The cold is coming and (here in the UK at least!) winter has well and truly arrived. One of the best things about using digital resources with children and students is that they change with the seasons and new and exciting websites and tools are available all year round to capture the joys and fascinations of every season.
Check out these brilliant sites to use with young people over the next few chilly months…
1. Find the Perfect Winter Template
With hundreds of pre-made holiday, Christmas and winter themed templates, this collection from Microsoft is an endless source of digital goodies. Students can create their own books, posters and cards using Word templates or even start calculating their Winter gift haul with Santa’s Shopping list Excel template.
2. Learn about Arctic Animals
This great website from the National Geographic Kids includes fascinating facts and cute pictures of all the animals living in the arctic. Perfect for researching a school project, or just learning a little more about the animals that live in the chilliest climates. There are desktop pictures to download too!
3. Do the Snowman Stomp!
This fun game sees kids challenged to repeat the pattern of footprints made by the snowman in the snow. As the levels progress the patterns get longer and longer and the game gets trickier and trickier – perfect for training concentration and working on memory recall.
4. Make Your Own Snowglobe
Suitable for slightly older children, this method uses hot glue and small amounts of bleach, so parental or teacher supervision is definitely required. But it’s a fantastic winter craft project and kids can get creative about what they’d like to put inside. Better still, they get to use their breakfast egg shells to make the snow!
5. Discover the Science of Snow fences
Perfect for older kids, this article describes the fascinating history and purpose of snow fences – and it describes the brilliant discovery of a 6th grade science student, so it’s a perfect inspiration for other young people to pursue their own ideas and inventions!
6. Make a Winter Bird Feeder
This brilliant simple recipe is suitable for children, with basic ingredients and a simple method, and is the perfect way to engage with nature, as once it’s finished they can enjoy hanging it in the garden in pride of place and watching the winter birds come to enjoy it!
7. Discover Worldwide Winter Traditions
This brilliant National Geographic Kids guide introduces students to the joys of Christmas and other traditional winter celebrations they may be less familiar with from all over the world. The perfect introductory guide to the traditions of different cultures, it’s simple enough to be easily understood but covers a comprehensive range of celebrations.
Have you found any great sites for the Winter or holiday season? Leave a link or two below as your little gift!
Feature image courtesy of Flickr, *~Dawn~*. Image 1 courtesy of Flickr, Jasonbolonski. Image 2 courtesy of Flickr, KB35. Image 3 courtesy of Flickr, Woodyellen.