winter crafts – Roylco

Changing Seasons Diorama

To explore the beauty of nature and the changing of the seasons, we put together a beautiful diorama with a split down the middle to show the transition from winter to spring!

Age: 5+

Duration: 20-30 minutes

Learning Objectives: Talk about seasonal transitions, the names of the different seasons, why seasons occur and how each is connected through changes in the earth’s atmosphere and physical landscape. Use references and brainstorming sessions to discover what kinds of ecology systems can be represented in both spring and winter. Illustrate scenes, draw props and characters and cut out resulting drawings with scissors. Combine multiple media to form a complete scene.

You’ll Need:

• R52094 Set the Scene! Diorama Box

• Card paper

• Scissors

• Markers

• Tape

Each of the dioramas are flat-packed for easy assembly. Lift the piece up to reveal its box-like shape.

Press the inside die-cut part of the diorama. This piece is attached to the diorama by the bottom. This part will form the stage for the interior of the diorama.

There is a score line at the top that can be folded in. This will help the stage to sit evenly inside the diorama. When you are finished designing and illustrating the interior of the diorama, tape the edges of the stage to the inside of the diorama to secure.

There are flaps on either side of the diorama that can be folded in to secure the upright shape of the diorama. Tape the sides down together.

Tape the sides down to secure the shape of the diorama.

This is the final look of the diorama without any illustrations.

Lift out the inside stage and illustrate your foreground. To turn the diorama into an exploration of seasons, I’ve divided the diorama stage with an imaginary line. Start illustrating the details for the spring season on one side. I’ve drawn stalks of grass onto the foreground and will color around them with a lighter green to represent a field or meadow.

This is what the final illustration looks like! You can draw a background onto a sheet of paper, cut it out and paste it onto the back or draw directly onto the back of the diorama.

Pop out the skylight tab. This will allow you to hang items from the roof or to let some light into the interior of the diorama.

Now we’ll move on to make the card characters and objects for the inside of the diorama.

Using a pencil to sketch out the drawing and markers to fill it in, I’ve made a little bumblebee character!

Cut a small white border around your drawn character. Punch a hole through the top if it will be suspended from the ceiling of the diorama. Tie on a length of string to the hole and tape to the inside of the diorama.

To form the bottom objects, draw the illustrations onto leftover card pieces. Leave a bit of space at the bottom as you cut each shape out. Fold the bottom part inwards; this will be the tab to glue the object down onto the diorama.

Add a few more details to fill in the space! We’ve got a white bunny, a boulder and a flying chickadee in the winter side, while a bumblebee hovers above a flower and a tree on the spring side. You can have a preliminary discussion with your students to figure out what kinds of elements could go into the diorama on either side of the imaginary seasonal line.

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Posted on April 1, 2015February 12, 2020 by Raman

Project Spotlight: Snowflake Weaving Mats

Add beautiful snowflakes to your winter display with artwork your students get to make!

The R16027 Snowflake Weaving Mats kit contains 24 projects for your classroom in four unique snowflake designs. What sets each of your students’ snowflakes apart from each other is the addition of our patterned weaving strips. There are plenty of designs for students to choose. Mix and match different combinations of weaving strips for a beautiful bold look!

Weaving is a great way to encourage fine motor development as it forces fingers to expertly pass the strips over and under the slots in the weaving mat. Remember to alternate the start for each strip as you go!

When you are finished weaving all the way to the bottom of the mat, snip off the ends of the paper strips and tape the finished weave down.

You can see the process for weaving at the link below:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZM9688k1z8]

Hang up your finished snowflake designs on a display wall. Alternatively, write the name of each student on his or her snowflake and hang from the ceiling for a lovely mobile decoration.

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Posted on December 8, 2014February 12, 2020 by Raman

Christmas Tree Heart Mosaics

Christmas is a month away, but what better way to get into the holiday spirit than to build your own tree on paper using our R15367 Heart Mosaics!

