Doing a winter math craft can bring in so much joy in your classroom. Those winter months of school can be long. Dark in the morning, cold outside, we need a cozy winter math activity to have our students do when they are cooped up inside from all the inside recesses. That’s why I love to have my 2nd grade students make a snowflake math craft. This winter math craft gets students practicing their addition and subtraction facts along with fine motor skills.

 

 

So I thought I would share my best tips for having my students make this adorable winter math craft.

 

Winter Math Craft

 

Let’s first talk about when is a good time to make this winter math craft. I like to have my students do with winter math craftivity as a relaxing Friday afternoon activity in December or January. Let’s face it. I’m tired from teaching and talking all week, and students are tired of listening!

 

For this math craft, students solve the math facts, cut the squares apart, and glue them on the snowflake outline. They don’t need much instruction from me, making it so relaxing. Students can just work independently.

 

This is also a perfect snowflake math activity to do right before Christmas or Winter break. You can do it as your math block on the day before you’re out. I always have a lot of students absent on that day, so I don’t want to do an actual lesson from our curriculum. This craft gives students a fun way to practice math facts right before the break. Find this winter math fact here.

 

Another reason why I like this Winter Math Craft is because it’s such low prep! I just need 2 copies made: the snowflake outline on a colored piece of paper and the page with the math fact pieces. Blue or purple paper for the snowflake outline page looks great. But you can add in more cool colors to make your final display more colorful.

 

 

I also take a paper cutter and cut off the white spaces around the math equation squares. This helps students focus on solving the math facts and makes cutting the squares apart easier and faster.

 

Before I make the copies, I think about where each student is at with their math facts. I have a version of math equations that is facts 1-10 and a version that is facts 1-20. So it’s very easy to differentiate. That way each student can find success while completing these winter math pages.

It’s fun to tie in snowflake themed read alouds before I have students make this winter math craft. I love the book Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martian. This book tells the story of Wilson Bently, who was known for taking pictures of snowflakes back in the late 1900s. He was able to discover things like how each single snowflake is unique. My 2nd grade students love learning about him. It’s the perfect book to read to students before having them make this craft.

 

 

Another great book is The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonders by Mark Cassino and Jon Nelson. This book gives the science behind each type of snow crystal and the conditions needed for each kind. It’s very interesting and students enjoy learning about it! Either one of these books are great as an opener for this craft.

 

Get more winter themed read aloud books here in this blog post: 11 of the Best Winter Read Alouds for Elementary Students

 

After reading one of these books, I show students how to make this math craft. I tell them that we will first solve all the math equations. Then I model how they can just cut the equations into strips, line up those strips, and then quickly cut all the squares apart by cutting on the lines. This saves a lot of time as students are making this snowflake math craft.

Then I tell students once they have that done, I’ll come around with liquid glue and put glue on their snowflake outline. Liquid glue works much better than glue sticks. The glue from glue sticks dries too quickly for this craft.

 

 

After helping students with the glue, they just have to place their squares on the snowflake outline. Since they are working with such small pieces, this is really good activity to help them develop their fine motor skills.

 

Winter Math Craftivity

 

Here are some other helpful tips when having your students complete this winter math craftivity. 

 

Give students about 5 minutes where they work on the math facts without talking. I love using a visual timer for this. Find the one I use in my classroom here. Doing this helps students focus and finish this math craft in the timely manner. But I would still give students about 40 minutes to complete this project. If students finish before that time is up, I have them play a math fact game as a fast finisher activity. Learn more about these activities in this blog post here.

 

For students who struggle with math facts, I like to cut off a couple rows on their math fact sheet. Most students have extra squares they don’t need, so cutting off some extra problems helps these kids not get overwhelmed.

 

Doing a math craft is a perfect opportunity to help give one-on-one support to those struggling students. Since most students can do this craft independently, I’ll call over a few students to work with me. I help them use math fact strategies to solve the problems. I might help point out near double facts, or help them count on to solve, or use a number line. For more help getting to students to math fact fluency, grab your free copy of my workbook for 1st and 2nd grade teachers: The 7 Steps to Ensure Math Fact Fluency

 

Once students have completed this winter math craftivity, I like to use them to help decorate our classroom for the winter months. This is the part that brings me a lot of joy!  I have students put their craft on their memory books that hang up on our classroom walls. Each one looks a little different from each other. In the past I have just done a blue background, but last year I did purple and blue and it looked so cute hanging up!

 

These also work great as a hallway display or use them as a winter themed bulletin board. For another winter themed bulletin board idea, check out this blog post here.

 

And those are my tips for making this cute winter math craft with your students. Students don’t even think they are practicing their math facts while completing this snowflake math activity. They just love that they can cut, glue, and hang up their work for everyone to see. Find this winter math craft to use in your classroom here.

 

Find this resource in a money-saving bundle of all my monthly themed math facts here.

 

Snowflake Math Activities

 

To go with this winter math craft, you can have students complete other snowflake math activities to make the whole day a themed snowflake day!

This snowflake math activity has students search through the fun snowflake and winter themed clipart to find certain math facts. I call these I Spy Math Fact Worksheets.

 

 

 

When students find the facts they need, they circle them. If they are not a fact they are looking for, they flip their page over and write the equation and answer. So they are getting in some quality math fact practice. Plus, students love the winter theme. They enjoy coloring the pictures when they are finished solving the facts. These are great for students to do in December or January. Find these worksheets here.

You can also have students do one of these winter math pages. These are math fact riddles.

 

 

Students first solve the math facts. Then they use the key to learn the fun fact. There are ones about penguins, snowmen, and snowflakes. Students love to solve the facts as fast as they can so they can learn the fun fact. Then they enjoy coloring the clipart that’s on the page. Find these winter themed math fact riddles here.

 

You can also have students play winter themed Don’t Eat Pete. The playing board has different clipart of snowflakes, snowmen, mittens, and penguins.

 

 

Students play in a small group. One player leaves for a moment while the rest pick one of the squares to be “Pete.” Then they call that player back and that player picks up the bean that is on each square as they say the answer to the math fact. When that student picks up the one that is “Pete” the rest of the players say, “Don’t Eat Pete!” Then it is another player’s turn. Students love this winter math game and it is a fun way for students to practice their addition and subtraction facts. Find the addition version of the game here and the subtraction version here.

 

You can have students complete the winter math craft and then have them do these snowflake math activities as fast finisher activities. Another idea is to use these snowflake math activities as rotations.

 

Learn about these winter math activities plus others in this blog post here.

 

Make a fun door display with what students did over winter break. Read more about it here: 3 Winter Break Writing Activities You Should Start Preparing For Now

After winter break is a great time to review your classroom expectations. Learn my best tips to do so here: Classroom Behavior Management Tips For After Winter Break