When it's too cold to play outside, parents can plan winter crafts for kids so that they can keep busy on a wintry afternoon. Making crafts is a good alternative to watching television or playing video games all day. It keeps the kids engaged in a constructive activity and allows them to explore their creativity at the same time.
Winter crafts for kids can include paper plate snowmen, since most homes have paper plates stashed somewhere in a kitchen cupboard. A snowman can be made by gluing three paper plates together in a vertical line. Children can make a carrot nose from orange construction paper and use some old buttons for the snowman's eyes. They can fashion a top hat from black craft foam and place it on the snowman's head. They glue smaller buttons or raisins to the snowman's face in order to make a smiling mouth. Pipe cleaners are good to use if the children wish to make arms for the snowman.
A quick but fun winter craft for kids is a picture of a winter scene. Children can draw pictures of penguins, polar bears, icebergs, and igloos. If they don't feel comfortable drawing the pictures, they can find them in magazines or print them from the Internet. They can then glue the pictures to a piece of blue construction paper. To make snow, parents provide kids with cotton ball or batting so kids can add the fluffy material to their arctic picture.
For those who love to ice skate, they can make winter crafts for kids that involve something as simple as an ice skating picture. First, children cut a piece of aluminum foil into a rectangular or circular shape. This serves as the ice rink. They then glue the aluminum foil to a piece of paper. Finally, they take another piece of paper and draw pictures of figure skaters in colorful costumes. After cutting out the skating people, they glue them to the "ice rink."
Winter crafts for kids can involve making a snow globe from a clean baby food jar. Parents help kids glue a figurine to the lid of the jar. Use a hot glue gun will help to ensure that the figurine stays in place. The figurine is allowed to set overnight so that it is completely dry. The next day, the kids fill the jar with cold water and add about ½ (2.5 mL) teaspoon of glitter.
The glitter serves as the "snow" for the snow globe. The parent helps the child line the lid with hot glue. Then they place the lid containing the figurine inside the water. Glue is applied to the rim of the lid in order to ensure that the jar is completely sealed. After allowing the snow globe to dry, the child can shake it and watch snow drift inside the globe.
