Playing with Sticks and Stones in Snow
I love putting a new spin on an old idea, and this snowman activity does just that. Instead of building a traditional snowman, we’ve used sticks and stones to decorate a heap of snow to make it look like a snow creature. What a fun way to play in the snow.
Spring is fast approaching, and our snow-play days are numbered so I’m trying to get in all of the outdoor winter ideas that I can before the snow is gone for good.
You can check out the following posts to see three of my favourite ways that we’ve had fun in the snow this winter: Potato Heads in the Snow, Snow Painting and Coloured Ice Sculptures.
Like most things that we do here, today’s activity is really simple to set up, but it provides lots of fun and the opportunity for your little one to explore some simple, natural elements while playing in the snow.
I gathered up a few things that I had on hand here: beach rocks, seashells and chestnuts, and I set them out in a couple of baskets, and then I gathered a few twigs and pieces of vine from around the yard.
A large snowball that we’d rolled a week ago provided the perfect surface for experimenting with our collection of items.
The hooligans poked and pushed the nuts and stones into the giant snowball, and speared it with the twigs and sticks.
This activity lasted for a few days. Each day, the hooligans would decorate the snowball, and by the next day, enough melting would have taken place that the nuts and stones and shells would have fallen off, and be laying on the ground. The kids would simply pick the bits and pieces back up, and stick them all back in again.
Fun, easy and experimental. This was a great way for the hooligans to experiment with the last of the winter’s snow.
And a unique way to build a snowman.
Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
