DIY Snow Globe

This snow day inspired a home-made snow globe project that turned out well enough for Mia's tastes. I suspected that the "correct" way of making your own snow globes involved glycerin (and a quick Google search confirmed this), however, I figured we could get away with using baby oil since I had that around the house. The "official" directions that you can find all over YouTube call for distilled water (or at least boiling your water and letting it cool down), but for our purposes I just used water straight from the tap. If you are looking for something professional looking, this is not it, but as a snow globe it gets the job done. Plus, it was the perfect way to re-use a small glass jar (which formerly held bouillon cubes, but baby food jars would work great if you happen to have those) and the ballerina that had broken off from her music box. (Surprisingly, we couldn't find any Happy Meal type toys that were small enough to work for this.) For classification purposes, I am labeling this a kid's craft, however, since it involved hot glue, I did most of the work. Upper elementary age kids and older could do this on their own, perhaps, but I did it mainly to amuse my 5-year-old and 2-year-old. For a video I consulted before making this project, see here.

Materials:

• clean glass jar with twist on lid
• hot glue gun (adult use only)
• water
• baby oil
• small trinket or toy
• glitter

Directions: 

1. Have an adult use a hot glue gun to attach a small toy or trinket (something that won't rust or dissolve in water) to the inside of the jar lid. 
2. Fill jar most of the way with water. (Child can help with this.)
3. Add a very small amount of baby oil. (Child can help with this.)
4. Sprinkle in some glitter. (Child can help with this.)
5. Have an adult rim the inside of the jar's lid with hot glue, being careful not to cover up the threading. (It won't screw on tightly if you do.) Screw lid onto jar.
6. You now have a snow globe so give it a shake. (If leaking occurs, remove jar lid, pull out hot glue, and reapply. If desired, you can apply a small ring of hot glue on the outside of the lid to ensure that it is sealed, but I don't think this is necessary.)

Paper Snow Globe Craft

Mia came home with this construction paper snow globe that she had made in preschool and I thought it was a cute idea. I think this could also be done with 2 paper plates, (one whole and one cut in half) but we haven't tried it yet. I could also see this modified to be a fish bowl craft or even a crystal ball to make at a Wizard of Oz themed birthday party, for example.

{Snow Globe by Mia, Age 4}

Materials:

• 2 colors of construction paper OR 2 paper plates
• scissors
• something round to trace
• pencil
• clear contact paper
• crayons
• glitter
• glue

Directions:

1. On a piece of construction paper, trace around a plastic lid, plate, cup, or bowl to get a circle shape. 
2. Using crayons, draw a design on the paper circle. Mia made a snowman, but you could make anything that you would like to have in a snow globe: Santa, snowy houses, trees, reindeer, etc.
3. Trace a second circle onto another color of construction paper. Cut out the circle. Fold it in half and then cut into two pieces. Save one for the snow globe's base.
4. Trace a third circle onto a piece of clear contact paper and cut it out. Don't peel off the backing yet.
5. Glue your paper circle onto your paper half circle, which serves as the base for the snow globe.
6. Carefully peel the backing off of the contact paper. Sprinkle a little bit of glitter onto it, not too much, though, or it won't stick to your paper. Adhere the clear contact paper on top of the paper circle to complete your snow globe, which looks like it has snow flakes swirling around inside.
7. Once glue is dry, display your project.