Easy Winter Crafts for Kids
Finally, we bring together our favourite easy winter crafts for kids! I have also created a subsection of easy winter crafts for preschoolers (scroll down or click through), if you are looking for craft ideas for younger children. Though some ideas may appear in a number of sections. Of course winter and winter crafting is all about easy snowman crafts and snowflake crafts, but I thought it would be nice to bring all the ideas together in one place!
Easy Winter Crafts for Kids
ALL of the crafts on this post are Winter Crafts for Kids!! This is just the “more general section” – crafts that didn’t really group any of sections below. So please DO browse the whole post for ideas!!!!! Remember that the Winter Crafts for Preschoolers (below), make great GROUP activities – as they are simpler and therefore need less input from grown ups, if working in a larger group of (older) kids.
So let’s begin, even with in the broader heading of Winter Crafts, we have some fabulous subcategories:
Winter Fun with Snowflake Crafts, Snow and Ice!
- Button craft stick snowflakes – nothing quite like a Winter craft using popsicle sticks. This is an easy craft that kids will love. We recycle our popsicle sticks from the summer and the buttons are from old shirts! You can make these using PVA glue – so no hot glue needed – great for little ones. Just needs some drying time!
- Paper Straw Snowflake Ornaments OR Snowflake Printing
- TP Roll Snowflakes
As with all “groups” and “categories” – there is some overlap between the sections today, but I don’t want to miss out on anything and would rather share things twice! So if you are looking for some WInter Paper Crafts, these paper snowflakes are a lovely start!
- Giant Paper Snowflake Ornaments (use white paper bags)
- Paper Quilled Snowflakes
- Paper cutting snowflake crafts (with hearts)
- Ice Ornaments – these are simply the best and so much fun! Probably one of my favourite fun winter crafts as it is so magical to “watch” the water freeze! An alternative to icicle craft.
- Have fun with this DIY Snow Recipe. So **cool**.
- Or real snow play
Time for some Snowman Fun this Winter
Here are some super duper cute Snowman Crafts to see you through the Winter. Of course we have an extensive collection of DIY Snowman Ideas.. so here is “Just” the highlight to whet your appetite. Scroll down to the bottom of this article and you will also see some adorable Snowman Greeting Cards – which would be perfect as “Winter Birthday Cards” or as Thank You notes after the Christmas festivities!
- Easy Snowman Gift Box
- Yarn Wrapped Snowmen (use newspaper at the core to make this eco friendly. These make a lovely little keepsake too!
- And a game of TP Roll Snowman Bowling that toddlers and kids of all ages will love! Note how we used some old socks to make some simple Winter Hats and scarves for the snowman!
- Snowman Jars – an easy way to decorate a mason jar and filled with Brownie ingredients
- Make Your Own Snowman Snap Game for school fairs or the classroom
- And of coure some snowman pinch pots – pinch pots are so fun and easy to make and this little snowman clay craft is a wonderful winter activity for the home or classroom!
Artic Animals Crafts/ Winter Animals – Penguins, Snowy Owls & Polar Bears
Time for some cute winter animals. We have some penguins, snowy owls and polar bears in this winter crafts section. However, if you scroll down to the card making area etc, you will find more animals! What we don’t have is the arctic fox! Tut tut. We will look into some arctic fox crafts in the future, but in the meantime, our “normal” fox crafts may help as an inspiration?
- Upcycled penguin craft (to go with the lovely Lost and Found book)
- Snowy Owl Babies the perfect craft for little ones and oh so tactile – and the googly eyes are always so fun and irristible!
- Organise your desk with these fabulous DIY Penguin Pencil Holders as well as our adorable Snowman Pen Pots!
- Winter Desk Tidies (choose from penguin, polar bear or snowman!) Ribbons make lovely little details on this!
Finally.. a simple Winter Wreath the kids will love! Yarn wrapped paper plates is one of those crafts kids can easily manage, whilst honing their motor skills, then combine with some adorable pom poms and off you go!
Other Winter Craft Projects for Kids (not sure how to group these! Ha)
- Winter Village Luminaries
- DIY Snowglobes (check out our My Little Pony Snowglobes too) – who doesn’t love a little glitter – just be sure it is eco friendly glitter that you add to this fun DIY Snowglobe craft!
- Winter Thaumatrope (simple science for kids! So cute!) – this one comes with free printable templates – so nice and easy!
A collection of simple birdfeeders to make as part of your Winter Kindness Activities
Engaging with Bird Feeder Crafts as part of your Winter activities is a great way to get kids of all ages, from toddler, to preschooler to older children to think about their environment and help nurture thoughtfulness and kindness!
- DIY Bird Cake Recipes – this recipe is approved by the RSPB! So well worth checking out
- Pine Cone Bird Feeders – a super simple birdfeeder version – that looks cute in your Trees too!
- Owl Bird Feeder DIY (we have 15 more wonderful Bird Feeder Crafts here)
Winter Hats for Older Kids
If your kids are little older and they are getting into regular knitting or finger knitting, you may want to give these projects a go! The tutorials are simple and give step by step instructions!
- Beginners knitting projects – mini Winter Hat ornaments or doll’s hat
- Finger knitting fans? Give these Winter Beanie Hats a go. The best winter hat craft for finger knitters!
- Or another great knitting beginners project – Messy Bun Beanies! So fun!
Winter Art Projects for Kids
Winter is a great season to explore through art. We love all the cool blues and purples contrasting with whites. There are many things you can draw and explore – not just snowmen (though we do love a cheerful snowman too!).
