Easy Kindergarten Winter Poems That Rhyme!
- By Deedee Wills
- Updated on December 19
- 21 Comments
Table of Contents
Easy Kindergarten Winter Poems That Rhyme!
The winter season is here, and you’re looking for some easy winter poems for those chilly days! I’ve got a few short poems and lesson plan ideas that will fit beautifully into your kindergarten or first grade classroom. These popular poems are so much fun for kids of all ages especially when that cold weather rolls in.
These easy poetry lessons will keep your classroom engaged in reading whether the cold wind is blowing outside or you’re teaching in a warm-weather area. My original poems are such an easy way to help young readers focus on fluency during those long winter months. Your students will love them!
Teaching These Easy Winter Poems
Teaching poetry in the classroom is one of my absolute favorite things… and it quickly becomes a favorite for students, too. Research shows that poetry is a natural way to teach phonics skills, build reading fluency, and engage students in oral language. And when students are motivated, they want to explore more! This is why (speaking from experience!) you’ll have students keeping you on track and making sure you don’t accidentally skip poetry once you begin teaching these engaging lessons!
We don’t limit poetry to just Poetry Month in April. Instead, each week, students learn a brand-new poem. We place the short poem in a pocket chart or on a bulletin board so all students can see the print clearly. Our morning routines are the perfect time to explore the winter season through poetry — calm, predictable, and full of rhythm and rhyme.
Check out this collection of winter poems, complete with daily lesson plans.
You may already be a fan of the classic winter poems by Robert Frost or Emily Dickinson. I remember hearing some of these beautiful poems in my own childhood, and they still bring back the sweetest winter memories. (Some affiliate links have been added to this blog post.)
You can read a few poems that I love by clicking:
- Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
- Dust of Snow by Robert Frost
- February Twilight by Sara Teasdale
Here are a few newer poems for this time of year.
Winter Poems for Kindergarten and First Grade
When winter arrives in kindergarten, something magical always happens. Students come back from winter break just a little taller… and a whole lot more independent. But one thing they still love is our weekly poem. Winter poetry becomes part of our good frosty mornings routine, and it sets such a joyful tone for the day.
We start by reading the poem together, then we set it to a familiar tune. Ta-da! Suddenly we have winter songs that we hum and sing ALL day long. It’s the sweetest thing.
Winter Animal Poems That Rhyme!
Beginning in December, we start chatting about animal adaptations and how different animals behave in the winter. We talk about hibernation, camouflage, migration… all those fascinating survival strategies that kids love learning about!
Some arctic animal poems are just plain funny, like this playful penguin poem.
I’m a Little Penguin (Original Poem)
I’m a little penguin
Black and white,
A sharp tuxedo
I love to swim
But I can’t take flight
So I’ll waddle to the water
To search for a bite!
By Deedee Wills
Your students will have SO much fun acting out this poem! The waddles, the flippers, the giggles… it’s winter poetry magic!
Other Winter Poems -Hibernating Animals Poem
This cute winter poem is all about animals that hibernate, and students have such a great time moving the interactive images to match each part of the poem. There’s something so engaging about seeing the animals “jump” into the right spots — it brings the whole poem to life!
Here is the winter animal list featured in this poem:
black bear
rabbits
bats
badgers
skunks
Your kiddos will love acting out how each animal settles in for its long winter sleep!
Our young learners also add this poem to their poetry notebook, and they love flipping back to reread it all winter long.
Not only do we fluency practice this wintry poetry together, but we also sneak in some structured literacy work with open and closed syllables. It’s such an easy way to weave foundational skills into something fun and meaningful!
Hibernation Poem
This short winter poem is another fun one to share with your students when that frosty air begins to blow! It’s simple, sweet, and perfect for introducing hibernation in a way young learners can truly understand.
In addition to adding this original poem to their poetry notebook, students also have a little emergent reader that goes with it. This way, they can take the poem home to practice and they love showing off their reading skills to their families!
Arctic Animals Poems
This arctic animals poem features foxes, wolves, and polar bears, and it’s such a great way to reinforce the science learning we’re doing about animal adaptations. I love when poetry and science blend together so naturally, the kids make the sweetest connections!
This is another original poem that I wrote, and it has become a quick classroom favorite.
Easy Winter Poems about Polar Bears
Like most kindergarten classrooms, we dive into arctic animals every January. And let’s be honest… polar bears are pretty fascinating! The kids never get tired of learning about them and neither do I!
The video version of the poem is available too, so students can scan the code in their notebooks and sing along. They get such a kick out of hearing the poem come to life… it’s like having a little winter fun concert right at their desk!
Snow Poems
When the winter holidays winds blow or we have a white snow day, this is such a fun poem to share. It’s all about my kindergarteners’ favorite winter activity… making little snowmen!
When I first introduce this snowman poem, I read it like a little riddle. The kids LOVE trying to guess what it’s about. And just look at that chubby snow man drawing, it gets big smiles every time!
What is better than one snowman poem? How about another one!
This poem was inspired by the book Snowman at Night. Such a great choice for winter read-alouds! We love that whole series of books.
Five Snowmen (Original Poem)
Five snowmen came out one night.
After the sun had gone out of sight.
They played games out in the snow.
Until it was time to go.
By Deedee Wills
Your students will have so much fun acting this one out… and you might catch them reciting it during centers, too!
Poetry Literacy Center Activities
My kindergarteners get extra thrilled whenever one of their favorite favorite poems pops up in our literacy stations for the week. It feels like a little surprise celebration! Students morning work with their partners to put the poem in order, and the teamwork you see during this activity is just the sweetest.
Sometimes I even toss in a word work activity that goes along with the poem, too. It’s such an easy way to keep things fresh, fun, and full of meaningful literacy practice… truly one of our favorite fun activities to revisit again and again!
