Winter Crafts for Kids

When planning art and craft activities for children, keep in mind the child's age and ability. Crafts for kids should be easy, fun and stimulating. Use art time as a time to teach your child. For winter crafts, talk to your children about hybernation, the cold weather, why it snows, why the snow melts and other aspects of winter.

What could be more fun than creating a snowpal? Snowmen are easy to make and kids adore them! Purchase three styrofoam balls from your local craft store. Use foam glue or a hot glue gun to attach the balls in the shape of a snowman. Once the body has been made, help your child add eyes, a nose, a motuh, stick arms and any clothing that they want to add. You could cut a strip of fabric from an old shirt and make it a scarf for your snowman.

Measuring snow is always lots of fun. Purchase a yard stick and paint it white. Redraw the inch markings. Attach wintry stickers or paint snowflakes, winter words, penguins and other winter creations!

Remember making the snowflakes from coffee filters? Fold coffee filters and cut shapes from the filter. Cut as many or as few as you would like. Unfold the coffee filter and wha-lah, you have a snowflake! You could decorate the snowflake with glitter, sequins or any other shiny material. If oyour child can not cut the shapes, cut them for her and allow her to decorate the snowflake after it has been cut.

Kids love making collages! Any easy craft for children is to give them a sheet of black or blue paper and let them make a snow scene. Provide snowflake stickers and cotton balls for your child to decorate with. You might even give them white paint to use for snow.

When talking about hybernation, make a hybernating bear. Paint the outside of a styrofoam cup brown. Use the painted cup as a cave. Use femo clay or model magic to make a bear. Slide a small wooden dowel rod or popsicle stick into the bottom of the bear. When the bear has hardened, put the stick into the cup and poke the stick through the end of the styrofoam. Allow your child to hybernate their bear and make it come out, too.

Using white styrofoam cubes, arrange the cubes in the shape of an igloo. Glue the cubes together with foam or preferably, a hot glue gun. You can make the igloo small for pretend play, or make it big so that your child can actually sit inside of the igloo! Bundle up in a thick coat and have an eskimo party.

Make a winter windsock by folding a sheet of wintry 12x12 paper to create a cylinder shape. Staple, tape or glue the edges to make sure it stays together. Cut strips of blue and white tissue paper and attach them to the paper. At the ends of the tissue paper strips, add snowflakes!

If your child is capable, allow him/her to make a scarf, mitten and hat set. Purchase a variety of patterns from your local craft or gabric store and help your child knit/crochet a set. Not only will they have a blast making the items, they are useable!