Four Seasons art Projects
We did a series of Four Season projects. Revisiting the same theme every 3 months. Here are the Winter Trees. The collage and the printing projects could also be made using “Handprint Trees” and turning these lovely Winter art projects into fabulous keepsakes too!
- Nature Trees – part of the Four Seasons Series: Nature!
- Color Collages – part of the Four Seasons Series: Color!
- Bubble Wrap Trees – part of the Four Seasons Series: Printing!
Winter Tree Art and Birds
- Winter Birch Trees Art with Red Cardinal
- Winter Birds
- Winter Trees Tape Resist
- And finally, you have to love the GIANT SNOWGLOBE art project by Make It Your Own!
Winter DIY Ornaments
Admittedly these Winter Ornaments are of course DIY Christmas Ornaments too! However, when Christmas is over and everyone takes their decorations down, I always feel that January and February are so very bleak. I am taken with the idea of having a WINTER Ornaments Tree (see the pictures in the Paper snowman ornaments post!). Just to brighten things up a little. Also many of these ornaments would look great as a garland, whilst others (like the Cork Penguins) are super fun to play with.
More Winter Ornament Ideas
- Winter Bears Ornaments
- Cork Polar bears – love the one with the “Ugly Sweater” – so cute!
- Puzzle Snowflake Ornaments
- These cheerful and bright red Paper Cardinal Ornaments will be a gorgeous edition to any Winter Decorations
How to make Winter Crafts with paper/ construction paper!
As you know we are a great fan of paper crafts (and have a fabulous set of Christmas Paper Crafts for Kids to browse). Here is a great sub set of WINTER PAPER CRAFTS, that you can join right through to March. We love paper as it is inexpensive and yet oh so versatile. Make bookmarks, snowflakes and more!
Fun Winter Printable Toys to entertain the kids on those c-c-c-cold days!
- Simple Science fun with these Winter Thaumatropes Printables
- Paper Toys – Winter Kaleidoscopes
- 3d Snowman & Friends
Easy Winter Origami Projects for kids of all ages
- We have a super duper easy Origami Polar Bear craft – a great intro to origami for kids!
- Easy Origami Penguin they double up as fabulous little Thank You Cards too!
- Winter Animals Envelopes
- Paper snowman ornament
Cute and easy Winter bookmarks – snuggle down with a good book!
- Paperclip Snowman & Mitten Bookmark
- Penguin Bookmark Corner
- Polar Bear Bookmark Corner
- Snowman Bookmark Corner
- Yeti Corner Bookmark
Some of our crafts have videos demonstrating how to make them – e.g. check out our Polar Bear Corner Bookmark, isn’t he lovely?!
Winter Card Designs
You may think that the season for card writing and card sending is over. No sorry!! The kids still have a bunch of Thank You cards to write. Or what about sending a card to someone you “forgot” to send a Christmas Card to? New Year can be so bleak and boring, receiving a lovely homemade card can really cheer someone up!! Or what about all those family members and friends with Winter Birthdays? Let’s not forget them. Here are some lovely Winter Card Designs!
We actually have a number of pop up snowman cards
- Pop up snowman card
- Pop up snowman face (the first image)
- Super simple snowman cards
- Pop up Snowman Paper chain (the third image)
- DIY Recycled Lid Snow Globe Cards
- Puffy Paint Snowglobe Cards – puffy paint is a fun project to give a go and the cards can be used for Christmas or thank yous!
- Cork Print Snowman Cards – my daughter made this one up a few years ago as “thank you cards” to send in the new year
- Cotton wool bud snowman card – this is an especially lovely card to make with toddlers and preschoolers
- Cardinal Bird Water Color Card
- Winter birds
- Fingerprint Penguin Cards
- Origami Envelopes – Penguin, Polar Bear and Owl
Easy Winter Crafts for Preschoolers
Aaaah the preschoolers, our wee little ones that LOVE to craft. Here is a very special Winter Crafts for Kids section dedicated just to the little ones among us. As mentioned before, Preschoolers come with BAGS of enthusiasm, but don’t always have the fine motor skills to go with it. So we need simpler, but still cute and fun projects for our little cherubs. Winter Crafts for Preschoolers are great for finger strength development and fine motor skills, as well as learning about processes and materials. Many of these crafts are also wonderfully tactile, making it a great winter sensory experience. (Depending on the time of year you are reading this, you may also like our Christmas Crafts for Preschoolers!).
This is just a quick overview of what I think are the best Winter Crafts for Preschoolers.. if you want to see the same list but with some images as I have shared above.. hop over to our dedicated Winter Preschool Crafts post!
- Quick and Easy DIY Snow Recipe (+ play ideas!)
- Snowflake Preschool Craft (Coffee Filter Snowflake)
- Snowy Owl Babies
- Cotton wool pad snowman card
- Penguin Handprint Craft
- Pine Cone Bird Feeders
- TP Roll Snowman Bowling
- Button craft stick snowflakes
- Ice Ornaments
- Winter Tree Resist Art
- Winter Small World Play
- TP Roll Polar Bear
- Snowman Luminaries by Happy Hooligans
- Polar Bear Paper Plate Mask
- Cotton Ball Snowman
- Cutest handprint polar bears from Grandkids Make Life Grand
- Fun with cotton wool buds for toddlers, in making these snowflakes from No Time for Flashcards!
I hope you are excited about the Winter months ahead of us and that you will have lots of fun with our Winter Craft Ideas for for Kids – especially on those coooold Snow Days, when all you want to do is huddle indoors and look for some easy indoor activities for kids!!!!
Remember we also have a HOLE BUNCH of Easy Snowman Crafts and Snowflake DIYs for you to browse. And if you are brave enough to head outdoors, we have some brrrriiilliant Snow & Ice Activities too!