Marshmallow Snowmen

 

The other day we made these adorable marshmallow snowmen. This was the perfect craft to do on a day where it was freezing outside...by LA standards!  The kids were motivated to do the activity since they knew that they would be able to have a "sample," as they like to call it, when they completed each step.  We did it step by step so that each part was completed and no one got frustrated.  They all did wonderfully.  They got to make it their own by choosing what colors eyes, mouth and buttons their snowman would have.  They also decided how they wanted the snowman's arms to be positioned. They had lots of fun and I even heard a lot of counting as they were placing the marshmallows onto the body of the snowman.  Follow the steps below with you kiddies to have a fun filled winter craft to display in your home!
Materials:
Blue construction paper
Any other color construction paper (for the hat at the end)
Glue (in a bottle not a stick)
M&Ms
Mini M&Ms
Candy corn
Marshmallows
String licorice
Stick pretzels

To begin trace the outline of a snowman on the blue piece of construction paper. I used 3 different sized bowls to help me to insure perfect sized circles for the body.  Make sure to leave enough room at the top to fit a hat!

Next, have your child pick out what color eyes their snowman is going to have using the regular sized M&Ms.  I put 2 drops of glue for each eye and then they put the M&Ms on top.  After, we got the eyes glued we looked at our faces to see what was under our eyes and we discovered our nose.  We used a candy corn for the nose. I again put the glue on and they picked which way they wanted the nose to point. The last part of its face was its mouth.  To make the mouth they all decided they wanted a rainbow colored mouth.  We used mini M&Ms to form a smile.  At last our face was complete!  This also meant they could have a few M&Ms as promised!  Now it was time to turn our snowmen white.

 

 

To make the snowmen white, we used marshmallows. We needed to allow time for the pieces on the face to dry so we started at the bottom and worked our way back up. I put the glue onto each circle (only one circle at a time) and then they filled in the body with the marshmallows. I reminded them to make all of the marshmallows touch like they were holding hands because they are best friends. I told them once they finished each circle they could have one marshmallow. They were thrilled with this reward!  We continued filling in the snowman until his whole body was white.

  
Once all the marshmallows were placed, they each picked out 3 M&Ms to use as buttons on top of the marshmallows. I helped put the glue on top of the marshmallow and they carefully placed each M&M on top.
Now we needed to give the snowman some arms.  We used 2 pretzel sticks for these. They decided if they wanted his arms up or down or one of each. The boys both picked one up and one down, but Emma decided on both down for hers.
We decided the snowman also needed a scarf so I found some leftover licorice Halloween candy and cut it to make it fit like a scarf. It was a little tricky making it fit, so I did this part while they watched with excitement.
The final part of our project was giving the snowman a hat. In retrospect, I could have used pretzel pieces to design a hat, but we decided to give him some color and use construction paper for its hat. The boys both picked yellow and Emma went with pink. They glued on the hats and marveled in awe of their adorable snowmen!  Then they finished up their yummy craft with some pretzels!

Have fun and try not to eat all of the supplies before you finish the project!