Grammy on the Go
The holidays are finally over and all the decorations have been put away until next year. The house is looking a bit drab these days — colorless and empty. It’s time to celebrate the beauty of winter and to celebrate love during the month of February. Snowflakes and hearts are easy crafts to make together with the grandkids and are perfect decorations to display during the winter season.
Snowflakes can be made very simply or more detailed and complicated, depending on the ages of your grandchildren. The pre-K set love to make these simple snowflakes, especially unfolding to discover the patterns they’ve created. As they are just beginning to use scissors, these snowflakes are very forgiving for any cutting imperfections!
To make an easy snowflake, start with a square piece of paper. It is easier to cut snowflakes from lightweight paper such as tissue, wrapping or copy and printing paper. Fold the square diagonally in half to form a triangle, then over in half again for a smaller triangle. Using a child’s scissors, have them cut out different shapes along all three triangle edges, being careful not to cut all the way through to another side. Slowly unfold to open and discover your special snowflake! Tiny to extra-large flakes can be made by beginning with assorted sizes of paper squares. Older grandchildren, who are more adept at using scissors, will enjoy a more complicated snowflake, such as a six-sided one or using a snowflake template. Templates may be found under many websites. One to try that offers free snowflake printable templates is firstpallet.com.
Red, pink and white snowflake hearts can be made by folding a piece of construction paper in half lengthwise, then drawing a half heart shape along the fold. Cut out and open the heart. The heart shapes can be decorated, or further made into heart snowflakes. Keeping the paper folded, make cutouts around all edges. Carefully, unfold to view your heart snowflake! To preserve the heart shape, keep cutouts small around the rounded edges. Larger and more deeply cut designs can be placed along the paper fold.
Children of all ages will love experimenting and cutting out different shapes to see the effects on the finished snowflake. Fold and cut many different ones (use all white, or colors) and let the grandkids color or (if you’re brave) sprinkle glitter on some! Soon, the children will create an indoor blizzard as they will love cutting these flakes by the dozens. Choose your favorite snow and heart flakes and hang from cupboards, on windows, or from the ceiling at different lengths to create a snowfall effect. Hang them with white ribbon or use thread to make the flakes invisibly hang in the air.
Use this craft as a learning experience and explain to the children that each snowflake is unique. If you have a magnifying glass and a piece of black paper, you can examine the snowflakes and view their crystalline structure. Place your paper into the freezer for an hour or so to get it really cold before placing it outside to collect the falling snowflakes. Look at them outside with your magnifying glass, or bring indoors and place the paper with snow on ice or a cold pack so they will not instantly melt.
Have a fun craft day and inspire and create a whole flurry of snowflakes!!
