Virtual snow day activities don’t have to be complicated to plan! Keep reading for three easy, engaging activities for your students!
There is nothing I love more than a snow day! The six a.m. phone call brings an element of surprise and a day of unexpected fun.
As a teacher, I may possibly love snow days more than my students do – until we started to have virtual learning requirements for our snow days.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be in school for the entire summer….
But I really want children to experience the same joy of playing outside in the fresh snow that I did as a kid.
If your district is starting to substitute “virtual learning” days for good old fashioned snow days, here are some ideas to help you (and your students) get the most out of at home learning days and still have time to enjoy some fun in the snow.
Virtual Snow Day Activities Students Will Love:
1. Snow Day Science Activity
When virtual learning is required on a snow day, get the kids outside to have some fun!
This no-prep , hands-on snow day science activity is one of my favorite ways to get kids outside, if only for a few minutes.
In this math and science activity, students investigate the relationship between water and snow. Specifically, how much snow is formed from one inch of water.
According to NASA, one inch of rain produces 13 inches of snow! Of course this depends on the wetness and texture of the snow, but it’s fun to see what students come up with and how close they get to NASA’s estimate!
I love this activity because in addition to no-teacher prep, it walks students through the steps, so there is no complex math involved.
Students need only three supplies, so everyone can participate:
- measuring cup
- bowl
- snow
Teachers like you said:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐My students had fun completing this during our 2 snow days this past winter. It was nice to be able to give them something hands on to work on online. -Margery
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My students really enjoyed this engaging activity. It helped to visually show them that there is much more snow in an inch of water than one might originally think. I appreciated the measurement and math parts of the activity. The scientific questions were great for making them think and understand the concept. Thank you! – Teaching Naturally
You can read more about the snow days science activity in this blog post!
2. EdPuzzle Video Lesson
EdPuzzle is one of my go-to activities for digital assignments, snow days, and substitute lesson plans!
This free platform allows you to turn any video into a lesson. Since students interact with the video, they are more engaged than watching a traditional video.
Best of all, it integrates nicely with Google Classroom!
Edpuzzle offers a variety of popular channels for virtually any subject. Khan Academy, National Geographic and Ted Talks are a few of my favorites. After selecting the video, you have the opportunity to embed questions into the video. There are also thousands of videos that teachers have already created questions for that can be assigned immediately.
What are some perks of using Edpuzzle on a virtual learning snow day?
- Ready made videos are a huge time saver!
- No loss of instructional time because you can create and upload your own videos!
- Data tracking lets you know exactly how students performed and how long they spent!
My favorite feature? A setting that prevents students from fast-forwarding through videos!
3. Nature Journal
Encourage students to get outside with some nature journaling!
A few ideas to get your started….
- Observe snowflakes and sketch what they see
- Create a list of biotic and abiotic factors in their neighborhood
- Observe melting and runoff patterns
- Use the camera on their phone, Chromebook, iPad to capture an image related to a topic you’ve studied this year and explain it.
Hopefully this post leaves you with some ideas to get started planning your virtual snow day activities! Enjoy the snow!