Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Snowmans

Yesterday afternoon we started the winter crafts. Ezra's been begging to do "projects", so I pulled out some ideas from my old classroom. These cotton ball snowmen are fun to make and take minimal materials. The first step is not pictured. On black construction paper trace three graduated circles one on top of each other with white crayon. Next, fill in the circles with glue. It's fun to spread the glue all around with your fingers, like so:


(yes, she ate some)
Next, break up cotton balls and fluff with your fingers. Press the cotton fluff onto the glue in all three circles. My kids hate the feel of cotton as much as I do as evidenced below. We all had a good case of the goosebumps after this step.


The fourth step uses paint in this version of the project. We used tempura paint to add eyes, nose, mouth and arms to the snowman. In an alternate version, you can skip putting cotton on the top circle of the snowman and simply use crayon, marker or pencils to add his face and arms. You can also cut out facial features and body parts from construction paper like we did in my classroom. We love pain in our house and use any excuse to get it out.


Those are eyes all over the snowman in the above picture. Daddy thought the snowman was bleeding.
The final step is to take white crayon and color in snow on the ground and falling from the sky. You can use either white or yellow to add stars and/or clouds to the sky. Both colors show up well on the black paper.

The finished products drying and waiting to be hung on the refrigerator--where all projects should go!


P.S. I know, I know, Ezra rarely has pants on in this blog. He DOES own pants and he does wear them. However, he wears them at times when I don't have the camera out--like in the morning right after he gets dressed and when we go out in public : )

7 comments:

NaomiG said...

What a cute project! My kids would love it... I'll have to steel myself for mayhem, and get the supplies.

They did little lambs with their handprint and cotton balls in Sunday School a few weeks ago, and LOVED it...

Unknown said...

Haha! I love the looks on their faces with the cotton balls all stuck to their fingers...too funny! And, hilarious that Tadd thought there had been a snowman massacre:)

Mike, Alice, and Hank the DOG said...

That's just too funny to see their faces with the sticky cotton balls. Reminded me of the schools projects I'd see hanging in the hallways.....

CrumleyCrew said...

I am going to use this one of these rainy days. Thank you for the project idea. :)

Sjo said...

It looks like a fun project, I haven't tried any glue projects yet with Phi though I'm sure he would find it entertaining. Painting would be a fun one too. Thanks for the great ideas.
And pantsless is not a bad thing. Some days are just too busy for such things around the house.

Anonymous said...

Only a great mommy would take the time for a messy project. You're that kind of mommy. Love to see the pictures, pants or no pants.Thanks Ma Id.

Anonymous said...

Only a great mommy would take the time for a messy project. You're that kind of mommy. Love to see the pictures, pants or no pants.Thanks Ma Id.