They can also highlight sight words they know, which gives them a great confidence boost. And yes, these poems are recorded (can you spot the iPhone?). Students can scan a QR code to listen to the poem as a song while they reconstruct it. It feels like a little literacy party at the poetry center!
Another winter poetry favorite for our poetry center! The kids always light up when they see this one added to the rotation, it feels like a brand-new treat every time.
Winter Poems for Kindergarten and First Grade: Videos!
There are times when we turn the video on and the whole class sings along. It is such a fun way to start the morning! Those repeated opportunities to see and read (and sing!) the famous poems do wonders for building fluency and prosody. And on days when the bright snow is sparkling outside, it all feels even more magical. The room just feels happy when poetry kicks off our day!
Students can even watch the poem videos on their own devices. HOORAY for one more way to sprinkle poetry throughout the day! (See what I did there… poetry really is the best!)
Winter Poems for Kindergarten and First Grade: Student Notebooks
We love adding to our poetry notebooks with each new poem we read. By the end of the year, students have an entire collection of poems they can read, revisit, and proudly share and they think it is the Coolest. Thing. Ever! It becomes this magical little treasury of their reading journey.
I hope you found a few new winter poems you can break out when Jack Frost comes to visit! These little moments of poetry truly warm up even the chilliest days.
You can find all of these winter poems for kindergarten and first grade by clicking on the pictures in this blog post. OR, if you want poems ready for the whole year, take a peek at the mega bundles! You’ll get access to poems, songs, videos, and interactive notebooks. I actually have two sets, some teachers looped with their classes and wanted a fresh batch of poems for their new year together. Teacher friends… I’ve got you covered!
Would you like to know more about teaching poetry in the classroom? Here are a couple of blog posts for you!
Deedee Wills
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21 Responses
I love it Deedee, you are SO thorough!
Looks like a fun week!
MWAHHHHH!!!!! Thanks for the shout out!!!!! I love your December Poetry Stations!!!!
Looks great, but I get a message that I have to have permission to access. Help!!
Jen
jeneratorj@gmail.com
Yes, I also got a message that I needed permission to access the peek-at-week plans. Never encountered that before. 🙁 How can I get your awesome plans?
Priscilla
dearmswong@hotmail.com
I'm having the same problem with accessing the peek-at-week plans. Thanks, I love your stuff!
So Sorry!!! I fixed the link! EEKK!
I didn't realize you could use your Overhead Station for the Promethean Board…so cool…just added to my wishlist! I purchased your December poetry pack and can't wait to use the gingerbread poem next week….thanks for your great products.
Kelly
Kindergarten Kel
Hi Kelly… yes, I print the pages on white paper and have the students lay them under the document camera. Then I open the Promethean program and set it to transparent.
If I get my act together, I just might scan the documents into the program directly…Ha!
Deedee,
Once again, your Writing Work Stations are a hit with my kids! They were rather peeved when I didn't get the December ones up yet (due to a dead laminating machine)! So, thanks for your great work!
Corinna
Teaching Fabulous Firsties!
DeeDee,
I am a first year teacher…trying to figure out literacy stations. I printed your station cards yesterday(I love how you have smaller groups…and flip the stations I never would have thought about doing that). I also bought your I can station cards which are a revelation to me as well. I would have never thought to give specific tasks at big book, library, and poetry! Wahooooo! I am so excited about finally giving meaning to my stations! I believe its going to give me time for my small groups…which has been lacking because I have had such trouble keeping them on task without a good system.
I do have a question. Do you switch stations weekly? or a longer roation? I have 22 students and to do 2 to a station it would seem that it would need to be longer to get everyone through each station.
I have your writing station (my kids love it!) and just bought your stamping station. I am looking at your games too. I have to work on bringing in one thing at a time. 🙂
Thank you for all your hard work and for sharing!
Traci
Hi Traci, I am so glad you are finding my resources helpful.
I do rotate some stations weekly and some (like the games where I want them to repeatedly practice something) stay longer. I also don't rotate EVERYthing on a Monday (as you can see from my poetry/pocket chart station). I try to keep the tasks familiar and just swap out the materials. This allows me to work with my groups.
I saw somewhere you only do 15-20 minutes per activity. I guess I am just thinking if I have the stamping station out, I want everyone to have a turn at it. If I do groups of two that would take more than one week to get everyone through that page. Am I missing something? Traci
Love all of your stuff – especially your writing workshop! I'm a big Katie Wood Ray fan 🙂 You may like the conferencing forms I use during Writer's Workshop – check them out here : http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Workshop-Conference-Notes (for free!)
Once again…LOVE it!!
Terri Izatt
KinderKapers
Your wealth of knowledge and your kind heart to share all your items is remarkable! THANKS AND STOP BY ANYTIME!
You are amazing Deedee! I love coming to visit you! I just shared some Christmas poetry *freebies*…I would love for you to come and check them out if you get the chance. My kiddos always love the Polar Express song/poem and Hello Santa. They will still be singing/reading Hello Santa in May!!! Lol! =)
Blessings,
Heather
Heather's Heart
I homeschool and my kids love the poetry stations! We do them together! They loved the Winter's Here Poem (they sing it all day) and now we are the Gingerbread Man poem and I can not get the get the tune right to that poem for the life of me. Can you, maybe…..record you or your class singing it so we can get it right?
Thank you
Oh! My! Word! You have no idea the horror you are about to experience! I have had a cold for a few weeks and I have lost my voice. But I will do it tomorrow with my class! Ha! Will you email me? owens65066@gmail.com
These are really cute poems that will be enjoyed by kindergarten students! I am sure they would love to read these with their classmates and family while sipping hot chocolate.
Thanks for your information!