Snow Slime
One of the best parts of the holiday season is the extra time at home with family. Planning fun creative holiday-themed activities with kids is a perfect way to establish new family traditions, engage grandparents, and burn-off some energy. Plus, it gets children away from screens and gives them opportunities to explore new interests.
This holiday STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) project is one of our favorites. After all, who doesn’t love slime? But this isn’t just any old slime, it’s Snow Slime, with snowflakes, glitter, or whatever holiday themed decorations you want to add.
Materials Needed:
• Elmer’s glue
• Foil snowflakes
• Blue/silver/white glitter
• Saline solution
• Baking soda
• Plastic cups
• Plastic spoons
• Zip lock bags
Instructions:
• Mix together 1 small bottle of glue, 1 tsp of baking soda, and 1 tsp of saline solution in a bowl.
• Stir until smooth.
• Mix in food coloring and any other desired items (glitter, plastic bugs, etc).
• Scoop into zip lock bags.
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DIY Snowballs
There is nothing worse than being cooped up on an ugly winter day, when it’s cold and dreary outside. There’s an easy solution probably lurking in your closet, drawer, or recycling bin: do-it-yourself snowballs. And of course, once you have kid-friendly snowballs, you have all the makings for an indoor, snowball fight.
Newspaper snowballs are the easiest to make! Scrunching newspaper (or magazine pages) into ball shapes is great for preschool and kindergarten motor development. Once they are shaped, you can wrap a little masking tape around each ball to keep it secure. You can be as ambitious as you like, using socks, furry yarn, terry cloth, or fleece. Once the snowballs are in-hand, let the competition begin.
Paper Plate Santa
The paper plate Santa is perhaps the gold-standard of holiday craft projects because it’s fun, flexible, and simple. All you need is a paper plate, glue, construction paper, cotton balls, or other furry, fuzzy materials. You can also add interest with paint or markers or even use household objects like buttons or dried beans for the eyes. Sure, we all know what Santa looks like, but this project gives each kid the opportunity to create their own unique look for our jolly gift-giving friend.
Greater Austin YMCA Holiday Camps offer care at six school-age locations and Camp Moody Outdoor Camp with trained Youth Development Leaders, who will guide kids through a fun and engaging array of themed crafts, activities, and organized games. Learn more at
www.austinymca.org/camp/school-holiday.
Photo credits. The Greater Austin YMCA
