Winter is here! Well… in most parts of the country it is. Here in north Texas, the weather is much more like April than January. But, I am NOT complaining about that! I like winter themes MUCH better than winter itself! And I really love snowmen! They are so adorable, and the kiddos always seem to love them as well. One of favorite activities ever is making snowman names! I’ve done it so many different ways, but I finally decided to turn it into a busy box!
Get It Ready To Use
This is SO simple!
First, you need to gather all of your materials. Here’s what you’ll need:
- My Snowman Names Busy Box
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B07D4YF3K4′ text=’White cardstock’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’mrsasroom-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’f0047e3f-140c-11e9-843d-c5fd5940ace8′]
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B0010JEJPC’ text=’A laminator ‘ template=’ProductLink’ store=’mrsasroom-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’0cafa9c9-140d-11e9-a831-c12fad4adad4′]
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B00066HXN0′ text=’Laminating Sleeves’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’mrsasroom-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’2077e789-140d-11e9-9f93-9360ee985f92′]
- [amazon_textlink asin=’B07D9412VX’ text=’Pencil Boxes’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’mrsasroom-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’35d93bce-140d-11e9-ac1b-f96995b6369b’]
Next, you need to decide how you want to use it. I’m all about efficiency, so I don’t ever want to spend more time cutting and laminating than I have to. I like to make snowman head for each kiddo and put them all into the same busy box. This way, I don’t need to prep 18 a’s or 5 uppercase J’s. I only need enough snowball letters to spell one name at a time. It’s easier on me, and the kiddos love being able to spell each others’ names!
But, you may want each kiddo to have their own set of letters. This is totally OK, it just requires a little more prep time on your part because you may well need 18 a’s and 5 uppercase J’s! You’ll just have to figure out how many of each letter you need to spell all of your kiddos names and get those printed, cut, and laminated.
Once you have all the materials ready, you’ll need to add your kiddos names to the snowman heads. Good news here! The file is EDITABLE, so all you have to do is type their names into the text boxes and print! Print off the snowball letters that you need along with the busy box label. Cut and laminate all the pieces, attach the label to the top of a pencil box, and you are ready to go!
How to Use It
There are different ways to use this fun activity!
You can let your kiddos use it during small group or center time to build their own name or their friends’ names.
Just have them spread out all the snowball letters and choose a name to spell. They can line up the letters under the snowman head to build their snowman!
When they’re done, they just put everything back in the busy box, and it’s ready for the next time!
If you want something a little more permanent, you can have your kiddos glue the letters together or onto construction paper. Just make sure you print enough letters if you’re doing it this way! And… no need to laminate here! Just print and cut!
Use It For Other Words Too!
Because this file is editable, you can literally type in any words you want your kiddos to practice! Here are just a few ideas:
- sight words
- vocabulary words
- theme words
- word family words
- CVC words
- spelling words
The possibilities are endless! You use the file exactly as if you are having you kiddos build their names. You just type different words onto the snowman heads!
Make It Yourself
If you don’t have access to a color printer or laminator, or if you just don’t want to spend money on that much paper and ink, you can make this activity yourself! Just cut out a BUNCH of circles from white construction paper, add faces to some of them, add the words to the heads, and add letters to the rest!
You can also give the blank circles to your kiddos and let them practice writing the letters in their names before they build their snowmen!
More Snowmen Busy Boxes
Even though this busy box is my favorite one, I do have NINE other ones in my TPT store!
There’s letter tracing…
And number tracing…
Along with seven more super fun and super simple busy box activities! You can check out the huge bundle of all of them by clicking on this product cover!
I’ve also got some fantastic circle time games for your snowman theme that your kiddos will love!
I’d love for you to take a second and let me know how you’re using these ideas in your classroom! Drop me a comment and share your awesome ideas!
Happy Teaching!