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Winter theme for 3 and 4 year olds: a week of activities

A winter theme lesson plan for 3 and 4 year olds: what a day looks like, then the week's circle time (ten to fifteen minutes, with a child holding the book), books, craft, song, snack, letter and outside time, each with what changes at this age.

Plan this week for 3 and 4 year oldsThe whole winter week

A day of the winter theme with 3 and 4 year olds

  1. Arrival, sign-in, and a job from the helper chart.
  2. Circle (ten to fifteen minutes): calendar, “What happens to snow when it gets warm?”, sing “mary had a little lamb”, then Dad Naps.
  3. Centers, with the craft at one table: cotton-ball snowman.
  4. Letter W: trace it once, then hunt for W around the room.
  5. Snack: Frozen Yogurt Bark, with children pouring and counting.
  6. Outside: melt race.
  7. Rest, then a longer read-aloud: Lou and the Snow Dad.

Winter circle time

  1. Good morning song, then say each name together.
  2. Calendar: the day, the date and the weather.
  3. Ask: “What happens to snow when it gets warm?”
  4. Sing: Mary Had a Little Lamb.
  5. Read: Lou and the Snow Dad (read aloud).

Threes and fours: ten to fifteen minutes; let a child hold the book.

Winter theme books

  • Lou and the Snow Dad (read aloud, level 4): A read-aloud: building a snow dad.
  • Pim and the Mitten (read aloud, level 5): A read-aloud: a lost mitten and the animals who find it.
  • Where Is Ned's Hat? (read aloud, level 5): A read-aloud: a hat lost on a cold day.
  • Dad Naps (level 0, free on peabody.kids): A cozy day inside, for the twos.

Winter craft: Cotton-ball snowman

You need (5): blue card, cotton balls, glue stick, a paper hat and scarf, crayons.

  1. Glue cotton balls in three circles, small on top.
  2. Glue on the hat and the scarf.
  3. Draw the face and the buttons.

With a grown-up. No heat, nothing hot.

Winter song: Mary Had a Little Lamb

The words

Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was white as snow; And everywhere that Mary went The lamb was sure to go. It followed her to school one day, Which was against the rule; It made the children laugh and play To see a lamb at school.

Sarah Josepha Hale, 1830; public domain. From Top 52 nursery rhymes with lyrics.

Winter snack

Frozen Yogurt Bark from the Peabody Kitchen: picture steps, allergy swaps and safety lines on the recipe.

Swap: Yogurt → oat yogurt.

Letter W activities

WwW is for winter. Print the two pages (a trace page and a color page).

Threes and fours: trace W and w once, then find W in the room and in the book.

Outside activity: Melt race

Put an ice cube in the sun and one in the shade. Check after snack: which melted first?

Winter theme for toddlersWinter theme for 2 year oldsWinter theme, all ages

Checked 2026-10-30