This post was contributed by Leah of Simple. Home. Blessings.
Make Giant Snowman Blocks for the Kids!
We live in the desert. So, winter is a concept our girls will be unlikely to discover on their own for quite some time. As such, we have a lot of make-believe snow activities to do in the winter to have fun and teach basic concepts of winter. Last year we created a fun set of oversize building blocks to build and rebuild snowmen for days. This simple activity fostered creativity in our toddler, as well as gross motor skills necessary to building (and knocking down) the snowman. And making the set was so easy, I thought I would share it with you so you can build and re-build a snowman with your little ones, with or without snow.
DIY Giant Snowman Blocks
Supplies:
- 4 boxes of various sizes (we used the leftover boxes for shipments)
- construction paper
- wrapping paper (any kind will do, you are using the white side of it)
- a marker
- accessories for your snowman (or snow woman)
Steps:
- Tape the boxes shut as if you were shipping them. You could add tissue paper to the inside of the boxes if you are concerned about your kids climbing on the “blocks” and collapsing the boxes.
- Wrap three of the boxes (with the blank or white side of the wrapping paper facing out) as you would a boxed present.
- Wrap one box in black construction paper as you would a boxed present. You can add a ribbon, if you like.
- Draw a face on one of the boxes with the marker (I drew the face on two sides of the box, so it was reversible). Draw buttons on another of the boxes (again on both sides if you want the box to be reversible).
We did this snowman activity in conjunction with the book Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner (one of our favorites!)! To keep our young one’s imagination active, I would dress up the snowman each night in a different outfit. Each morning when she woke up she was so excited to discover what her snowman had been up to during the night previous. She also came up with various combinations including a rather modern snowman.
If your kids are a little past the toddler stage, you might consider wrapping up smaller boxes (and more of them) and seeing what abstract snowmen they come up with. To see what other things we did with our toddler last winter please check out our One Year Old Preschool Unit on Winter.
Leah is the homemaker and mama behind Simple. Home. Blessings. She loves seeing the spark in her children’s eyes as they discover and explore new things. She is passionate about reading and creates lots of activities based on favorite books. She also writes about other topics related to homemaking.
This would be such a simple activity to throw together while you have all of your holiday gift wrapping supplies out. And so great for some toddler or preschooler gross and fine motor development, too. Thanks so much for the great idea, Leah!
More Snowman & Snow Activities:
What snowman activities or crafts do you have to share? Leave a link in the comments below so we can check it out!
Tara says
I LOVE this idea! We are going to tweak it though. I am going to make eyes, noses, mouths, and buttons out of card stock, and put velcro on the blocks, and the backs of the accessories, so that my preschooler can decorate the snowman herself. You could also use felt, felt board style, to cover the boxes, and make the body parts/ buttons.
Gina says
sweet, my kids will love this even though they are older. Can’t go wrong with a cardboard box.