Pompom Snowflake: A Toddler Craft Project

This activity is easy for toddlers to do, requiring little preparation from parents. It provides practice in fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination and piques a child's curiosity and sense of touch.

For this craft you will need:

Cardstock or cardboard, any color and any size
3 popsicle sticks
20-30 blue and/or white pompoms, any size
Pencil
Glue
Dish
Scissors

Simple Preparations for Parents
First you need to decide how big you want to make the snowflake. This will determine what size card stock or cardboard you will need. You might want a larger one if you are going to hang it on a wall. Or maybe you want a smaller one to make into a Christmas tree ornament. Once you determine the size you will need to draw the snowflake on your cardstock or cardboard. To make a small snowflake, arrange your popsicle sticks on the cardstock to look like a six-armed snowflake. To do this, lay two sticks down, one on top of the other, resembling an "X". Put the third stick on top with the ends pointing to the top and bottom of the cardstock. Carefully trace the snowflake with your pencil and cut it out. (If you plan to make more than one snowflake use this first one as a template for the others.)

Toddler Time
Put some glue on a dish. Have your child dip the pompom in the glue and then stick the pompom to the snowflake form. It is a good idea to press down on the pompom for a few seconds to help it adhere to the cardstock. Continue gluing pompoms until the snowflake is covered. Let dry.

Finishing Touches
After the snowflake dries, you could glue a magnet to the back and use it as a refrigerator magnet or attach a string and hang it on a tree, in a window or on a gift. You could make several snowflakes, attach strings to them and tie them to a paper plate or hanger to make a mobile.

Alterations
To alter this activity your child could arrange different colored pompoms in a pattern. You could also use small and large pompoms. You could make different sized and shaped snowflakes as well.

As always, enjoy the crafting experience with your child. He will gain a sense of pride in creating something. So focus on the fun, praise him for his efforts throughout the process, and acknowledge his accomplishments.