I'm putting together monthly play activity schedules to make it easy for you to create a month of fun for your kids at home or in the classroom, every month of the year. For the month of June I've actually created 2 monthly calendars, this Winter version and a Summer version, to cater for readers in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
The June Winter activity calendar focuses on snow, artic and snowman themed ideas for toddlers, preschoolers and school kids. The activities include a mix of art and craft, science and sensory play ideas as well as books to read aloud during the month.
Each activity is explained in detail below, including how you can extend or adjust the activity based on your child's age. You can also download our free interactive June Winter activity calendar pdf with links to instructions for every activity to save for future reference.
JUNE 2023 WINTER PLAY ACTIVITY CALENDAR
This play activity calendar includes activities that can easily be done using items from around your home {or classroom} and you can substitute items to make it suit what you have on hand.
There are no activities listed for weekends as they can be used for free play/family time or to catch up on activities you may have missed during the week. Below you will find detailed explanations of each activity as well as how to modify them for children of different ages and some extension activities you can do if you're looking for additional ideas.
At the bottom of this post you'll also be able to download a copy of the interactive June Winter play calendar PDF which includes direct clickable links to all of the activities featured in this months calendar.
Winter Sensory Bin
Celebrate the start of Winter with this simple sensory bin. All you need is some string, pom poms and pipe cleaners to create a soft, tactile winter wonderland. Check out the activities Taming Little Monsters did with their winter sensory bin.
Snowflake Threading
Threading snowflakes is a fun process art activity where children can create their own beautiful unique snowflakes from scratch, no snow required. You only need pipe cleaners and some beads.
Threading is a great way to help children build strength and dexterity in their fingers. It also exposes them to mathematical concepts such as recognising colours and shapes, creating patterns and counting.
Winter Snowflake Sensory Bottle
If your kids love watching snow fall, or they've never experienced it and want to know what it's like, you can recreate it with this easy snowflake sensory bottle. Sensory bottles are a great tool to help children learn how to self regulate and calm down. It's mesmerising watching the snowflakes slowly fall to the bottom and create a pile of fresh snow.
You'll need an empty plastic bottle {old drink bottles are fine}, some snowflake sequins and a few other basic supplies. Follow my step by step instructions to make your own snowflake sensory bottle in just a few minutes.
Snowflake Wreath
Let the kids get creative designing their very own snowflake wreath with a paper plate and some snowflake stickers. This one is a great activity for toddlers through to school kids and will help build their hand strength as they peel and stick the stickers, and colour in the plate.
Tip: If you're using stickers on a sticker sheet with younger kids remove the backing outline so it's easier for them to grab the edge of the sticker and peel it off the sheet.
DIY Fake Snow
You can recreate the feeling of snow with this DIY sensory snow. This is the easiest fake snow recipe I've found and it's cold to touch just like real snow. Put it in a tub and children can use it to build their own snowmen, or add figurines and they can make them play in the snow.
This fake snow is technically made from taste safe ingredients, however baking soda can be dangerous when consumed in certain quantities so don't make this with children who are likely to taste it, or who are still mouthing and always use it under adult supervision.
Alternative Ideas:
Fake Snow. If you don't want to make up your own fake snow you can always buy sensory snow that will make 5L of pretend snow once water is added.
Real Snow. If it's already snowing where you live you can bring in some clean real snow from outside and set it up in a tub to make a real snow sensory bin.
Artic Ocean Sensory Bin
To celebrate World Ocean Day {June 8th} with a Winter theme, you can put together a simple arctic ocean sensory bin. We made ours using a shallow tub of water with blue food colouring, some ice cubes, some styrofoam pieces we had from a package and some CollectA artic animal figurines. The styrofoam floated on top of the water to represent icebergs and the ice cubes were the melting ice.
If you want to do an even simplified and mess free version of this sensory bin, use blue paper or a blue play scarf as the ocean and cut up some white paper into different iceberg shapes.
Winter is Here {Read Aloud}
Winter is here, it's everywhere! This book takes children on a journey through Winter and all the places they can look to see that Winter is here.
Read the story aloud in a group, read the book to your child, have your child read the book to you, or watch the story read aloud here on YouTube. You can borrow the book from a friend or the library, or get your own copy from Amazon or Amazon AU.
Decorate a Snowflake
This snowflake decorating craft is great to do during group rotations and comes with a free printable snowflake template. Set up a tray with blank snowflakes, glitter glue, stickers and various craft items like sequins, gems, buttons, pom poms or beads and some glue.
This is a great way for kids to express themselves decorating their snowflake in their own individual style and it also provides lots of opportunities for fine motor movements. The completed snowflakes would also make a great classroom display.
Coffee Filter Snowflakes
Coffee filter snowflakes are a really easy way for children to create their own unique snowflake designs by folding and cutting the paper. They can be decorated with pens and water or food colouring, or simply leave them white. If you don't have coffee filters you can make them using white tissue paper.
This is a great activity for children to improve their scissor skills and experiment with cutting as it doesn't really matter what shapes they cut into the paper, it'll still resemble a snowflake when unfolded.
The Snowy Day {Read Aloud}
Follow along with Peter and see and hear all the sights and sounds that happen on snowy days. Plus all the fun things you can do in the snow.
