Creating with Kids: It Snowed Again

It’s mid-March, and I’m really ready for the “out like a lamb” part of the month, but here in northern New Jersey it snowed again yesterday. At 27 degrees outside, the snow remains. I’ve had enough, but it did get me thinking about snowflakes. They really are pretty, and when I was a kid, I was truly enamored with them. In fact, I was so enamored, I used to make my own!  Remember that?  In case you don’t, I decided to show you how.

See, if you’ve got kids, nephews, or friends with kids, you should be encouraging them to create.  When I buy gifts for my nephews or friends’ children, I’m buying them books, craft kits, and art supplies.  Creative kids think better and turn into creative adults who work better.

So… about those snowflakes.  All you need is a piece of paper and a good pair of scissors.  The kiddos should have safety scissors, of course.

Since you mostly won’t have square paper, you’ll need to even it out.  Just fold down one corner of the paper until the top is flush with the side, then cut off the excess.

Keep folding corners together around the center point, until you either can’t fold anymore or your scissor won’t get through the paper if you keep going.

Once you’ve done that, start cutting from the top and sides, being careful not to cut all the way through from one side to the other, except perhaps around the center point if you want a hole in the center.

At some point, you’ll just need to stop cutting, when there’s really nothing left for you to remove.

That’s when you open it up to see your snowflake!  The coolest thing about these is that, just like the real thing, no two are alike.

OK, maybe I lied.  There’s something cooler.  Maybe, just maybe, if you start your kids off with projects like this, they could grow up to be like Jordan, of Vibrant Shadows.

Writen by Larissa of Reef Botanicals

 

Tags: Handmade, Handmade Artists, handmade crafts, handmade snowflake, kids crafts, paper crafts, paper cutting, paper snowflake

Posted in Handmade