On the colder days when going outside isn’t an option, consider creating winter-themed crafts with your preschooler. In addition to providing an avenue for your preschooler to learn about winter, making crafts provides an opportunity for him to use his creativity and hone his fine motor skills.
Paper Snowflakes
Creating paper snowflakes is an appropriate winter craft activity for preschoolers. Creating snowflakes provides your preschooler with the opportunity to practice cutting and use her creativity to make snowflakes with different designs. By folding a piece of paper or a coffee filter in half and in half again, and by cutting out patterns around the edges of the paper, the snowflakes pattern is created. Once your child unfolds the paper, the snowflake is complete. If your preschooler is uncomfortable with freehand cutting, she can draw shapes around the edges of the folded paper that can then be cut out. Colored paper or wrapping paper can be used as an alternative to white paper to add a little pizazz.
Snowman Mobile
When it’s too cold for your preschooler to play outside and build a snowman, consider making a snowman indoors that will never melt. By gluing together a large, medium and small circular paper cutout, one on top of the other, your child can construct a paper snowman. Once the snowman is built, your child can cut eyes, a nose, arms, a scarf and a hat out of construction paper and glue them onto the snowman. Adding glitter by spreading glue over the snowman with an ice cream stick and sprinkling glitter over it will give it the appearance of being made of snow. Holding the snowman over the top of an inverted box cover while adding the glitter can help contain the mess. Punching a hole in the top of the snowman and affixing a string will allow you to hang it.
Paper Mittens
When the cold winter weather hits, hats and mittens become a necessity. Depending on your preschooler’s skill level, you may have to supply him with premade mitten cutouts or trace a mitten pattern on construction paper for him to cut out. Your preschooler can create the mitten cutouts using stickers, glue, glitter and other embellishments like pompoms of foam cutouts. Making a hole in the top of each mitten and connecting the mittens with yarn or string allows you to hang them for display easily.
