Make beautiful snowflake decorations in minutes in this classic activity!
Remember this activity? I loved making folding paper snowflakes when I was younger, and they’re still a pretty awesome activity to do at Christmastime with kids.
This snowflake decorations DIY project is easy to set up, pretty mess-free and can be adapted for younger kids too (if they’re old enough to use child-safe scissors, they’re old enough to make their own folding paper snowflakes!).
Making snowflakes with paper and scissors is a festive way to explore the mathematical concept of symmetry, and is also a great STEM activity for developing logical thinking and planning skills.
To see how we made our own simple but beautiful decorations, check out our steps to make a paper snowflake below:
Materials
All you need for snowflake making with paper is:
- paper (white or blue work best)
- a compass or bowl to draw around
- pencil
- scissors
Before we get into this activity, you might want to also check out some of our other popular winter activity ideas, like our DIY Paper Christmas Lights and Coffee Filter Christmas Trees.
Instructions
To make your own folded paper snowflakes:
1. Use a compass to draw a circle on a piece of paper (or trace around a circular object like a bowl). You can also make snowflakes out of square pieces of paper, but we like using this as an opportunity to practise using a compass :).
2. Cut out the circle and fold it in half 3 or 4 times. The more times it is folded, the more complicated the design you’ll be able to make, but it will also be harder to cut too. Younger children may find bigger circles easier to fold and less fiddly to cut.
3. Cut carefully into your folded paper. Only cut away small sections at a time and be careful not to cut too much into one side. You can regularly check how your snowflake is coming along by unfolding and refolding it as you go.
4. Unfold your paper snowflake and enjoy – you’ve made easy snowflakes out of paper!
If your kids enjoy STEM and STEAM activities at home, they’ll love our 32-page eBook with 21 awesome activities inside. You can get a free copy here.
For some ideas of the kinds of snowflakes you can make, Artists Helping Children has some pattern suggestions here.
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