A cup is just a cup unless you turn it into a fun paper cup snowman or one of a bunch of great paper cup ideas, which I have found for you. Be sure you grab more ideas for winter fun on my page Winter Season Unit Study with free lapbook and look at my How to Homeschool Preschool.
You don’t need an expensive box curriculum or stacks of worksheets to teach preschoolers, you just need a little creativity.
If you’re going with the winter or snowman theme and you need some great ideas to touch on all the subjects.
So today I have you covered with crafts, games, math, science, snacks, and language arts.
Too, I have an adorable snowman alphabet match game using just cups and markers.
You can create the cutest snowmen for your preschooler to practice identifying and matching letters.
Even if you don’t live in an area with snow, the snowman is just an iconic part of winter and very recognizable by even the youngest children.
Books about Snowman
Then learning about snowman is a fun subject for all ages.
Include your older kids with some of these fun books as literature or as a read aloud.
13 Snow, Snowman, Animals, and Winter Books
Add one or more of these books to your learning day if you're learning about snow, snowflakes, winter or just for fun.
Immerse Yourself in This Story of Love and Companionship Amidst Deprivation
It is the fall of 1930, and America has plunged into the Great Depression. On a remote dirt road deep in the snowy woods of northern Wisconsin, misfortune forces the impoverished Sparkes family to take desperate measures.
A wayfaring quartet consisting of thirteen-year-old Araminta (nicknamed Minty), her recently unemployed father-a poetry-quoting widower called Pops-and her younger sister, Eglantine (known as Eggs-a dreamer like Pops), and their dog, Buster, are on their way to Minneapolis to live with the curmudgeonly Aunt Amy. When their car breaks down and they are unable to fix it, the homeless four stumble upon a vacant summer cottage by a lake. In desperate straits, they decide to settle in.
How do snow crystals form? What shapes can they take? Are no two snow crystals alike? These questions and more are answered inside this exploration of the science of snow, featuring photos of real snow crystals in all their beautiful diversity. Perfect for reading on winter days, this book by a nature photographer and a snow scientist will inspire wonder and curiosity about the marvels of snow.
B-R-R-R-R! AH-CHOO! Sneezy the Snowman is cold, cold, cold. To warm up, he drinks cocoa, sits in a hot tub, stands near a warm fire–and melts! But the children know just what to do to build him up again–and make him feel “just right”.
Have you ever built a snowman and discovered the next day that his grin has gotten a little crooked, or his tree-branch arms have moved? And you've wondered . . . what do snowmen do at night? This delightful wintertime tale reveals all!
When the mayor of Mouseville announces the town snowman contest, Clayton and Desmond claim that they will each make the biggest snowman ever. But building a huge snowman alone is hard! They work and work, but their snowmen just aren't big enough. Soon they have an idea. As the day of the contest approaches, Clayton and Desmond join forces to build the biggest snowman ever.
Over the snow, the world is hushed and white. But under the snow lies a secret world of squirrels and snow hares, bears and bullfrogs, and many other animals making their winter home under the snow. This beloved nonfiction picture book exploring the subnivean zone reveals the tunnels and caves formed beneath the snow but over the ground, where many kinds of animals live through the winter, safe and warm, awake and busy, but hidden beneath the snow.
"Stoeke's second book about that intrepid screwball, Minerva Louise, is a rare find."—The Horn Book, starred review. The other chickens hate snowy mornings. But not Minerva Louise! To her a snowy day—like everything else—is an adventure. But this chilly, chipper hen needs something to keep her warm. What she finds—and how she finds it—will keep young readers cackling.
Our heroes' entry for the snowman contest has magically come to life―and ran away! Can YOU help catch it? Get ready for snow much fun as you travel through a winter wonderland with running, skating, and bouncing through trap after trap to catch the snowman and claim the winning prize. Will the snowman teach our heroes a lesson they'll never forget?
