You’ve only got a week or so with your middle school math students before the winter break begins….and schedule changes mean you’ll miss a couple classes during that time. You’ve finished the current topic, and there’s not enough time to fit in another unit. And. . . you know that sometimes kids have trouble staying on-task at this time of year, as they are looking forward to break! So what should you do? Try one or more of these winter activities for middle school math. They are perfect for reviewing skills and the kids will have fun at the same time.
I’ve got a few quick ideas for you…including a couple of free ones.
Easy-Prep Winter Activities for Middle School
Puzzles and word challenge activities are always favorite winter activities for middle school!
1) This free winter word creation activity combines math and language arts.
- Students find other words within “Winter Holidays” and then find the value of each word, using the assigned letter values.
2) Logic puzzles are always excellent to get the mind moving and the free puzzle (pictured above) is no exception!
- This one is a winter-themed logic puzzle and would also be great for your winter math centers or stations.
- Students need to figure out people’s favorite winter activity and food/drink.
- This is also an engaging math activity for your fast finishers or to have on hand for a sub day!
3) Looking for more of a Christmas math theme? Your students will get a kick out of finding the price of all the items in the 12 Days of Christmas!
Winter Color by Number Activities for Middle School Math
4) Holiday or winter-themed color by numbers offer a great opportunity to combine art and math, especially at a time of year when students may tend to be a little less focused.
The color by number activity pictured above focuses on review for 5th and 6th grades (and it has print and digital options. It covers skills like:
- Subtracting 4-digit numbers
- Adding decimals
- Multiplying whole numbers
- Multiplying decimal numbers
- Dividing whole numbers
- Evaluating exponents
- Solving word problems
- and more!
There are several other color by number activities in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop that have a holiday/winter/ new year theme.
Some focus on specific topics (like the long division one pictured) and some are mixed review.
Coordinate Plane Graphing & Winter Task Cards
5) Holiday time is a great time to practice coordinate plane graphing!
This is such an important skill that students need over the course of MANY grade levels.
This activity requires students to:
- graph points in all 4 quadrants
- follow instructions to connect the points
- color as instructed to get the coloring pattern
6) Footloose task cards are a fantastic way to keep students practicing while moving.
These winter-themed task cards are mixed review, intended for grades 4-6. The skills include:
- decimal multiplication and division
- division with single and two-digit divisors
- addition and subtraction of large numbers and money
- and more!
Looking for a fun ‘Santa’ -related activity? Check out this Secret Santa post from my friend at The Colorado Classroom!
What other quick and easy winter activities for middle school math (or upper elementary) do your students enjoy?
Looking for some fall activities? Check out the Fall Activities post.
Or, if you need an easy-prep New Year’s activity, check out the New Year’s activity post!
Save for Later
Remember to save this post to your favorite math Pinterest board for when you need ideas for easy-prep holiday and winter math activities.
