Winter has arrived!  It isn’t exactly freezing where we are, but we are always looking for new winter themed activities to try.  So whether you need an excuse to stay inside and play where it’s not freezing cold, or are still using your AC, you must try our snowy day alphabet writing tray.  It’s the perfect low prep, hands-on learning activity to practice letter formation.

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Snowy Day Alphabet Writing Tray

The printable set of snowy day alphabet writing tray cards includes 26 penguin cards.  Each card has and uppercase and lowercase letter printed on it along with a couple of icy frozen penguin friends!

Print the set from the link below.  I printed it out on cardstock, so that the card would be firm enough to stand up in our writing tray.  If you are going to laminate the cards (with my favorite laminator!), printing them out on regular paper would be fine too.

Print, laminate, and then cut the cards out on the dotted lines.

Fill the bottom of your favorite tray, cookie sheet, or pencil box with salt.  I think the coarse salt has more texture and is the best pretend snow option.  Of course, use whatever you have on hand!

Our tray has handles which makes it easy for little hands to shake and quickly erase the letter written.

Once the snowy day alphabet writing tray and cards are prepped, it’s time to practice writing and identifying letters and sounds!

Different Ways to Play

In preschool and kindergarten, students are at so many different stages of learning.  It’s impossible to create a new activity for each level in your classroom.  This is why I love activities like our snowy day alphabet writing tray!

The object of the writing tray is to pick a letter and write the uppercase letter and lowercase letter in the salt (snow).  So put on your favorite winter gloves and play!

If a child is only working on uppercase letters, put a small post-it over the lowercase letters on the cards.  This will eliminate some confusion.

If a child has mastered uppercase letters, have him focus on writing and forming the lowercase letters on the cards.

Instead of just identifying the letter as the child is writing in the tray, also focus on letter sounds.  Saying letter sounds or naming a word that begins with the letter on the card while writing the letter is a simple way to make the activity a little more difficult.

Another fun way to play is to work on CVC words.  Build a word and then draw a picture of that word in the tray!

Download your own printable snowy day alphabet writing tray cards now!

But don’t stop there!  You’ll want to grab a copy of our penguin counting cards and our snow day count and clip cards to practice numbers!

 

 

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