photo credit to katerha on Flickr
To those who find crafts to be a little challenging, the idea of creating snowflakes with small children can be daunting. There are scissors involved! And cutting! All along a pattern that involves folding. The thought can make prospective crafters shudder.
It really is simple though. Here is the basic snowflake template, and here are some links to advanced snowflake templates for the more intrepid crafter.
The Basic Paper Snowflake
To make a paper snowflake, choose typing or writing paper or another moderately sturdy paper. If the children are cutting the paper, it should not be too thick, because it would be too hard to fold and cut, nor should it be tissue-thin, since that would tear too easily.
To make a paper snowflake:
- Cut a square piece of paper and fold it in half diagonally to make a triangle.
- Hold so the long side is at the top and fold the triangle in half on the diagonal (along the top) to create a smaller triangle.
- Fold the paper into thirds now. Fold one third to the front of the triangle and one third to the back of the triangle, leaving the final third sandwiched in the middle. This will create multiple copies of the same cuts.
Download Free Snowflake Craft Templates
There are many snowflake templates to print online. Some of the best ones can be found at Yarn Owl, which has snowflakes that are somewhat cartoon-like with rounded edges. These templates print onto a sheet of regular computer paper. This sub-site of the paid Dave’s Paper Snowflakes web site has fabulous and intricate snowflake designs that come in different sizes.
Make Your Own Snowflake Template
Making snowflakes with kids? It’s easy to create a new snowflake template. Simply cut out a number of squares of paper, and fold one to the point where it could be cut. Trace the folded triangle onto another piece of paper. Design rounded edges, lines, and triangles that fit into that space. This is a good time to use transfer paper or a soft pencil on the triangle-shaped template so that the image is easy to transfer to multiple snowflakes. It’s also possible to do the cuts freehand, creating a unique snowflake each time.
Snowflake Paper Crafts With Different Materials
Tired of the snowflake that’s been cut from plain white paper? How about a rainbow snowflake? A plaid snowflake? Choose new craft materials and open up endless and wacky possibilities.
Find old wallpaper samples. These are a little challenging to fold, so the snowflakes need to be large. However, using wallpaper you can make amazing and durable floral, plaid, and even train snowflakes! Double up on the snowflake fun by using scrapbooking paper that incorporates tiny snowflakes or snowmen into its design.
Create snowflakes using coffee filters. These come in large packages and they are not particularly expensive. Create a rainbow snowflake by drawing on the coffee filter with a felt pen, then spray it lightly with water. The pen will bleed over the coffee filter. Let the filter dry, then cut it as a snowflake. This makes tie-dyed snowflakes!
Use hand-cut snowflakes as an advent calendar, adding a number to the center of each one. Place a new one on a tree or a calendar every day until Christmas. Or use them to decorate Christmas cards. Whatever the reason, creating hand-cut snowflakes from templates is a great way to celebrate the winter season with kids!
