Q-Tip Snowflake Craft

Here is what we did this morning since it is another "snow day." This craft idea was one Logan and I learned at story time last month, and it seemed like a good time for a repeat since it was easy to quickly pull it together.I say "snow day" because most of the snow melted during last night's rain, and I am not 100% sure why school was cancelled. I assume the back roads were impassable due to a combination of ice, mud, and wind-blown nastiness. I am not about to go outside to figure out exactly why, though. The wind is really whipping right now and the kids are happily watching The Lion King.

Materials:

• construction paper
• white glue
• Q-Tips
• scissors
• small bowls to hold glue

Directions:

1. I started by folding the paper in half (hamburger fold) and then cutting it. You can use a whole piece of paper if you prefer.
2. Pour a small amount of white glue into a bowl. (Tip: One bowl per child makes life easier.)
3. Set out Q-Tips. (Tip: You can first cut some in half to give kids a little more variety, but this is not necessary.)
4. Have kids dip Q-tips into the glue and then arrange onto the paper to form snowflake designs. These can be as simple or as intricate as they want. Allow glue to dry completely before displaying the snowflakes.

Make Your Own: Crystal Snowflakes

This project has been on my mental to-do list for at least a year, and thankfully, yesterday's snow day prompted me to finally make a real crystal snowflake with the kids. I got the idea and basic directions from this website. This project involves boiling water so it's definitely not one for kids to do on their own. Borax isn't something that everyone has at home, but it is definitely handy if you are interested in making your own laundry detergent or all-purpose green cleaning solution. The only things we changed were using a popsicle stick in place of a pencil to hold the snowflake in the jar, and I constructed the whole thing from white pipe cleaners instead of pipe cleaner and string. (Oh, and one small tip I learned by trial and error: if you think that maybe you can pour boiling water into a plastic peanut butter jar because you have one one hand, think again. It will immediately melt. Just saying. Enchanted Learning does apparently know better than I do when they say to use a glass jar.) This was a fun and simple science experiment and the kids were excited to wake up to find that crystals had really grown overnight. I think next year we will make several of these crystal snowflakes and either use them for Christmas ornaments, give them away as gifts, or perhaps hang them from the chandelier using fishing line.

Less-Mess Coffee Filter Snowflakes

The other day, Mia came home from preschool with a coffee filter snowflake that she had painted with watercolors. It's very pretty, but I was trying to think of a way to make a few more, and I wanted a less messy way so that Logan could participate. I decided that instead of watercolors, we would use markers and then spritz the coffee filters with water to let the colors run a bit. They aren't quite as vibrant as the original snowflake, but our window now has a flurry of pretty snowflakes adorning it.

My Snowflake

Materials:

• coffee filters
• markers
• spray bottle of water
• scissors
• clear tape
• paper towel/newspaper

Directions:

Snowflake by Logan, Age 15 Months (cut by Mama)

1. Using markers, color a coffee filter. Don't worry if the entire surface isn't covered. 
2. Spritz the coffee filter with water. 
3. Lay the damp coffee filter on paper towel or newspaper and allow it to dry.  
4. Once dry, fold the coffee filter in half and then in half again for a basic snowflake (see picture of Logan's). For a more intricate design, continue folding in half once (like Mia's and mine) or twice more. 
5. While coffee filter is still folded, use scissors to cut out small designs on the folds. Make sure to trim triangular notches along the outside edge. Be careful not to cut all the way through.  
6. Unfold the coffee filter and you will have a lovely snowflake. Display your snowflake on a window using clear tape.

   

   Snowflake by Mia, Age 3 1/2

Simple Button Snowflakes

Last year, Mia and I did a snowflake project using pasta we had painted white by putting it in a zippered baggie and shaking it up. This year, I thought we would try using buttons. I think it turned out cute.

Button Snowflake by Mia, Age 3 1/2

Pasta Snowflake by Mia, Age 2 1/2

Materials:

• construction paper
• white (or clear) buttons
• glue

Directions:

1. Using glue, draw a snowflake on a piece of construction paper. This can be as simple (3 or 4 intersecting lines) or as complex as you wish.
2. Arrange buttons (or pasta) as desired. 
3. Allow glue to dry completely before displaying your snowflake.  

• Tip: We made our snowflakes fairly large, but you could make smaller ones on something sturdier like cardboard and use them as ornaments. 
• Tip: You could also fold your paper in half and use this to decorate a card.  
• Tip: If you don't want to draw your snowflake freehand, use a printout or a cookie cutter.)