Are you grossed out with the thought of using toilet rolls in crafts for kids? Would you be okay to try out a snowman STEM activity with a toilet roll? If not, close your eyes and pretend I am using a paper towel roll. (But I’m not… and I may have dug it out of the recycling bin, too…)

Just before we get into it, you’ll also want to grab this FREE Holiday Crafting Guide! It has easy construction paper craft ideas for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Halloween that are perfect for your preschooler. Get your copy right here:

Topsy-Turvy Balancing Snowman STEM Activity

This cute little topsy snowman craft was a big hit with my preschooler! Fun to make and tons of fun for pretend play afterward. It ended up being a rather neat lesson in balance and stability, too.

Materials

To make your snowman, you will need:

• Paper towel roll
• Scissors (or a serrated knife)
• Paint and paintbrush
• Felt and fabric (optional)
• Hot glue gun
• Popsicle stick

Directions

And here’s how we made it!

First of all, find a ‘paper towel‘ roll and cut it into three pieces. I like to use a serrated knife for this.

Next, have your little one paint all three pieces of the roll white. My little guy decided to roll them in a puddle of white paint, and while it took a while to dry, it did leave a nice white coating!

Once it is all dry, add the details. Sam did a little bit of painting, but I wanted to tie in some other textures as well, so we used some felt and fabric for the carrot nose and scarf.

After, we began to hot glue the pieces onto a popsicle stick. We started with the bottom piece so he would stand. Next, we added the middle section. Sam taped it first so we could be sure our topsy little snowman would still stand. When he was satisfied (ish), I glued.  And then, of course, the head.

It was a little tricky making this little snowman craft stand up! Definitely possible, but it’s a great way to have little ones practice some problem-solving.

I gave my Sam some tape and let him tape on all the sections and play around with different positions. Sometimes he had the snowman taped to the front of the popsicle stick; sometimes, the pieces were quite slanted.

It is awfully fascinating watching children think creatively! And who knew this simple craft would be so good for problem-solving?! (Oh, um… me… right, I planned it this way… really…)

This silly little snowman has had some fun at our house, too. He has spent some time in the Christmas tree as an ornament, some time in the doll house, a bit of time on the workbench, and has even helped to collect the chicken eggs a time or two.

This little snowman builds creativity even after he is built!

It’s so neat when a craft turns into so much more. This one ended up being a great snowman STEM activity, perfect for a cold winter’s day. So grab your TP rolls (lysol spray, if that’s your fancy) and get to crafting!

If you want even more ideas like this—engaging, playful, and planned for you day-by-day—you’ll want to check out Play into Kindergarten Readiness! The preschool curriculum covers all core preschool skills in ONE 20-minute activity a day.

Take a peek right here:

https://shop.howweelearn.com/pages/play-into-kindergarten-readiness

Thank you so much for reading, sweet friend,

xo
Sarah