Countdown to Winter Break with Winter Books
Once the month of December hits, the kids are ready for winter break (and hey, so am I!) I love to find some fun and engaging winter activities to hold us over until school gets out. One of my favorite traditions I’ve done with my class every year is a countdown to winter break by unwrapping a winter book each day!
How the Countdown to Winter Break Works
Similar to how my balloon countdown to summer break works, I start this countdown to winter break 10 days before we get out of school. Therefore, I have 10 winter books I wrap up for us to read in the days leading up to winter break.
Before picking which books to wrap up, I look at our reading plans/curriculum. Any winter books we are using for lessons become the book to unwrap for that day. However, with middle of year testing and other activities, not every book we read will coincide with a lesson. I would say about half of the books we unwrap are part of a winter activity/lesson I’ve planned and half are a “free choice” winter book I can choose.
Planning here is key! Since I want some of the books to go along with a lesson for the day, I make sure to label my books on the front with #10 or #5 so I know which day it goes with. In my lesson plans, it says “unwrap book #8” so I know the book for that day is #8. Really, once they’re all prepped and wrapped, you’ll know to unwrap counting down to 10. My list when planning it out each year often looks like this:
#10- FREE CHOICE
#9- FREE CHOICE
#8- Sneezy the Snowman [Summarizing- SWBST]
#7- Pig the Elf [Summarizing- SWBST]
#6- FREE CHOICE
#5- FREE CHOICE
#4- A Little Bit of Winter [BME + Creation Activity]
#3- Snowmen at Night [creative writing prompt]
#2- Tacky the Penguin [Arctic Day- fantasy/realism]
#1- FREE CHOICE
Once I know which books I have to use for lessons, I replace the “FREE CHOICE” spots with a winter book I’ve selected.
A word of caution: Teaching in a public school, not every student in my classroom celebrates Christmas. I have several students who celebrate Hanukkah. I try to be very cognizant of who is in my class from year to year and represent any winter holidays that my students may celebrate. Typically, I will include 1-2 Santa books and 1-2 Hanukkah books and then try to find just winter books for the rest (the books I use do not discuss the religions). If you choose to do this, I would highly suggest to really consider your student population in your class so every child feels represented!
Starting the Countdown to Winter Break
I do not mention or put up the books in my classroom until we officially have 10 days left until winter break. That morning, I arrange all 10 books the rail of my whiteboard. As you can probably guess, the students notice the books as soon as they walk in the classroom door and are really excited to start the countdown to winter break.
When it comes to unwrapping the winter books, I pick one student each day to unwrap the book. In first grade, this is a BIG deal! In order to keep it fair, I alternate between a boy & a girl each day. I tell students that I am watching all day and picking someone who has been doing a nice job of following directions and classroom expectations. (This helps a little with managing behaviors going into the break!)
The Final Day of Our Countdown to Winter Break
When we finally get to our last day before winter break, I pick the last student to unwrap the book. Excitement is high and by the end of the countdown, unfortunately not every student gets a chance to unwrap a book. However, little do the students know, that they indeed will all get to unwrap a book!
My favorite gift to give to students is a book. Not every family has access to books at home so I think it makes the perfect gift! I try to find either value packs or discounted books on Scholastic and order a set for my class. This year I got my class Sneezy the Snowman. Whatever book I’ve picked, I usually include it as one of my countdown to winter break books so students are familiar with it (and they are always really excited to get one we’ve read). While it might take a while, I find it’s been really worth wrapping each book for my students (and honestly, I love wrapping presents while watching Hallmark movies in December!)
On address labels, I create a cute label for inside the book that has their name (so we know whose is whose when it ends up on the ground) and create a label for on top of the wrapping paper as well. I then use tulle ribbon a put a bow on each student’s wrapped book. Trust me, this takes the excitement up an extra notch!
After reading our final book, I’ll go grab my hidden box of books and pass one out to each student. We wait until everyone has a book and then we count down together before opening the book. The pure joy and excitement on their faces makes it worth it every year!
Ideas for Winter Books to Use
Want to start your own countdown to winter break but need some ideas for winter books? I’ve got you covered with links to some great books! Here’s the winter books I’m doing this year along with a few extra to give you some ideas:
Don’t want to buy any books but don’t have a lot of winter books in your classroom? Utilize the library! I checked out 10 books my first year of teaching and wrapped those. Over the years, I’ve added gradually added to my collection to get lots of winter books for my classroom!
I tell parents every year that my biggest goal for their child is they leave first grade with a love of reading. I find that this countdown to winter break really gets students excited about books and reading, which is definitely a plus! I hope you can take this idea and use it in your classroom!
Happy Reading!