Read the story aloud in a group, read the book to your child, have your child read the book to you, or watch the animated story read aloud here on YouTube. You can borrow the book from a friend or the library, or get your own copy from Amazon or Amazon AU.
Snowstorm in a Jar Science Experiment
A safe way for kids to recreate the effects of a snowstorm is with this snowstorm in a jar science experiment. The reaction that occurs during this experiment is similar to what happens in a lava lamp and replicates lots of snow falling from the sky until the storm settles.
You'll need some Alka-Seltzer tablets for this experiment which can be bought from a supermarket in the health aisle or at a chemist.
Paper Roll Snowflake Painting
Using cardboard tubes or toilet paper rolls to stamp is a fun way for children to paint and they're easier for younger children to hold than a paintbrush. Follow the instructions here to make paper roll stamped snowflakes. You can decorate them with glitter, or just leave them as white snowflakes.
You can use cardboard tubes to make lots of other printed paintings like hearts, fireworks, shapes and more.
Popsicle Stick Snowflakes
These popsicle stick snowflakes are a super easy craft to do with the kids. I recommend making the plain snowflakes first {because it involves hot glue} especially if doing this as a class activity. Give the kids the snowflakes and let them use glue to decorate them with glitter, sequins and whatever other craft items you have.
Alternative Idea:
Cardboard snowflakes. If you don't have any popsicle sticks you can make the snowflake base by cutting out strips of cardboard {or the inside of cereal boxes} and gluing them together the same way as the popsicle sticks.
Salt Painted Snowflakes
Salt painting is a fun way to combine science with art to create textured paintings and learn about absorption at the same time. Download the free printable snowflake templates and you'll need white glue, salt and watercolour paint {or water with food colouring} to complete the painting.
Grow Crystal Snowflakes
Kids will be amazed that they can turn a humble pipe cleaner into a real life crystal snowflake. The crystal snowflake experiment will take a few days to actually grow the crystals completely so this one will require some patience, but the results are worth waiting for.
Please note this experiment uses boiling water and borax so it's recommended to either be done by school aged children, or done as a demonstration where younger children simply observe the process and don't actually complete the experiment steps themselves.
Additional Ideas:
Grow more crystals. If your kids are fascinated with the crystal snowflakes, there are even more ways to grow crystals in this post including salt crystal snowflakes, edible rock candy and DIY geodes.
Mouse's First Snow {Read Aloud}
Papa and Mouse go on a snowy adventure doing all the fun things you can do in snow. They go sledding, go ice skating, make snow angels, make snowballs and a snow mouse.
Read the story aloud in a group, read the book to your child, have your child read the book to you, or watch the story read aloud here on YouTube. You can borrow the book from a friend or the library, or get your own copy from Amazon or Amazon AU.
Crayon Resist Snowflake Painting
Crayon resist painting is a super easy painting technique where you use a white crayon to draw an invisible picture that will magically appear as you add watercolour paint and it resists the paint colour. To make crayon resist snowflakes simply draw some snowflakes with white crayon then paint over the top of them with blue or purple watercolour paints.
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Snowman Sticky Wall Activity
This sticky wall snowman is a great vertical play activity for children of all ages. All you need to do is draw a snowman on the back of some contact paper then stick it on the wall sticky side out. Give the kids any snowman themed craft loose parts and they can decorate the snowman by sticking the bits and pieces onto the contact paper.
This is another great activity for fine motor skills as they need to grasp the items then push them onto the sticky wall to make them stay. It's also super fun pulling things off and sticking them back on again.
How To Catch a Snowman {Read Aloud}
Can you catch a snowman? The kids in town try their best with lots of fancy traps. Will they get him or does he get away? Who will be the contest winner?
Read the story aloud in a group, read the book to your child, have your child read the book to you, or watch the story read aloud here on YouTube. You can borrow the book from a friend or the library, or get your own copy from Amazon or Amazon AU.
Snowman Slam
Snowman slam is a fun DIY indoor game similar to bowling. You'll need some paper or foam cups, self adhesive foam sheets and artificial snowballs or socks rolled into balls. Kids can play snowball slam on their own, against their siblings or parents, or in teams if you're doing it as a classroom activity.
Swirly Glitter Glue Snowman
These glitter glue snowmen are a great process art activity that involve watercolour painting, glue, collage and drawing into one creation. There is no right and wrong way to create a snowman with this craft so each child's finished piece will be different.
The original instructions include using normal glue and loose glitter, however I recommend using glitter glue as it will be a lot easier for children to do on their own and won't create a mess.
Exploding Snowman Science Experiment
Create a super simple snowman and use a chemical reaction to watch it explode in just a few seconds. This exploding snowman experiment is a really easy science experiment which shows how baking soda and vinegar react with a bang - literally. Don't worry it's perfectly safe for kids, but you'll want to do this one outside.
DOWNLOAD THE JUNE WINTER PLAY CALENDAR PDF HERE
Click the download now button below to download the interactive PDF file. Each image on the PDF calendar can be clicked to go directly to the instructions for the individual activity.
Please note that this activity calendar PDF is for personal or classroom use only and may not be shared, electronically uploaded or sold on any platform. If you would like to share or feature the calendar in a blog post please link back to this post directly.
Disclosure - This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience, which means I may make a small commission at no cost to you, should you make a purchase.
