Brrr! It’s cold outside! It also means it is a perfect time to have some winter fun inside! We sat down to make a salty snowman! What type of snowman is this? It’s made of salt, of course! I bet your kids will enjoy this simple winter activity!
My toddler LOVED salty snowman process art activity! She encountered a new way to make art and it was all exciting and unfamiliar. Still, new and unknown doesn’t mean it can’t be fun!
Which Skills We Are Working on?
- fine motor skills (applying glue with a brush, manipulating and gluing small pieces)
- language (add few new words in their vocabulary as you talk about the process and about winter)
- creativity and imagination
Related: How Sensory Play Benefits Language Development
What We Used to Make a Salty Snowman?
Supplies we used are:
- blue cardstock for background (find here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom)
- school glue and brush (find here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom)
- salt
- felt pieces (find here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom)
- plastic tray
In case you don’t have felt pieces, you can use either fabric or paper pieces.
We used plastic tray to prevent glue and salt to spill all over the table and on the floor.
How to Prepare for This Winter Project?
- If you have toddlers: Prepare in advance pre-cut pieces to dress up your salty snowman – hat, nose, eyes, buttons, hands. Older kids can do this step on their own – ask them to cut the pieces!
- Lay a tray on the table and place cardstock, glue and brush on the tray.
- Prepare salt (leave aside until needed.)
Let’s begin! Here is How to Make a Salty Snowman!
Invite your toddler to spread a glue into a snowman shape on cardstock using a glue. My toddler also painted the bottom of the card to form a snow covered ground.
Glue must be applied quickly and in a thick layer.
Next, simply hand them over a salt and ask them to pour the salt over areas with glue. Set it aside until glue dries. When dried, lift the paper and flip it to remove extra salt.
For the last step, invite toddler to glue felt pieces to complete the snowman. Let them apply the glue directly on the paper where pieces should be glued if you are using felt or fabric. If you are using paper, they can apply glue on paper pieces and then press where they want to glue each piece on snowan.
There you go! Salty snowman is all finished!
Let us know if you tried it and how your child liked this winter activity!
Extend the Play with a Book
Here are few of our favorite books with snowman! My toddler loves when we do activities after reading the book. Although, I don’t think we own a book that was read only once!
A cute book with simple steps to build a snowman to read before making a Salty Snowman. The illustrations in the book are simple and bright and instructions are super easy to follow. Keep this book near and open in sequence as you follow along and build a Salty Snowman. Find the book here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
Storyline: A boy built a Snowman and a Snowdog. That night, they came to life… Wiggle your finger and play with the Snowman and the Snowdog in this fun finger-puppet book! When he comes to life, the Snowdog runs, plays and flies into the air with Billy and the Snowman. Find the book here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
Fun little book to read and sing along on the Itsy Bitsy Spider tune! If your toddler is crazy about nursery rhymes as much as mine, they will love this cute little book! This book is only a few pages long which is perfect for toddlers with short attention span. Find the book here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
What Can You Do Next With Your Toddler?
If your toddler enjoys sensory play, set for them shiny winter sensory bin! We also learned about arctic animals with a help of an arctic small world in sensory setting. As for salty painting, you can try making a snowflake painting with your child. This project uses salt in a different way to make an art. We also have a crazy amount of other winter crafts you can enjoy!
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