Monday, January 7, 2013

The Value of Creating Snowmen

We never tire of making snowmen. I think I have made snowmen with my daughter ever since she could walk.  Not only is it a great excuse to get outside, but there is so much more value in this activity.  I must think there is value or else we wouldn't make them every winter.

Snowmen are so fun to make. They teach kids a lot. Obviously they teach kids about building and creating but there is so much more. When waiting to create a snowman each year I explain to my daughter about why the snow has to be a certain temperature before it can pack together(32 degrees and above), so there is definitely Science involved in the process. When we start building there is a lot of problem solving going on such as: "How large each "snowball" should be?"  and "Why the snow is falling apart....? and so on? Once the basic structures are built there are lots of decision making skills such as: "What will we make the eyes out of?" or "Who will the Snowmen look like?"

We had fun deciding to use pipe cleaners for mouths and pom poms for eyes/noses/buttons.  We lost our snowman kit so we had to be more inventive. We tried using candies too, but they wouldn't stay in very well and they were too small.

We also found if we used a popsicle stick to create a hole that the pom poms would stay in place more securely.

We had so much fun using our imaginations to come up with ideas for their hair.  We have always used hats in the past and the evergreen tree pieces and dead flowers made such a creative alternative. Snow Paint makes another great way to decorate a snowman too.

While making these snowmen my daughter commented on how these snowmen will make people smile
since our neighbors always enjoy seeing our creations. I think she remembered when we made a Snow Bunny and a neighbor put treats in the bunnies basket. So another value of creating snowmen could even be brightening someone's day. Once the snowmen begin to melt there will be a Science lesson on the temperature of when snow melts. The lessons are endless....Who would of thought?

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6 comments:

  1. Welcome to a new Linky Party for Kid-Focused Bloggers. Monday Kid Corner is a place to share your kid-friendly activities and crafts. Please join us at www.mondaykidcorner.blogspot.com. See you there!

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  2. I love snow and I love snowmen! But I live in Australia and we never get snow :( Your snowmen are adorable. I never knew there were ideal snowmen conditions! I always thought "have snow, make snowmen!"

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    1. Amie, I hope one day you'll get to make snowmen. I don't think many people realize that if it is too cold you can't build a snowman! How frustrating it could be to a child that tries to build one and never can. Glad you enjoyed our snow people...they'll will be melting in a couple days because the temperature is going up 20 degrees ) : !

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  3. Melissa, these are simply the most amazing snowmen I've ever seen! Snowmen are my favorite winter activity and I've never even thought of using pipe cleaners and giving them hair:) Thanks so much for sharing. What a great body awareness idea, too!

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    1. Thanks Katherine. Never thought of pipe cleaners until now either...I guess when you make them every year you start to change things up a bit. Your welcome and thanks for the nice comment!

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  4. Beautiful! It's rare that I see posts about snowmen. And since the holidays are just around the corner (seriously, you had this post way back in January, and just a few months to go, Christmas season is here again!), perhaps I'll be seeing some of these soon. Just like this post, I also read an article about how to build a snowman! Here's the link for you and your daughter: http://www.mediacrunchtime.com/2013/02/winter-activities-building-the-best-snowman.htm

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