Snowman
Marshmallow Snowman
This activity is in disguise, it looks like a snowman craft but really it’s all fine motor practice and counting. My son has been skipping 5 while counting so I decided to focus on it more and this is a great activity for that. Our rule was he could eat one marshmallow after he counted out 5, 10, 15 etc… it worked wonderfully. His fine motor skills and hand eye coordination got an awesome workout too as he placed each marshmallow carefully on the glue. Fun and learning!
- Gather your materials. You will need some mini marshmallows, glue, some markers ( include black), some orange scrap paper and a little helper.
- Start by drawing a basic snowman on the paper with marker. Depending on the age of your child make it larger or smaller, challenge your child but have realistic expectations .
- Draw the face and buttons with marker.
- Cut out a carrot nose with the orange paper and glue on.
- Add the glue along the outline. If your child is able have them do this, it’s tricky to stay on the line but great practice in patience and hand eye coordination. No my son did not do this step, he was busy sneaking marshmallows while I was concentrating.
- Start adding the “snow” . Like I said in the preamble, I had him add 10 to the bottom then eat one, then 5 to the middle, then 13 to the bottom again. It was very interactive and fantastic counting practice . He had a ball and really didn’t eat too many .
- Look at the fine motor skills! For children who are still at the early stages of fine motor development, you can adapt this by using large marshmallows.
- Let dry.
Books
The Lonesome Polar Bear
by Jane Cabrera is a cute little book about a little polar who’s only friends are a snow cloud and snow animals that keep melting away. The book has a cute message about not giving up hope and to keep trying to make friends , a lesson that is worth wile for everyone. The illustrations are very cute and my son loved it!
Birthday Snow
Snow Party
Even more cold weather books
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Snowmen!
I saw these a while back on Just For Fun and emailed Sandy right away to see if she would like to share these with me! Are they not adorable? I love them ! The holidays are over and we have a long winter ahead of us, so cheer yourself up with this awesome little craft!
For the full how to check out
I love snowmen and am so excited that my 2 year old seems to share this love. Snowmen are great because they aren’t attached to one religious tradition or specific culture. This craft is a easy and relatively mess free way to add sparkles to your holiday decor.
- Gather your materials. You will need a paper plate, some orange and black construction paper, 2 buttons, some sequins, sparkles, contact paper, scissors, double stick tape, a stapler, and some ribbon. I also used some paint because my son wanted to paint and I like how it looks but you can skip this step if you want.
- Have your child paint the paper plate, and let dry. If you use a sponge paint brush the paint will go on lightly and dry fast.
- While they do that cut out a nose from the orange paper, a hat and some coal for the mouth.
- Cut a rectangle of contact paper and fold in half , make sure it’s big enough to cover the hole you will be cutting in the plate.
- Peel back the contact paper backing and let your child shake the sparkles on it.
- Add some sequins.
- Fold the contact paper so it sandwiches the sparkles , seal it. You may have to use some tape to make sure it’s sealed and nothing falls out.
- Cut out the middle of the plate.
- Add glue to the cutout middle for the coal mouth, nose and hat. Obviously older kids can do this themselves but it gives toddlers a great guide to be independent.
- Add the face pieces.
- Add the button eyes.
- While your child is adding the face pieces , attach the contact paper to the inside of the paper plate ring, I used double stick tape cause it holds contact paper well.
- Staple the face to the belly, I use staples with coated paper plates because glue doesn’t always work very well.
- Add the ribbon as a scarf to cover the staples.
Books !
” Birthday Snow” by Kim Messinger and Michael LaLumiere is such a sweet book about believing in something even when all the facts say maybe you should give up. Daniel doesn’t give up hope waiting for the snow to come on his birthday , but who really steals the show is his mom and her continued support of her little guy and his determination. A very cute book and a new addition to my must buy list!
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