26 Wonderful Winter Writing Prompts and ELA Activities for All Ages

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The days are growing shorter and chillier, which can only mean one thing: It’s time to liven up your lessons with a bit of wintry magic! From winter writing prompts to reading comprehension passages, check out this blizzard of creative winter ELA activities that will get your students excited to celebrate the cozy season.

Cool and Creative Winter Writing Prompts

Tap into all the season has to offer with winter writing activities that cover everything from holidays to weather to animal behavior!  You can use elementary writing prompts to help students learn the basic structure of different types of writing. Writing prompts for middle school can tie into other class content for a cross-curricular assignment. And writing prompts for high school can require longer responses that might serve as the basis for larger projects. 

• If you could choose any frozen item to fall from the sky besides frozen water, what would you choose? Would there be any positive or negative consequences of your choice? 
• The Weather Channel names winter storms based on popular names in the U.S. If you could choose how winter storms were named, what would your naming convention be? 
• Invent the next great winter sport. What equipment is needed, and how do you play?
• Make an argument for why winter is or isn’t the best season.
• How could snow be used to help people?
• Which cold-weather animal would you like to have as a pet? How would you keep its environment cold all year?
• Would you rather live in an igloo, an ice castle, or a cave in the winter? Why? 
• Pitch a new product you’ve invented that will help people get around quickly in deep snow. 
• Describe what it would be like for humans to prepare to hibernate for the winter. 
• Describe a winter scene without using the words “white” and “cold.” 
• Write an acrostic poem using a winter word like “frozen,” “blizzard,” or “snowman.” 
• How would you realistically create an ice skating rink in your backyard? 
• Imagine a magical creature that is only seen in the winter. What does it look like, and what are its powers? 
• Write a diary entry from the perspective of an animal in winter. 
• Using only dialogue, imagine a day in the life of snow and who it talks to. 

Winter Writing Pages – Creative Writing Prompts
By Kaitlynn Albani
Grades: K-3rd

This resource includes 90 pages and 78 writing prompts that are great for morning work, early finishers, creative writing practice, art practice, creative thinking, homework, and so much more! All of the writing pages are available with primary lines for little writers who need a little guidance and regular writing lines.

Winter Writing Prompts Would You Rather February Opinion Writing Activities

By Think Grow Giggle
Grades: 3rd-5th
Standards: CCSS W.2.1, 3.1, 4.1

Help your students succeed with opinion writing with these high-interest, real-world writing prompts and topics that you can use all winter long. Included are opinion writing anchor charts, a student reference sheet, graphic organizers, and a student checklist for young writers.

Winter Creative Writing Assignment Creative Writing Middle School
By 2peasandadog
Grades: 6th-8th
Standards: CCSS W.6.3, 6.4, 6.5

Students step into the shoes of characters such as a winter coat, ice skates, a coffee shop owner, a local sledding hill, and a lost mitten, crafting imaginative written products based on character-specific writing prompts. Using the RAFT format (Role, Audience, Format, Topic), students choose from five distinct writing options.

Winter Writing Prompts for Adult ESL
By Rike Neville
Grades: 10th-12th

These winter writing prompts transform the season’s frosty magic into powerful learning moments for adult ESL students and secondary learners. Picture your students diving deep into winter’s embrace and writing about survival strategies, cozy comfort foods, first snowfall experiences, and yes, even creating hilariously passive-aggressive notes to neighbors who don’t shovel their sidewalks.

Winter Reading Comprehension Passages and Activities

Reading comprehension about winter helps tie lessons to real life. These winter reading activities might even help students explore something they’ve never seen before! 

Winter Comprehension
By Latoya Reed
Grades: K-2nd

This no-prep resource has 16 winter-themed reading comprehension passages and questions about everything from going ice skating or skiing to meeting polar bears or taking a much-needed winter break.

Winter Nonfiction Reading Comprehension Passages and Questions
By ELA with Mrs Martin
Grades: 3rd-6th
Standards: CCSS CCRA.R.1, R.2, R.3

Get students digging deeper into nonfiction texts with this differentiated winter reading comprehension resource. It features 10 informational articles on high-interest topics like hibernation, icebergs, polar bears, and more.

WINTER Informational Text Reading Passages Activities PRINT and EASEL
By Diana Bailey
Grades: 6th-8th

This ELA resource includes two reading passages about the origins of the English language, with an emphasis on words associated with winter. Each text has a work page including vocabulary and comprehension question activities.

Winter Poetry Activities

These fun, hands-on winter poetry activities have everything you need to help your students learn about the basics of poetry and hone their critical thinking and writing skills. They’re the perfect precursor to National Poetry Month in April!

Winter In the Snow Poetry Writing Activity – Poetry Month Activity
By Proud to Be Primary
Grades: K-2nd

Teach poetry to your students with this “In the Snow” winter-themed poem. A great addition to your winter lesson plans, create an anchor chart together to go over all the things you can and cannot do in the snow! Students can then create their own snow poem using the printable template.

Poetry Center: Magnetic Build a Haiku (Winter Snow)
By More Than a Worksheet
Grades: 3rd-6th

With this activity, students will explore haiku while being exposed to a variety of figurative language. Use this activity just like the magnetic fridge poetry, except the strips include full lines of haiku! There are 32 lines with 5 syllables, and 16 lines with 7 syllables for thousands of poem combination possibilities!

Poetry Analysis – 5 Winter Poems – Interactive Flip Books – Digital and Paper
By Brain Waves Instruction
Grades: 5th-8th
Standards: CCSS CCRA.R.1, R.2, R.4

This winter, help your students cozy up to five winter poem studies in this engaging five-day poetry analysis unit. Take all of the intimidation out of teaching and analyzing poetry with the interactive flip books designed for each poem. Each flip book includes four analysis tasks to help students dive deeper into the interpretation of the poems.

Winter Poetry: Shakespeare, Shelley, Hunter, and Burns
By Fuller Teaching Resources
Grades: 9th-12th

Celebrate winter with your students with four poems by William Shakespeare, Percy Byshe Shelley, Anne Hunter, and Robert Burns. It’s the perfect addition to a poetry unit, or it can be a great filler activity between units or when you have a sub.

Work with winter words all season long

Using winter-themed resources for ELA classes makes lessons feel relevant to the season. Go beyond simple snow activities and incorporate interesting winter ELA activities into your daily schedule for a few months each year!