It’s crafting time! Pull out all your cotton balls and dust off your art supplies because today we are making a fluffy cotton ball snowman with your toddler.
We always have a jumbo bag of cotton balls sitting in the linen closet, just waiting for a day of indoor play and arts and crafts.
And sometimes I use them to take my nail polish off, which, honestly, is less often than I would like.
So I keep a dozen next to my pre-kids nail polish collection and use the rest for all kinds of indoor activities!
How We Did It: Cotton Ball Snowman
Prep was pretty minimal for this snowman craft. I did have to do a little fancy cutting and some drawing.
My two-year-old daughter, Ella, could not wait to get her hands on those cotton balls, so I had to take my pictures and cut out the pieces FAST!
First, I cut out a skinny triangle using orange construction paper to make a carrot nose.
With black construction paper, I cut out a hat and three round(ish) buttons.
Then I drew a snowman on the green construction paper my daughter chose.
He’s pretty sad looking right now, but we’ll make him pretty!
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Building the Snowman
If our cotton balls look a little matted, that’s because they’ve been played with in lots of other activities before we finally did this snowman craft.
I set out all of our supplies, and Ella grabbed the glue stick right away and uncapped it.
She started gluing cotton balls inside the three circles I drew on the green construction paper.
It was an interesting process to watch. The only instructions I gave her were to glue inside the circles and to stick lots of cotton balls on the glue.
She started with the head, then did the middle circle, and finally the bottom.
The cotton ball density lessened the further down she went, so I had to help a little 🙂
Next, I asked her to glue the hat on the snowman’s head.
She carefully placed the black hat slightly askew. It must have been a windy day for Frosty.
She added the googly eyes and carrot nose to the snowman’s face after sticking on the hat.
It was a little tricky to glue such a small triangle!
Luckily, she got more glue on the nose than on her finger and was able to stick it onto the snowman.
The pipe cleaner arms were a little tricky because I needed her to hold them down until the glue was dry enough.
I ended up holding them down myself because she kept getting distracted…
Then we folded a piece of ribbon in half and glued it to the snowman’s neck.
Ella glued the little black buttons on, and she was done!
Frosty the Snowman has never been fluffier.
She immediately wanted to make another so “baby snowman” could have a “daddy snowman.”
I asked if she wanted to also make a mommy snowman and she said no.
I’m gonna try not to take that personally.
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Your Turn: Make a Cotton Ball Snowman
Cotton Ball Snowman Craft
Supplies
- cotton balls
- construction paper black, orange, and any other color
- pencil or pen
- glue or glue stick
- googly eyes
- brown pipe cleaner
- red ribbon for a scarf
Instructions
- Cut out a hat and three round buttons from the black construction paper. Use the orange paper to cut out a skinny triangle for the snowman’s carrot nose.
- Cut the brown pipe cleaner into two short pieces.
- Draw three circles in the shape of a snowman on colored paper of your choice.
- Help your child glue cotton balls inside the three circles.
- Then glue on the hat, googly eyes, and carrot nose to the snowman’s head.
- Add the three black buttons to the middle of the snowman’s body. Glue on the brown pipe cleaner pieces for his arms.
- Fold a short piece of red ribbon in half, and glue it to the snowman’s neck, leaving the ends unglued and fluttering in the breeze.
Save a few of those cotton balls for this feed the snowman activity!
Who’s your favorite snowman: Frosty or Olaf? Answer below!