chilly winter months of December, January and February, it’s always fun to pull out our addition games for winter math centers. Actually, living in northern Michigan, winter activities can be appropriate all the way until mid April. I actually love winter- and creating winter themed activities is tons of fun! For kindergarten and first grade math centers, I created a collection of activities with the goal of understanding number concepts to 20 as well as basic addition and subtraction. Here are a few of our winter themed math center activities:
Students love practicing addition facts to 10 with the Penguin Addition activity. This activity is easily differentiated as you choose from one of two types of templates to meet the needs of your students. Templates with the fish printed within the numbered area are available for students who need support with 1-1 correspondence and templates without the printed fish are available for students who have mastered this skill. Although any type of small manipulatives can be used for this activity, goldfish crackers always adds a little extra fun!
To change out the manipulatives- try these winter themed mini erasers. You can find them in any dollar store.
The Penguin Addition activity can be found in my online Teachers Pay Teachers store.
The Winter Themed Make 10 with 10 Frames activity is ideal for introducing the concept of addition using 10 frames! When you download this activity you will receive 3 different Make 10 activities using 10 frames. The laminated cards, a dry erase marker and counters will be all you’ll need to have an engaging activity for teaching students combinations to 10. Mitten counters have been provided for you in this download, however, bingo chips or seasonal mini erasers work too! After use, simply wipe clean and use the activity over and over again. 28 templates are included in this download.
The Winter Themed Make 10 with 10 Frames can also be found in my online TpT store.
To bump it up a little bit and practice addition to 20, the Winter Themed 10 Frame Addition Activity will do the trick. Once laminated, the 10 frame addition facts templates will last for years. Again, using winter-themed mini erasers add a fun little twist to the activity. Students simply place the two different types of erasers (or manipulatives) in each 10 frame matching the numbers within the addition problem. They then move the erasers of the one set to complete the 10 frame and then write the addition problems using a dry erase marker. This activity supports the strategy of making 10 to solve addition problems.
The Winter Themed 10 Frame Addition can be found in my TpT store.
There are 39 penguin templates with fact families to 20. Assembling this activity is super simple- just laminate and cut out the penguins. Students use dry erase markers to write the fact families. When completed, just wipe clean and use the activity over and over again!
The Fact Families Penguins can be found in my online TpT store.
Your students will just love learning basic number concepts with the winter themed number bonds activity. This activity contains number bonds for number relationships to 20. Just like the fact family activity, simply print and laminate the cards and you’ll have an activity that will last for years! Using a dry erase marker, students write the correct number on the snowball.
The Winter Themed Number Bonds activity can be found in my TpT store.
The Snowball Fight Missing Addends game makes for an ideal activity for your centers! When you download this activity you’ll receive 4 Snowball Fight game boards and 45 missing addends snowballs. To play the game, students take turns choosing a snowball and solving the problem. If the answer is on their board, they can cover the number. The first player to have their numbers covered wins the game. This activity is a super fun winter themed game for learning math facts!
The Snowball Fight Missing Addends activity can also be found in my TpT store.
Well, who’s not up for a good old-fashioned snowball fight! Well, at least the best kind you can have indoors. Your students will have tons of fun practicing addition and subtraction facts to 20 with the Snowball Fight- Addition and Subtraction activity. Simply print the snowballs single to double-sided, cut them out and you’ll have a ready-made center or small group intervention activity. Students take turns choosing a snowball and solving the math problem. The first student to pick the bear throwing the snowball must put all their snowballs back in the pile and the game continues. The student with the most snowballs at the end of the session wins.
The Snowball Fight Addition/Subtraction activity is also available in my TpT store.
The Mitten Match activity is a fun little freebie for learning addition facts to 10. Add a little fine motor practice by having your students clip the correct mittens together.
The Mitten Match Addition activity is available for FREE in my TpT store.
Enjoy the winter months!
Leave a Reply