When the geese begin to fly south, the leaves flutter down from the trees and the cold winds begin to blow from the north, the animals of the woods and meadows, big and small, prepare for the long, cold winter ahead when the countryside is hidden under a deep blanket of snow. They gather food and look for warm, snug places in the ground, trees, caves or thickets, where they can find protection against the icy winds.It might have been hard for the birds and animals of the hillside to survive when the Big Snow came if their good friends, who lived in the little stone house, had not remembered to put food out for them.Here, in many beautiful pictures, the Haders show how winter comes to the woodland as the busy animals make their preparations.
The Smithsonian does things right and this Curious About Snow book is a
great introduction for curious kiddos with real images and simple explanations.
This is a clear and appealing book for early elementary age kids, both at home and in the classroom. Introduce kids to basic science ideas as part of discussions about the seasons and animals.
SET OF 10 FUN AND FRIGID FIGURES – It’s hard to stay warm at the North Pole, but you can discover its wonders in your home with these frigid friends. This TOOB includes a Harp Seal, Husky, Caribou, Arctic Rabbit, Killer Whale, Walrus, Arctic Fox, Beluga Whale, Igloo, and Polar Bear.
See the world in a whole new way! Acclaimed illustrator Julia Rothman combines art and science in this exciting and educational guide to the structure, function, and personality of the natural world. Explore the anatomy of a jellyfish, the inside of a volcano, monarch butterfly migration, how sunsets work, and much more. Rothman’s whimsical illustrations are paired with interactive activities that encourage curiosity and inspire you to look more closely at the world all around you.
Next, look at more paper cup snowman crafts.
Paper Cup Snowman Crafts and Activities
Before we jump into covering different subjects for preschool let’s look at a few more great uses for paper cups using our snowman theme.
You can get a pretty good-sized pack from Dollar Tree and really get your money’s worth out of them by using them for all sorts of activities and crafts.
- Turn some of your extra cups into a snowman community with this Paper Cup Snowman Craft idea.
- Get out some of their energy and giggles with a Snowman Slam craft and game rolled into one.
- Pom Pom Popper Snowman –While this one may seem just for fun it can actually help your child develop that pincer grasp and fine motor skills while playing, excellent for prewriting practice!
- No snow? No problem when you can make an entire adorable Snowman out of plastic cups.
Yes, I know this is not a snowman but look how precious this one is, I had to give it an honorable mention while you are stocked up on paper cups! Paper Cup Hot Chocolate Craft
More Snow and Winter Crafts
- 10 Toilet Paper Roll Winter Crafts | Make An Adorable Toilet Roll Winter Village
- Fun Styrofoam Snowman Art Activity & 5 Facts About The Wonders of Winter
- 10 Middle School Winter Crafts and Make a Sweet Smelling Hot Cocoa Candle
- 6 Facts About the Snowy Owl & Stuffed Heat Pack Winter Owl Craft
- Winter Craft Ideas for Kids Animals in Winter Fun Snow Slime
- Cute and Simple Snowman Story Stones Winter Art Activities For Preschoolers
Finally, look at how to make this fun stacked paper cup snowman.
Fun Paper Cup Snowman Game
You will need:
- Foam coffee cups
- Markers
First, you will need two coffee cups for each letter that you want your preschooler to practice.
Flip your coffee cups upside down.
On the bottom, which is the top rim when it’s right side up you’re going to want to write a capital letter on one.
Then write the matching lowercase letter on a second coffee cup.
Now, you and your preschooler can go crazy, creating snowman faces, buttons, and arms with the markers.
Helping to create their own game is going to make it a lot more fun for your little one and this snowman mob is going to teach them so much.
To play:
Unstack the matching cups and mix them up.
Let your preschooler find and stack them to match.
Some cool variations to this snowman match are:
Practice the letters that spell out their name.
Stacking numbers in order.
Stack one set of letters in ABC order.
They store well too, just stack them up and put them away until next time.
