Fun Winter Crafts for Kids

Read aloud "Snowballs" by Lois Ehlert. In the story, children make a family of snow people using buttons, bits of string, and other items found around the house and yard. Cut three white circles for each child and glue or tape the circles together to make snowmen. Have your children decorate the snowpeople using only things they can find at home, just like the children in the story. Display the snow family for everyone to see.

Snowman Soup

Recipe for Snowman Soup: One serving of hot cocoa mix (from individual envelope or measured from a canister), small handful of mini-marshmallows, cinnamon if desired. Place ingredients in a plastic baggie and place baggie in a styrofoam cup or coffee mug. Add a plastic spoon of desired. Cover with plastic wrap and tie with a ribbon. Add this message: "When winter winds and cold and ice/ Make something warm sound awfully nice,/ Just mix with water in a cup,/ And Snowman Soup will warm you up!" Give to a neighbor or friend.

Melted Frosty

On a plain solid tee shirt or sweatshirt, have your child use white fabric paint to paint a very splotchy and misshapen snowman face. Add "coal" eyes and mouth and "carrot" nose that are messy and out of place (also with fabric paints). Add a little brown mud and gray dirt if desired. Use paints, stamps, or stencils to write, "I ran into Frosty at the playground". If you are really energetic, you could sew on black and orange buttons to create the face. Don't forget to place an old towel or a piece of cardboard on the inside between the two layers of the shirt before painting.

Black and White, Like a Snowy Night

If you have leftover "snow" from Christmas decorating (anything white, such as polyester batting, glitter, or gift bag filler), give your child a piece of black construction paper and let him create a Snowy Night scene with the pretend snow.

Shapes Winter Landscape

Help little ones practice making and naming shapes while creating artwork. Help your child cut circles from white paper, then make cuts in the circles to resemble snowflakes. Cut several rectangles, triangles, and squares from various colors of paper. Have your child glue the shapes onto a piece of black construction paper to create houses and falling snow, then add this verse: The snowflakes circle 'round and 'round; On triangle rooftops they fall down, And houses rectangle and also square, Sit silently in the frosty air.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Part 1: Help your child make up ways to act out this wonderful winter poem (easily found on the web by typing in 'stopping by woods'). Talk about the word pictures Robert Frost created and how the poem makes people feel.

Part 2: Make a 'Snowy Evening' Pillowcase. Use a black or blue permanent marker on a white pillowcase. (Place a piece of cardboard inside the pillowcase before marking.) Have your child draw snowflakes all over one side of the case. Write on the pillowcase the last lines of the poem: ". . . I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep." Display on your child's bed. You may want to turn the pillow over if your child is sleeping on it; even a permanent marker may leave stains on skin during sleep. When the colors begin to fade with washing, just refresh with the same marker. To add more detail, you may wish to sew on several snowflake-shaped buttons.