Spark your little ones’ imaginations with our playdough snowmen activity. A delightful invitation to create mini frosty friends, this activity offers endless indoor smooshing and sculpting winter fun with easy 2-ingredient homemade play dough.
As the snowflakes start to fall outside, it’s the perfect time to recreate your own little Frosty or Olaf indoors.
Blustery winter weather gives you the perfect excuse to hunker down inside with your little elves to whip up an array of charming snowmen, each with its unique personality.
This fun and festive indoor winter play invitation is a nod to the beloved Frosty, but also a fantastic opportunity for kids to engage in hands-on, creative play.
It provides an easy and fun way for children to explore their senses, especially touch and sight, as they manipulate the dough and add decorations.
To make playdough snowmen, you’ll need:
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SNOW PLAYDOUGH RECIPE:
- White playdough (use our DIY snow dough recipe to make your own)
- Various decorative craft supplies
- A tray and/or bowls
PLAY SUPPLIES:
- Biodegradable glitter
- Playdough play tools
How to Make a Playdough Snowman Building Activity – DIY Instructions
Gather the supplies.
I’ve included a list of snowman-building supplies below, but look around for little bits and bobs that might add just the right touches to your own snowmen!
Arrange the playdough snowman invitation.
I always find it helpful to arrange the supplies on a tray, plate, or in a series of small bowls – whatever you have to create a special space for snowman-building to take place.
A shallow serving tray, cookie sheet, or large cutting board all provide great surfaces to build on. Shallow sides can keep playdough bits and small building accessories from rolling off a table, and can quickly and easily be cleaned up after play.
Build and create!
Roll the playdough into balls of various sizes. Stack the balls to form a snowman. Use things like googley eyes, cloves, or buttons for eyes, sticks or pipe cleaners for the arms, etc.
Playdough Snowmen Building Supplies
SAFETY NOTE: If you’re working with children under the age of four or any child who may be tempted to put objects in their mouth, all loose parts should be at least 2 inches in length or diameter. Small parts and play accessories should meet federal small parts standards.
- Cinnamon sticks, anise stars, and cloves
- Felt
- Sticks
- Other colors of playdough
- Pinecones
- Pipe Cleaners
- Buttons/corks
- Glass gems
- Cotton balls or pom poms
- Cotton swabs or craft sticks
Ways to Encourage Creative Play With Playdough Snowmen
Beyond just being a fun activity, building playdough snowmen is an educational experience. It encourages your child to:
- Develop narrative skills by naming their snowman and creating stories about its adventures.
- Improve counting and color recognition by using different colored buttons and counting them.
- Learn about winter and its characteristics through creative play.
- Enhance spatial awareness by assembling the snowman and placing its accessories.
Extended Playdough Snowpeople Play Ideas:
- Build Your Family as Snowpeople: Encourage kids to create snowpeople representing each family member, fostering a sense of family bonding and identity.
- Snowman Dress-Up: Provide various materials for kids to dress their snowmen in different outfits, encouraging role-play and storytelling.
- Snowman Expressions: Teach emotions by creating snowmen with different facial expressions using playdough.
- Create a Snowman Village: Build multiple snowmen of different sizes and characters. Design a playdough landscape complete with trees, animals, and a snowy backdrop. Encourage collaboration with siblings or friends for a larger, more diverse village.
Kids Playdough Activities for Every Season
Playdough is such a classic sensory tool, and so easy to modify for seasonal play. For winter-themed playdough variations on this activity, try our pumpkin spice playdough, playdough donuts, or create a variation on our simple nature playdough with paper straws and pinecones or pine clippings.
More Winter Sensory Play Ideas
More Easy Winter Snow Kids Crafts
*A note about affiliate links: We strive to use simple, earth-friendly supplies that can be purchased locally whenever we can, but sometimes we find the best universally available options, a rare eco-friendly find, or a niche product only available on Blick Art Materials, Amazon, Etsy, or Woodpeckers Crafts. When included in our supply list, these products are affiliate links, and if you click through to make a purchase we receive a small commission that helps us re-order these supplies!
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