Age: 4+

Duration: 10 minutes

Learning Objectives: Layer multiple pieces together. Identify biggest to smallest and coordinate similar colors. Make associations between the shapes in order to create a larger picture. Develop fine motor skills through sorting, placing and gluing the pieces. Discuss triangles as a geometric shape and use

You’ll Need:

• R15367 Heart Mosaics

• R22052 Double Color Card Sheets

• Glue

This is an easy project to do, but makes a great activity for students as they are waiting to transition between class periods or as a thematic holiday art project.

This activity requires very little preparation; all you need are materials that you may already have in your classroom! Give each group of students a pile of Heart Mosaics to sort through. Although we’ve chosen a purple background for our Christmas tree, you can use any color from the Double Color Card Sheets set as a backing to your designs.

This step allows you to talk a little bit about the basic structure of a Christmas tree. It isn’t just lights and decorations. The shape of the tree is important. Traditionally, most Christmas trees should have the basic shape of a triangle, which is what we are going to make first with our Heart Mosaics.

Ask your students to separate their Heart Mosaics into like colors of green. We have several different colors of green to choose from, so all students will get a chance to make trees.

Start with the largest Heart Mosaic pieces first. Locate the largest pieces and place them upside down at the bottom of the card sheet. Make a wide base.

Add a few more upside-down pieces to the base, moving upward. Angle the ends of the Heart Mosaics inwards so that the shape of the overall tree takes on a triangular form.

Keep adding and angling the smaller Heart Mosaics inwards as you progress to the top. Choose two small and skinny Heart Mosaics to form the peak of the tree.

Now it’s time to decorate. Select several smaller Heart Mosaics to form the ornaments as pops of color. Turn the Heart Mosaics right side up and place them on top of the green tree.

Decorate the tree just as you would at home! Space out the ornaments in an even, balanced way.

Finally, top your Christmas tree with a bright yellow Heart Mosaic. Glue down all the pieces. Students can take their Christmas trees home or tack them up on a board as part of a Christmas display!

Check out another great project with Heart Mosaics:

• Make a beautiful tree of hearts for Valentine’s Day cards, for a birthday or just to show someone how much you love them!

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Posted on November 26, 2014February 12, 2020 by Raman

Craft Spotlight: Super Snowflake Stencils

If you want to give some pizzazz to your winter-themed artwork, check out our Super Snowflake Stencils! We’ve created an assortment of beautiful snowflake designs that your students can use again and again!The Super Snowflake Stencils are jumbo-size, perfect for small hands to use, manipulate and trace! Our video below shows you several different techniques on how to use the stencils. You can trace the outline of the stencil, color in the available space of the stencil, or add your own twist to tracing.

Get TWO for the price of one: Each of the stencils comes intact with a backing that can also be used as a stencil. Simply separate the inner shape from the outer backing and distribute both to your students.

Talk about the science of snowflakes and how they are made. When the temperature drops, water in the atmosphere gets crystallized into ice form. These miniature ice water droplets are frozen into snowflakes. You can discuss how no two snowflakes are alike, but many can be categorized into the 12 common scientific snowflake shapes!

R58622

Last year, we posted a project using our Super Snowflake Stencils entitled Winter Crowns. Learn how to make these simple charming crowns with a few colorful blue pencil crayons and the stencils. Great for students to wear during a winter-themed play or for circle time sessions.

Thanks for stopping by! If you’d like to send us your Super Snowflake Stencil project ideas, contact us at subscriber@roylco.ca for a chance to be featured in an upcoming post!

Posted on January 17, 2014December 23, 2020 by Raman

Craft Spotlight: Color Diffusing Snowflakes

The winter season is fast approaching but you can do your decorating now! Our easy-to-use Color Diffusing Snowflakes give children the opportunity to explore their painting skills while experimenting with a few neat effects!

The Color Diffusing Snowflakes are cut into a variety of different snowflake shapes. Since every student will color their snowflakes differently, you can talk about how no two snowflakes are alike, even within art!
We worked on our snowflakes in the sun and it helped to speed up the drying process while we painted! So no matter where you live, this will be a great activity for your students to try.

