Are you feeling like your preschool classroom needs a cool change? Look no further than these Arctic animals preschool activities. From polar bears to snowy owls, these Arctic animals make for an entertaining way of bringing literacy and learning alive in your class. So grab your mittens and a cup of hot cocoa – it’s time to explore the icy Arctic with literacy activities that are nothing less than snowballing success!
This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you by linking to Amazon.com. See the full disclosure here.
Polar Animals Lesson Plans
Polar Bear Alphabet Game
Arctic Animals Preschool Activities
Why are polar bears popular at parties? Because they know how to break the ice.
And so will this first polar bear alphabet game!
It’s low-prep, adorable, and has a catchy song to help you set up an engaging literacy center for practicing letter identification.
Just cut out the fish, tape the polar bear printout onto a disinfecting wipes container, and get ready to learn the alphabet through play!
I apologize in advance for the song getting stuck in your head, but it’s for the sake of fun learning! Sing the song (over and over), name the letter on the fish, and feed it to the hungry polar bear. “Which letter will you eat? Chomp, chomp, chomp!”
Materials:
- Polar Bear ABC
- large disinfecting wipes container with flip lid
Polar Bear Hide-and-Seek
Circle Time Alphabet Game
Okay, I will admit I’ve never played hide-and-seek in the snow. I honestly hibernate inside my home during the winter, avoiding the bitterness of it all.
But I do have fond memories of playing hide-and-seek tag in the dark while camping.
The darkness offers more hiding spots and chances to sneak back to base with a thrilling sense of secrecy.
And that thrill of hide-and-seek can be incorporated into your polar animals circle time, too!
Hide the polar bears behind the lettered igloos, and as your students name each letter (or sight word), they get to look for the hidden polar bears!
They will love the thrill of the seek, and you will love that they are practicing letter identification in an engaging way.
Materials:
Snowy owl rhyming activity
Arctic Animals Preschool Activities
If your heart didn’t break when Hedwig died, then we can’t be friends. Because the first time I read that in the Harry Potter book, I balled my eyes out in utter shock and devastation.
But let’s rewind and pretend Hedwig is still alive, and we get to feed her some lemmings.
In fact, she only eats lemmings with rhyming words, so your preschoolers will have to sort through these lemmings to find the rhyming pairs.
And you know me, I packed as many Arctic-themed words in there as possible to build that thematic vocabulary.
Plus, each rhyming pair and non-rhyming pair begin with the same word, making it easy to offer support to your beginning rhymers.
Materials:
- Snowy Owl Rhymes
- small box or tub (to tape behind owl printout)
Arctic dig
Initial Sound Activity
I survived the blizzard of ‘97 here in Colorado. And let me tell you, not everyone did.
We’re talking two feet of snow with snowdrifts up to eight feet deep. Cars stranded in freezing drifts with rescue vehicles overwhelmed and unable to get to everyone.
But in this next polar animal literacy activity, the snowdrifts aren’t so bad.
In fact, we used a very shallow layer of Instant Snow to cover up these printable Arctic mats. (P.S. Your kiddos will love watching you make the Instant Snow.)
Then, we dug through the snow to find an Arctic animal or Arctic word from A-Z and traced the beginning sound on the recording sheet.
There are two recording sheets – one with pictures and one without – to help you easily differentiate this activity for all of your students.
Materials:
- Arctic Dig Initial Sound Activity
- shallow tub or box
- Instant Snow
- small shovels/scoops
snowball fight
Arctic Animals Initial Sound Game
Is there snow where you live? If not, I’ve got you covered with another indoor snowball fight your preschoolers will love. (The original includes letter practice as part of our weather theme.)
This time, our snowballs show an Arctic animal or word for every letter of the alphabet.
Crumple up the snowballs and let them fly while you sing the unforgettable “Snowball Fight” song. At the end of the song, students grab the closest snowball and trace the beginning letter on the recording sheet.
This action-packed, giggle-inducing literacy activity will help you amp up the engagement in your classroom, especially when it comes to long days cooped inside during the winter months.
Materials:
- Snowball Fight Initial Sound Activity
- Optional: clipboards
- markers/pencils
Moose Melee
Counting Syllables Game
My girls have sadly outgrown most of my activities. Don’t get me started – everything makes me cry nowadays.
But when I left this activity out, they played this moose syllable game over and over again. Maybe it’s because they’ve inherited my love of games, mwah ha ha!
Or maybe because games, in general, are a great way to learn!
Starting with the pompom snowball in the middle, your students will flip over a snowball and count the number of syllables in the Arctic-themed word. Then, they will move the snowball toward their opponent’s moose the same number of syllables.
The snowball will fly back and forth until one player successfully splats the other player’s moose with the snowball!
You’ve got vocabulary, phonological awareness, and counting all packed into this moose counting syllables game!
Materials:
- Moose Melee Counting Syllables Game
- white pompom or cotton ball
You might also like...
MORE Polar Animal Activities for Preschoolers
It’s time to warm up while adventuring through the Arctic. The best way to do that? Learning through play! Don’t hesitate – get those little learners excited about literacy with each of these Arctic animals preschool activities created just for you.
