Place Value Snowball Toss: Winter Snowball Place Value Activities

This is Day 7 of the 12 Days of Christmas Math Games and Activities for Homeschoolers! You can check out the other posts in the series to find easy, hands-on math lesson ideas for your homeschool this month! Today I’m excited to be sharing some fun winter snowball place value activities, including the Snowball Place Value Toss! This post also includes a free download so you can use these winter snowball place value activities in your homeschool!

This activity was designed for kids in 1st or 2nd grade, who are learning about place value. It can be adapted for kids from preschool through 3rd  grade using the suggestions included in this plan!

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What You Need:

• This place value snowball toss free printable (get it below!)

• 4 large buckets or boxes
• Socks to use as snowballs- the more the better!
• Tape
• A small dry erase board and marker (optional)

Prepare:

• Gather your supplies.
• Print the labels and tape them to the sides of your buckets.
• Organize the buckets in a line: thousands, hundreds, tens, units.
• Ball up the socks to make snowballs, and set them aside.

How to Use These Winter Snowball Place Value Activities:

In this activity, your child will be tossing as many sock snowballs as possible into the different buckets. If you’re stuck inside and your child wants to homeschool in the snow, this is the perfect compromise! Your child should stand back from the buckets. Older children can stand further away, and younger children can stand closer to the target. Kids should be careful to toss gently with an underhand toss. This game is a great chance to practice that skill! Families with multiple siblings can also take turns tossing the snowballs to practice sharing and waiting for a turn. Once all of the snowballs have been tossed, your child should count how many snowballs are in each bucket, and use this information to build a number with place value. You can talk about this together, or you can write the number on a small dry erase board or build it using number tiles or magnetic letters.

Adapt the Winter Snowball Place Value Activities For Your Kids

For Younger Kids:

Throw a shorter distance:

Younger kids can stand closer to the buckets to make it easier to get the snowballs inside.

Use fewer buckets:

Kids who are just starting out with learning about place value can build 2-digit numbers using 2 buckets labeled “tens” and “units.” Kids who are a little bit more advanced can make 3-digit numbers by adding a 3rd bucket labeled “hundreds.”

Instead of practicing place value, practice counting.

Use 1 unlabeled bucket. Have kids throw as many snowballs as possible into the bucket. Count the number of snowballs in the bucket, and write that number on a small dry erase board.

For Older Kids:

Throw a longer distance:

Older kids can stand farther away from the buckets when throwing their snowballs to make this part of the activity more challenging to them.

Use more buckets:

Kids who are more experienced with place value can build even bigger numbers by using more buckets. Label each bucket with the place value.

Add in a zero:

Before throwing the snowballs, turn one or more of the buckets upside down. Tell your kids that they can’t throw any snowballs into that bucket during this round. After all the snowballs have been thrown, turn the bucket right-side-up again. Your number will have a zero in that place value, which is always a little bit tricky for kids- and great to practice!

Mix up the buckets:

Put the buckets in a random order before throwing the snowballs. Ask your child to put the buckets back in order before figuring out the number represented!

Extensions: Number building.

For older kids, ask them to use the snowballs to build a number. Give them a number, either verbally or written on a small dry erase board. Then ask your child to toss snowballs in to the buckets to build that number.

You can follow up with even more snow-themed fun, like these snowflake fine motor printables.

What Your Kids Will Learn in the Winter Snowball Place Value Activities

Place value can be tricky for kids because numbers have a different value or meaning, depending on their location, or place. This is exactly what is happening in this activity. The sock snowball will have a different value, depending on which bucket it lands in. Although every snowball is just a sock, we are assigning it a different value depending on which bucket it is in- just like numbers get a different value depending on which place they are in. This is a way to make a tricky abstract concept like place value very concrete for kids!

Get the Winter Snowball Place Value Activities Free Printable!

Fill out the form below to get your copy of the Christmas sticker trees free printable. I’ll also send the other lessons in the Christmas Math games and activities series straight to your inbox. All your math plans for the month are done!

Get all the 12 Days of Christmas Math Games and Activities Lessons!

This huge 200+ page PDF is stuffed with hands-on activities and printables to complete 12 fun Christmas themed math lessons! Each day includes complete directions and printables, plus bonus tips, extension activities, and worksheets to reinforce the concepts your kids are learning. This huge bundle includes all the activities and printables you will need to complete the 12 Days of Christmas math games and activities, plus bonus worksheets and extension activities that won’t be included in the free downloads! Harness that Christmas excitement to make homeschooling fun this season with this easy-to-use resource!

These lessons were designed for kids in preschool through 1st grade. Each lesson includes adaptations to customize it for your child’s unique needs- or so that siblings can do the activities together!

Learn more about this amazing resource here!

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Check out the other posts in the 12 Days of Christmas Math Games and Activities series here to find more fun activity ideas for your homeschool!