Notice that we provided pipettes at each of the bowls for each color of watercolor paint. This helped to make sure that students placed the pipette back to its original bowl before using another color. In addition, we placed paint trays beneath the Color Diffusing Snowflakes to help keep paint off the workstations.

Place the pipette above the Color Diffusing Snowflake and gently release some of the paint. Our crafters enjoyed watching the colors spread throughout the paper; it showed the entire shape of the snowflake against the white of the plastic paint tray.

Our crafters combined some of the colors to make some of the coolest-looking snowflakes around!

To really add interest to the project, spread a pinch of Epsom salts or regular table salt over the drying snowflakes. As the snowflakes dry, the salt will stick to the paper and appear sparkly like real snowflakes!

Thanks for hanging out with us today! Have you tried this project? Send us photos of your work if you have! We’d love to feature your work in our next post! Send all emails to subscriber@roylco.ca!

Special Feature this week:

We’ll be updating every day of this week and next week with fantastic holiday crafts you can use in your classroom!

Please note:

LittleFingersBigArt won’t be posting anything between December 18th, 2013 and January 6th, 2014! Have a wonderful winter vacation!

Posted on December 2, 2013March 18, 2020 by Raman

Craft Spotlight: Winter Classroom Mobile

Need a festive decoration for your classroom? How about a decoration that every student can partake in making? Try the wonderful R51301 Winter Classroom Mobile! Divide your classroom into groups to each decorate their own mobile–then hang it above their desks!

The Winter Mobile features 36 winter-themed ornaments that can be hung from the frame. Use crayons, paint, markers or collage materials to decorate the shapes! There are enough ornaments in the Winter Mobile pack for each student to decorate at least one!
First make the mobile frame. We’ve included a detailed guide with pictures to help you construct the mobile frame. Use the provided Straws and Connectors to assemble the frame. Watch the video below for details!

Decorate the frosted-look ornaments and thread some string through the holes in the top to hang them from the mobile.

R51301

Building a mobile opens up plenty of opportunities to learn some interesting lessons. Talk about the science of air movement (how air particles bounce off the ornaments to always keep them in motion). Encourage teamwork and individual development through decorating and assembling the mobile. You can even incorporate a lesson on learning about multicultural winter celebrations.

Note: The ornaments included in the mobile kit are meant to be universal for all winter celebrations. If children would like to add their own ornaments to the mobile, encourage them to do so!

Thanks for checking out this Monday post! If you’d like to be featured in one of our posts, send us photos of your students’ work to subscriber@roylco.ca! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Posted on November 25, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Jeanene from Earth Boys uses our Stained Glass images!

Jeanene from Earthboys posted a great feature on her blog about holiday crafts. One of the crafts featured was our R52085 Snowflake Stained Glass Frames!

Jeanene’s post can be found at her site Earthboys and is entitled, “Handmade Holidays, Yarn Along — Angels and Fairies.” Her post was made on December 11, 2010.

Jeanene’s photos show a beautiful backdrop of the lovely palm trees in her family’s yard. What a beautiful contrast! The colorful snowflake seems to “fit in” with the bright green and golds of the tropical forest.

Beautiful work! Jeanene’s boys helped to cut out each of the individual pieces and glue them to the sections of the stained glass design.

When hung from the window, the sunlight can beam through the colorful snowflakes to illuminate the paper.

Thanks to Jeanene for this illuminating post!

This post was not sponsored for a review. At LittleFingersBigArt, our mission is to present to our readers and viewers the newest and most creative craft ideas that fans of Roylco have made on their own. Our goal is to allow you and other educators and parents to reuse our products in fun ways so that children always get the best educational experience from them!

We’d love to see more ideas like this one! If you’ve got a brilliant craft idea or have made a version of one of our crafts that you would like to share with us, send an email to subscriber@roylco.ca with photos, descriptions or a link to your work. We will create a feature post and link back to you with full credit. We’d love to hear from you!

Posted on November 8, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman