Crafts, cookies and cocoa make unplanned vacation days even more fun
Snowed in? Too cold to play outside or had your fill of sledding, snowmen and snowballs?
This month’s kids page is full of wintery activities that will keep you warm indoors. Spend your snow day making a snowman snack and hot cocoa and creating your own snow globe craft!
CRAFT: Penguin Snow Globe
To make, you’ll need:
•5-oz. clear plastic cup
•Craft foam
•Pencil
•Scissors
•Snowflake-patterned scrapbooking paper
•Small paint brush
•Craft glue
•Translucent or white glitter
•Ruler
•Orange pipe cleaner
•Black pipe cleaner
•White pipe cleaner
•Hole punch
•Black marker
•Hot glue gun
•Small piece of plastic foam cup
•White construction paper
•Gel pen or marker
•Toothpick
•3 cotton balls
What to do:
Place the plastic cup upside down on the craft foam. Trace around it with a pencil, and then trim ¼ inch outside the line. Cut the same-sized circle out of snowflake-patterned scrapbooking paper. Glue the scrapbooking paper on top of the foam circle. Using a small paintbrush, fill in the middle of the circle with craft glue. Sprinkle with glitter and let dry.
Cut an orange pipe cleaner to six inches. Fold in half. Make a small loop at each end of the orange pipe cleaner to make feet. Loosely wrap a black pipe cleaner in a spiral around the orange pipe cleaner. Fold the top of the orange pipe cleaner down to resemble a beak. Cut a white pipe cleaner to a ½ inch. Tuck each end into the black pipe cleaner.
Use a hole punch to make two circles out of white paper. Color in the bottom portion of the circles with a black marker to look like eye balls. Use craft glue to attach the eyes to the top of the black pipe cleaner. You can make another penguin to put inside your snow globe if you want. Ask an adult to help you use a hot glue gun to attach the penguin(s) to the circle you cut out of scrapbooking paper.
Glue a small piece of the foam cup to the scrapbooking paper behind the penguins. To make a flag, cut a small triangle out of white paper. With a gel pen or markers, write “Snow Day!” on the triangle. Glue to the top of the toothpick and let dry. Stick the toothpick into the piece of foam.
Ask an adult to help you use a glue gun to attach the plastic cup to the scrapbook paper to form a globe over the penguin(s) and flag. Pull cotton balls apart and glue around the outside edge of the plastic cup. Let dry.
SNACKS: Nutter Butter Snowman Cookies
To make, you’ll need:
•Nutter Butter cookies
•Tub of vanilla icing
•Mini chocolate chips
•Orange Tic Tac candies
What to do:
Frost Nutter Butter cookies with vanilla icing. Place two mini chocolate chips for eyes, five for a mouth, and three for buttons. Add an orange Tic Tac for a carrot nose.
(Here's a link to a YouTube video on the Electric Consumer channel that shows this craft in a step-by-step process.)
Homemade Hot Cocoa
To make, you’ll need:
•1 T. natural unsweetened cocoa powder
•1 T. sugar
•1 c. milk
•Whipped cream (optional)
What to do:
In a small bowl, mix together cocoa powder and sugar. In a mug, microwave milk for 2 minutes. Slowly stir in cocoa mixture. Top with whipped cream, if desired.