Christmas Snowmen

My sample snowman

Lesson Background
Recently I stumbled across these old photos of some past students' Christmas snowmen and I couldn't resist putting them up on the blog- they were just so cute! I used this lesson a few years ago when I was teaching a Year 1 class.  It was based on a range of similar activities I had seen on the Internet, with some modifications of my own.   This lesson needs a bit of preparation- I had sent a note home a couple of weeks beforehand asking parents to send in old socks, scarves and buttons that they no longer needed. 

Lesson Materials
1 styrofoam cup per child
1 large styrofoam ball per child
Coloured toothpicks
Black textas
Strips of cut-up old woollen scarves
String or ribbon (I used a thick gold string)
Assorted buttons (2-3 per child)
1 coloured sock per child

Lesson Steps
1.  Turn the cup upside down.  Place the styrofoam ball on top and hold them together while you pierce a toothpick up through the bottom of the cup into the styrofoam ball head.  This should secure the head in place.  Use extra toothpicks or some PVA glue for extra support if needed.
2.  Take the sock and put it over the top of the styrofoam head to make a beanie/woolly hat.  Use the string to tie it tightly above the head.
3.  Leaving a little bit of excess sock above the tightened string, cut the remainder of the sock off using some sharp scissors (teacher help will be needed for young children- I would have the socks already cut up before the lesson).
4.  Using black textas, draw eyes and a mouth on the snowman.
5.  Stick an orange toothpick into the styrofoam ball as its nose.
6.  Tie a strip of old scarf around the snowman's neck.
7.  Using PVA glue, stick 2-3 buttons down the front of the styrofoam cup.

Year 1 Snowmen