By late winter in Ohio, the cold temperatures keep us inside more than we’d like. That’s why I’m always looking for ways to get the kids up and moving indoors in the winter. This sight word snowball fight is a fun way to move around inside while staying warm and practicing sight words. The activity is easily adaptable for any sort of word review.
Real snowball fights can be a lot of fun but often times end up with someone upset after a snowball cascades onto their face and down into their coat. Or worse yet some hard piece of snow or ice or even a rock was embedded in the snowball. Luckily, this classroom-friendly, indoor snowball fight will leave kids giggling instead of crying.
Write one sight word at the top of a blank sheet of paper and a second sight word at the bottom. Copy the sight words for each student. Distribute the sight words to the students and let them trace the words with a marker or highlighter. Then have students cut across the middle of the page, separating the two sight words. This activity works great to review 6-8 sight words at a time.
After students have copied and cut the sight words (and the scissors are safely put away!) clear an area for the snowball fight. Students will use the half-sheets of paper to ball up and make into snowballs. Set a timer or turn on a song and let the students toss the snowballs around for a little bit.
Snowball clean up is also part of the review. Have one basket for each sight word labeled with the sight word and placed around the room. After the students have tossed the snowballs for a while, they will start to pick them up. The students should pick up and uncrumple one snowball at a time. Then they will find the matching basket and toss the snowball in.
Snow by Roy McKie and P.D. Eastman or Snowballs by Lois Ehlert are great picture books to incorporate into any snow-related activity. Sometimes I choose words from the books to put on the snowballs also.
The snowball fight and subsequent picking up and sorting can be done over and over. It also works great as an activity to pull out when the students are getting fidgety and need to get their wiggles out. Do you have go-to activities to bring movement to the classroom? Comment below and tell us about it!