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Cotton swab snowflakes for preschoolers
Age: 3+ · Time: 20 min · For:
Cotton swabs are perfect for making snowflakes: they are white, fluffy at both ends and easy for little hands to place. Laying them out in a star shape is a calm puzzle, and every snowflake turns out different, just like real ones.
What your child does, where you help
- Your child: designs the snowflakes and lays the cotton swabs in the glue.
- You: cut the buds in half and help with the glue.
Learning through play
Count the arms together, make patterns with long and short buds, and talk about how every snowflake in the world is unique.
Safety
Use cotton swabs with paper sticks, not plastic, and keep them out of little ears and noses.
You need
- a box of cotton swabs with paper or cardboard sticks
- a sheet of dark blue, black or purple paper or cardstock
- white school glue in a bottle
- scissors, for the grown-up
- a white crayon or pencil
- white paint, for dots (optional)
Steps
- A grown-up cuts some cotton swabs in half to make shorter arms. Keep some whole.
- Show your child how to lay out a snowflake on the table first, with six arms from the center, like a star.
- Make a blob of glue on the paper where the center of the snowflake will be.
- Lay the cotton swabs in the glue one by one, all pointing out from the middle.
- Add short halves between or at the ends of the long arms to make a more detailed snowflake.
- Make more snowflakes in different sizes across the paper.
- Add white dots of paint between them as falling snow. Leave to dry flat for an hour.
Questions
Do snowflakes really have six arms?
Yes, real snowflakes almost always have six points. It is a lovely fact to share with curious children.
Can I hang them up?
Glue the cotton swabs onto a small circle of cardstock instead of a big sheet, let it dry and add a thread.
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