Activity of the Month - December 2020
Making a Snowman (or two!)
It’s Christmas!!!!! Here’s a fun crafty idea for this magical time of year.
Materials
Snowman template (see below)
Coloured card
Craft materials e.g. coloured or patterned paper, googly eyes, fabric, felt, ribbon etc)
Glue
Activity
This activity is suitable for littles ones from 12 months - 5 years. Adapt the activity and your language level depending on the age and language stage for your child.
First cut out your snowman template from card:
Read a snowman book with your little one first, so they know what a snowman is and what he looks like (see ideas for books at the end of this activity).
Talk ahead about the activity, ‘We’re going to make a snowman’ for older children you could talk about what you will need to make a snowman and encourage them to repeat the items back to you and then go with you to find them. “We need ____ (paper) and ______(glue). This helps to develop their auditory memory.
Cut the snowman out of card using the template you have chosen (I’d go for the simpler one for little ones). Don’t have everything you need for the activity out in front of you - as thinking about what you need and finding it is all part of the learning. You can make a snowman alongside your child, so that you have two to do some role play later!
Encourage your child to problem solve ‘We need to cut the snowman out - what can we use for cutting?’ This helps them to link objects and their function (and learn -ing verbs).
For older children, you can help them to start to understand comparatives using the different round shapes for the snowman made of circles, ‘This one is big, which one is bigger? Which one is the biggest?’ Carry this on during the activity ‘Can you find me the longest scarf?’
Now add the eyes, nose, arms, scarf etc:
Highlight each little problem your blank snowman has, ‘Uh oh he can’t see, he needs something to help him see’ ‘He needs some ______ (eyes). ‘Uh oh he says, ‘I can’t hear you, I need some ___ (ears) etc. This will help your child to link parts of the body with their function.
Have fun with older children thinking together about what you could use for different parts of the face / body. This is a great opportunity to support their social skills by learning how to share ideas and ask others about theirs. Model how to share ideas, ‘I’ve got an idea?’ ‘What’s your idea?’ ‘Lets make eyes from buttons’.
Offer your younger child a choice of eyes - to build their vocabulary around describing things, e.g. ‘Do you want red or blue eyes’ ‘Would you like googly eyes or button eyes? “Shall we have a long scarf or a short one?’ Older children can learn new descriptive words like patterned, stripy, rough, fluffy etc.
Continue to make your snowman, adding different parts. If you are making one each, you can draw attention to the fact that you each like different things, ‘The fluffy scarf is my favourite - what’s your favourite?’ ‘You chose a ____ hat and I chose a pink one because I like pink’ Understanding that other people have different preferences to you supports your child’s developing theory of mind.
Once your snowmen are finished, they can have a chat! ‘Hello’ ‘What’s your name?’ … ‘What shall we play?’ etc. This gives your child the opportunity to practice talking to their friends and joining in play.
Of course you can make one using different materials and techniques, e.g. pom pom painting, paper plate snowmen and a cotton wool snowman.
Books and songs to go with this activity
Here are a few of my favourites:
I’m a Little Snowman Song;
https://youtu.be/FczqntFwb6k?si=ycux4k0Fv_x6TAST
