3 Styles of Paper Snowflake Making for Kids

The other day at school the 4th graders had hung giant snowflakes made out of 6 pieces of white, copy paper, all over the front office foyer. It was so beautiful! I got on google last night and looked it up.  And look what I found!  This is the coolest, easiest snowflake to make ever. And so I am making these to hang around my house week when I take down Christmas and the house looks dull and dreary. They look pretty Easy.

Snowflakes made from paper. Super easy but fun for the kids on a snowy day. We didn't want to go outside on this cold, wintery Utah day. So we stayed inside and played instead.

This GIANT snowflake was from the Scholastic site and tutorial is HERE.  At my school these are lining the ceiling in the front office foyer. They are soooooo beautiful! Kids made them too! So cool! And they are just made from 6 pieces of copy paper! Super CHEAP decoration for winter! 

Q. What kinds of math do Snowy Owls like?
A. Owlgebra. Haha. I love a good joke.

I found many tutorials for these giant snowflakes on the web. One Tutorial with pictures is HERE at Paper Zone Blog for how to do a cool, giant paper snowflake.  I used 8 1/2 x 11 copy paper sheets. You could have each of your kids  do 1/6 of the snowflake. Another one with cool photos is HERE at A Cup of Calm.

A Cup of Calm had cool pics to guide me through it! 

You start by using a perfect square of paper, just like in Japanese paper folding, or doing a square snowflake. Then you fold twice.  The side where there is a single fold you cut 4 lines almost to the edge, that line up with the side with the long side of the triangle.

SNOWFLAKE 2 - My Kindergartners made cute, LITTLE snowflakes using coffee filters folded 3 times then triangles cut out of each edge. These were a part of our Frozen Party activities we had HERE. Depending on the child's age you could do one of these 3 styles of Snowflakes. 

Fold the square diagonally to form a triange. Then fold that triangle in half again to form a smaller triangle. Unfold carefully. Attach the 2 outside tips of the square to each other in front. Then attach the next tips in back with tape. Then the next tips in front with tape. That the last inner tips in back with tape.  Do this 4 or 5 more times.  Attach the ends together with a stapler. You will have a 5 sectioned star snowflake or a 6 sectioned snowflake.  hang up in the center of your room for quite a breathtaking display.

Just staple all the 6 parts together to form the snowflake!  All Done!  

A fun interactive snowflake making website with magic scissors that cut a new snowflake every time is called Snowflake Barkleys.com HERE is the link. It's a cool and fun website for the kids to get an idea how to cut a snowflake.

Snowflake Bentley is a book I read to my class each January. He was mesmerized by snowflakes. He made them his life's work as a photographer. They are so beautiful and interesting
Another Kind of Paper Snowflake making is using just strips of paper. I used about 12 for each one, but you could use less, maybe 8 or 10. There is no particular size. I used a sheet of copy paper.

Snowflake 3 Tutorial Step  1. Cut an 8 1/2 x 11 paper into 1 inch strips the short way. I got 11 or 12 and placed them into an even pile. You can use any size really, longer strips will make a larger snowflake; smaller strips will make a tiny one.

 Snowflake Tutorial Step 2. Put into 1 pile, fold in the middle and staple into the middle of the strips Then fold the first corner down and glue strip to the center near the staple. Then do the next one of the strips the same way gluing a small bit into the center as you go.

 Paper Snowflakes...Continue folding each piece down to the center and glue. Go around the whole pile of strips.

 Snowflake Tutorial Step 3. When each piece of the snowflake is glued and dried, hang a string from your light fixture or ceiling fan to decorate the table area. Use lots of different styles of snowflakes to decorate.

 You can use colored paper in the springtime to make hanging flowers too. Or use 2 colors like red and white for Valentines Day or green and white for St. Patrick's Day. Or solid pastels for a baby shower would be really cute too!

Snowflakes made from just copy paper. So easy. We also do snowflakes the old fashioned way using coffee filters and folding them 3 times and cutting out triangles. We've had fun making snowflakes today. 

Here are some funny winter riddles to brighten up this dreary gray weather we are having. Ugh! I have to search for things to give me strength during the coldest month of the year in Utah.


Winter Riddles to give you the giggles!

Q. What did the big furry hat say to the warm wooly scarf?
A. You hang around while I go on ahead.

Q. How do you keep from getting cold feet?
A. Don't go around BRRRfooted!

Q. Where do seals go to see movies?
A. The dive in!

Q. What kinds of math do Snowy Owls like?
A. Owlgebra.

Q. Why is the slippery ice like music?
A. If you don't C Sharp, you'll B flat.

I have a snowflake book by W.A. Bentley that has pictures of thousands of real snowflakes he took with an old fashioned camera. He proved that no two were alike! Each one is different and unique. It's one of the truly amazing facts of nature! I love snowflakes! They are a cheap and easy decoration for winter. And a fun way to pass the cold wintery afternoon!