If you’re looking for snowman crafts and activities for toddlers and preschoolers, I have a bunch, but I think my favourite is this simple snowman building activity tray.
Kids can build a snowman from scratch over and over again, making it different every time with this snowman activity tray. All you need are some cotton makeup pads and a few odds and ends that you already have around the house.
It’s a great activity for developing fine-motor skills and critical thinking, and a wonderful way to put in a cold, snowy morning.
It’s also a great activity a kids’ Christmas party activity, Anna and Elsa fans (Do you want to build a snowman?), or to do after watching a snowman movie.
I put our snowman activity tray together over the weekend, and I couldn’t wait for the hooligans to get here this morning to try it out.
The idea for this activity came to me Friday afternoon, when a reader commented on the black bean “eyes” on the toilet roll snowmen we made a few years ago.
I got thinking about those adorable snowmen which we made with toilet paper rolls, beans, buttons and fabric scraps, and soon enough I was raiding my craft cupboards for bits and pieces for this snowman building activity.
I love how open-ended this activity is, and how creative the kids can get with it. No matter how many snowmen a child builds, they look different every single time.
This activity is similar to Mr. Potato Head that way; the parts are always the same but the possibilities are endless depending on how you mix and match them.
Ok! Let’s put this activity together for YOUR kids, and then I’ll show you the fun that the hooligans had making their snowmen.
Supplies and materials for our snowman activity tray:
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I placed all of the snowman parts into the tray and set it on the table along, and I provided the kids with styrofoam meat trays to build their snowmen on.
I also placed a thin fleece blanket on the table which behaved a little like a felt board, and prevented the snowmen and their parts from sliding around.
The 4 year olds enjoyed having the styrofoam tray as a defined work space to build their snowmen in.
The 2 year old preferred working directly on the table-top.
The 3 year old didn’t build a typical snowman. She enjoyed exploring the materials and experiment with different ways to build with them.
You can see in the photos below, she sorted arranged them on her tray, but not in snowman-fashion, and she enjoyed grouping the plastic crystals and stacking the cotton makeup pads.
There were so many choices to make when it came to colours, shapes and patterns so the girls really got to exercise their decision-making skills!
They enjoyed making their snowmen over and over again, changing them up every time, adding different buttons, hats and scarves.
Picking up and placing the tiny buttons, beans and twigs was great strengthening fine motor skills.
The girls came back to this snowman tray time and time again throughout the morning.
This will be an activity that I set out often for the kids to explore and experiment with this winter.
What a great indoor winter activity to keep the kids entertained AND learning.
More Snowman Crafts and Activities for Kids:
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
