Winter
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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My son loves “sprinkles” also known as glitter, and I love them when they are being used correctly. The other day it was “snowing” in our kitchen aka my son was dumping large quantities of glitter on the floor while running away from me. I haven’t been able to completely de-glitter my kitchen since so I thought what the heck it’s already a mess let’s make these snowflakes. I love using cupcake liners for snowflake crafts because for the life of me I can’t make pretty circle snowflakes any other way. This is a great winter craft but you can also use clothes pins between the snowflakes to clip holiday card on!
- Gather your materials. You will need some cupcake liners, scissors, blue ribbon, glue, glitter and a good dustbuster.
- Start by folding your liners into triangles.
- Make cuts into them to make snowflakes. My son got the hang of this after a few tries, one liner he simply demolished but he made 3 really cool ones, I made the rest.
- Lay your snowflakes out and add glue.
- Add your glitter. I love the flexible plastic place mats I have for this because I can bed them and pour the extra glitter back into the jar easy peasy.
- Let dry .
- Thread your ribbon through the cuts. The paper is so light that they will stay in place on your ribbon without slipping.
- Thread the rest of the snowflakes on and hang up!
Books
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Un-Brella
Stella, Queen of the Snow
My mother in law was asking me what I could make with hand prints besides a turkey, and this sun topped my long list of crafts. We all need a little sun during the dark days of winter, this craft is so easy and fits well with themes likes space, seasons, and learning about weather !
- Gather your materials. You will need a paper plate, some construction paper, yellow paint, a paint brush , a container, glue and scissors.
- Start by tracing your child’s hand a few times on a piece of construction paper.
I am using yellow paper but white or orange would work too. In a class you can do one of each child’s hand if you want to make a large sun as a cooperative project. - Cut out.
- Have your child paint the paper plate yellow. We are using a number of different paints, for variety but plain yellow paint , crayons or markers are all great.
- Add some sparkle paint, bet you thought I was done sparkles just because the holidays are over!
- Paint the cut out hands. My son decided he wanted to dip them in the paint and the result was really cool. You can also simply use the brush if you prefer.
- Let dry.
- Glue the hands on the under side of the plate.
- Bask in the glow!!
Mr. Sun, Sun Mr. Golden Sun,
Please shine down on me!
Oh Mr. Sun , Sun Mr. Golden Sun,
hiding behind a tree!
These little children are asking you ,
to please come out so we can play with you,
Oh Mr. Sun, Sun Mr.Golden Sun,
Please shine down on me!
Books!
“Un Brella” by Scott Franson is such a cool book. There is not a single line of text in the book , and it’s not missing a thing! The illustrations are so vivid, so layered and tell the story perfectly. A little girl has a magical umbrella that brings sun on a snowy day and snow when her yard is green and sunny. My 2 year old was beside himself laughing and saying “No no” to the little girl wearing her swim suit in the snow. Grab this book and enjoy!
- Gather your materials. You will need 3 pieces of white paper, a marker, some construction paper ( any color but use the same color for all of it), some small containers, double stick tape or glue , paint and scissors.
- Start by drawing 3 mittens on 3 separate pieces of paper.
- If you have an older child who needs more of a challenge you can do a hat and scarf as well, but little guys may get confused on whether to match the item or the color , so start small if you aren’t sure.
- Have your child paint the mittens, one color for each page.
- My son was hard to convince to use only one color, so I had an extra page for him to use all of them on after he did the mittens.
- Let dry and cut out.
- Using double stick tape or glue use construction paper as a backing. This will make them sturdier so they last while being played with!
- Using the small containers match your mittens!
by Jan Brett is visually impeccable, each page is so full of details that you will find yourself staring at them long after you have read the words. The story is about a little boy who looses a mitten and what happens next. It’s a sweet retelling of a Ukrainian folk tale but the detailed and layered illustrations really steal the show!
Goodnight Moon
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
