24 Winter Butcher Paper Activities

Wintertime is here, which means you need new ideas for your butcher paper activities! I have created 21 winter butcher paper activities that are perfect for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students. There are ideas for winter, snowmen, polar animals, Christmas, hibernation, Valentine’s Day, and snow.

If you aren’t familiar with butcher paper activities, let me give you a quick overview. They are hands-on activities that are on a large scale so that students are up moving around while learning. This helps them burn off energy and build their larger muscles to help their fine motor muscles develop. These are great for moving larger body parts while developing gross motor skills. They help students learn with their peers in a multi-sensory, play-based activity that is educational. Butcher paper activities are great for morning time, table time, small groups, or center time.

Grab the Butcher Paper Activity Guide for ideas for the whole year! Grab my favorite butcher paper supplies from Amazon here.

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Winter Butcher Paper Activities for Literacy

Snowplow Letters! Write letters on your butcher paper and then cover them with cotton balls. Give students small machinery toys to push the snowballs out of the way. Students say or write the letter once they uncover it. The small equipment is great for fine motor skills. 

Snowplow Sight Words! Make the idea above more difficult by writing sight words for students to uncover.

Snowflake Letter Sort! Draw a snowflake and give students manipulatives to sort. I used letter tiles and put letters on different snowflakes for students to sort and identify. Butcher paper activities are great for gross motor skills because they are large, and students have to move around to complete the task.

Wreath Letter Match! I love this holiday idea with wreaths! I wrote a few letters in each wreath for students to sort letter manipulatives on. Another great idea is to write numbers in the wreaths for students to count decorations to place in them. This is a great way to practice math skills. 

Heart Letter Match! Get ready for Valentine’s Day with a heart letter sort. Students can sort any kind of letter manipulative or the printable heart letters.

Penguin Writing Letters! For the cute winter butcher paper activities, I drew icebergs and put a letter in each one. Students can slide the penguins onto each iceberg and then name and write the matching letter.

Heart Name Trace! Practice name and letter identification with this cute heart-themed name activity. Students trace the beginning letter and name their friend. Students will be developing social skills along with academic skills. 

Shadow Letters! Create this butcher paper activity for Groundhog Day with some letter manipulatives, flashlights, and markers. I am using these letter blocks on the butcher paper. Then, students can shine a flashlight on the letter and trace the shadow or write the letter.

Winter Butcher Paper Activities for Fine Motor

Ice Skate Line Trace! I used black India ink to draw the black lines all over the paper. Students can use markers, crayons, or other drawing utensils to trace the lines and improve fine motor strength and hand-eye coordination. This is so much fun on a snowy day. 

Teeth Line Trace! Have students use manipulatives to trace these lines. This is perfect for any theme because all you have to do is change the manipulative. I used some teeth mini erasers and different colors of pom poms (cavities). All the small manipulatives are the perfect way to build fine motor muscles. 

Heart Mini Erasers Polar Bear Mini Erasers Teeth Saver Manipulatives

Snowflake Loose Parts! Give students loose parts to build and trace the snowflakes! These are so pretty once students complete them and they can be cleared off and used again! In this photo, I used icicles, glass gems, stackable counters, brain flakes, and pom poms.

Winter Butcher Paper Activities for Math

Heart Shape Trace! Use some candy hearts for your manipulative and have students practice their shapes. My trick for using food manipulatives in the classroom is to leave it out for a few days and let it get hard and stale. Then it is less appetizing to your students.

Snowman Shapes! Draw some friendly snowmen and have students sort shape buttons or manipulatives to match the shape on their belly.

Bear Number Sort! This hibernation themed winter butcher paper activities is so simple to make! All you have to do is draw some caves and numbers! Students will sort math manipulatives to match the numbers in the caves.

Firework Roll, Count, Sort! Ring in the New Year with fireworks and a roll, count, and sort game. Students can play with color die and just sort by color, or they can roll a number die and count that many manipulatives out. If you have some higher-level students, you could give them a color and a number die to roll and follow both directions. You could also draw snowflakes and have students play the same way.

Polar Bear Roll & Count! Draw a cute polar animal and give students a die. They roll and use a dot marker to put that many dots on the paper. Students can share supplies while completing these hands-on activities. Young children love dot markers, so this is a fun way to practice math skills. 

Tree Patterns! Draw some simple pine trees and give students pom poms or dot markers to decorate them in patterns. I used dot markers to start the patterns, and students used pom poms to complete the patterns. This way, it can be used for more than one group of students. It is one of my student’s favorite ways to practice patterns. 

Mitten Patterns! Draw a large mitten and give it some stripes. Then, use dot stickers, dot markers, or any other manipulative to make patterns! Again, I started the patterns with dot stickers, and students used linking cubes to complete the patterns. This way, I can use it again and minimize your prep work.

Mitten Measure! I love to complete this winter butcher paper activities after I read The Mitten by Jan Brett. Students can use polar animals to fill the mittens. They will be talking about more than, less than, and equal to! Kids of all ages love this book, and it is wonderful for snow days. 

Mitten Measure! Maybe you don’t want to use animals to fill your mittens, so grab these plastic ice cubes and practice nonstandard measurement of capacity. Freeze them for the perfect multi-sensory activity! Young children will develop problem-solving skills in this great activity. 

Party Hat Roll & Count! For a New Year celebration, have a roll and count game to practice patterns, counting, and colors. Students roll the die and draw that many lines in the party hat. You can make it more challenging by having students draw the lines in a color pattern.

Seasons Roll & Count! Here is another butcher paper activity for a Groundhog Day theme. Students roll a die and put that many manipulatives into the cloud or sunshine. I gave students some dot stickers and stackable counters for our counting manipulatives. To make it more difficult, give students 2 dice, and they can practice informal addition skills.

Winter Butcher Paper Activities for Art

Snowflake Prints! Create a fun winter snowflake print with cookie cutters and paint. Students dip the cookie cutters in paint and stamp them all around. This is a fun way to make a bulletin board backdrop or door decorating project. This is a fun project for kids of all ages! I love this winter wonderland art project for young children. 

Winter Painting! Give students winter colors and let them paint a large piece of butcher paper. This is a wonderful, open-ended, fun project that the class can create together. This is the perfect way to have so much fun on a snowy day. 

Now that you have 21 winter butcher paper activities, you should be set for the cold winter months! Pick out your favorite and put them in your lesson plans to fill your class with hands-on, engaging winter activities. Grab the Butcher Paper Guide for ideas for the whole year, not just winter butcher paper ideas!

Want to see these winter butcher paper activities in action? Check out the video!

Get more ideas for butcher paper ideas in this Math Butcher Paper video!

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