The possibilities are endless when cutting up plastic containers for seasonal activities. Here are a few easy to make winter snow people. They kind of remind me of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head because children may attach whatever accessories adults create such as
- hats
- brooms
- shoes
- buttons
- scarves
Construction Directions
Scissors that are capable of cutting plastic are rather sharp so an older person will need to do the cutting. After the initial cut, trim the pieces to be smoother. However, I have never been cut from plastic, paper-yes, never plastic. It may be rough but not sharp.
- Cut the snow person shape out of a large white container as shown above.
- Use a heavy duty hole puncher to make holes for attaching body parts and accessories.
- Children may lace the face in place and assist in sewing on the buttons.
- Cut fabric with slits to function as buttons
- Cut a scarf to tie around the neck.
- Consider atttaching hair on top by tying strips of fabric around the pouring spout.
- Children may screw the "hat" in place or make something a bit fancier!
- Provide erasable markers to color and wipe clean. This is a great way to work on pre-writing skills. Wiping strengthens fingers, too!
The snow person shown below has a small container inside to store the many accessories. Removing and snapping on plastic lids is also a great fine-motor skill.
In general, it is easier to remove fasteners than attach. So young children or individuals with motor control challenges may focus on undressing their snow people, perhaps in preparation for bath time and an older child may dress them back up later.
Weaving Snow People
Weavable snow people provide a different motor planning activity with a snow person theme.
- Cut the white shape shown above to look like the 3 snow balls that form a person.
- Cut slits in the snow balls
- Cut the rounded C shapes to a size that enables weaving through the slits.
- Children will need to match the C shapes to the same size snow ball.
- Decorate as desired....
The following video demonstrates a few adaptations such as removing the C shapes and inserting them into a container. I no longer sell the Weavable Toys shown in the video, but there is always the option of creating your own...
Simple Lollipop Snow People
I had an abundance of white square containers left over from Ensure powder used at work and cut them up into the simple Snow Person Shape and "lollipop" that was woven through the slits. Trim as needed or else your snow person will definately look like a snow MAN!
The following video demonstrates clients utilizing the "lollipop" shapes in a ring stack activity. I love the variations!
Check out these links for more strategies to manipulate Fasteners