Melting springtime snowman game

Melting springtime snowman game

To create this very simple game, you will need:

• 3 pieces of white felt per child
• 2 fasteners per child
• 1 permanent marker, black
• 6 wood pellets
• Scissors
• A small scrap of orange felt per child (not shown)

First, cut out three circles for each child: a large one, a medium one, and a small one.

On the smallest circle, have children draw 2 eyes and a snowman mouth. Cut a carrot nose shape out of the scrap of orange felt for each child and encourage them to press it in place.

Draw buttons on the medium circle. Insert a fastener in the top of the large circle as well as in the bottom of the medium circle. Fold the ends of the fastener loosely under the snowman; the circles must move easily. Do the same thing with the second fastener. Insert it in the top of the medium circle and the bottom of the small circle, the snowman’s head. Once again, make sure the circles move freely.

On one side of each of the wood pellets, draw a sun.

Turn the pellets over and draw a snowflake on each one.

Show children how they can rotate the head down 180° to hide it behind their snowman’s stomach. Next, have them rotate the stomach down 180° also, so that all 3 snowballs are one on top of the other as shown in the picture above.

You are ready to play!

Give one wood pellet to each child. Have them take turns tossing their pellet in the air so that it lands on the floor. If, for example, a child’s pellet lands on the snowflake, which indicates that it is cold outside, he can build his snowman by adding one snowball.

He can rotate the medium circle up 180° to do so.

If, on his next turn, the child’s pellet lands on the sun, it’s springtime and his snowman is melting under the hot sun.

The child will therefore have to rotate a snowball down 180° and so on.

Of course, the object of the game is for each child to complete his snowman.

If manipulating the snowballs is too difficult with the fasteners, younger children can simply stack the felt snowballs.  

With older children, you can add arms, a hat, and a scarf to make the game last longer. Simply determine the order in which the items must be added or removed.

Have fun!

Patricia-Ann Morrison