Marshmallow Snowman!

Marshmallow Snowman

 

Before I begin, there’s one thing that I want you to keep in mind when recreating any of these activities.  The goal is always the EXPERIENCE!!!  It’s not about having a perfect looking craft at the end of the day or for the experiment to go exactly as planned.  When things “go wrong” and “get messy,” there’s usually an even greater opportunity to share in and foster communication with your child.  Recalling the experience later will be that much more memorable when it includes things like the huge wad of glue that seemed like it would never dry or the snowman that had three eyes instead of two or when my son Michael ate all his M&Ms before we even started!!!!!  Working with children on the autism spectrum taught me a lot and one of the most important lessons I learned was one that I tried to help my students with every day… the GOOD ENOUGH rule. G.E.!  Most things don’t have to be perfect… they have to be GOOD ENOUGH.  Being the person that I am, I like things to look “pretty” and “neat.”  So, my first inclination when doing crafts with my kids is to jump in and “fix it” -  to make the eyeballs even, to sprinkle glitter evenly on the heart, to pick colors that actually go together, etc.  In doing this, I was taking away from the experience my child was having – and lessening the enjoyment I was having too.  I was making it more of a task that had to get done rather than enjoying the fun of doing it and laughing at the silly things that happen along the way.  That said – just have fun and don’t worry about it working out perfectly!

This is an activity that I did for many years with my school aged children and it was always a hit!  Let’s be honest, anything that a kid can have fun making and then eat, is a winner! 

The language concepts we focused on were TOP, MIDDLE, and BOTTOM, as well as some FEELINGS words.    There’s plenty to talk about during this activity though – colors, weather, textures – so just use the experience to getting chatting with your child!  Using their little fingers to pick up and place the ingredients is also good for fine motor development.

Here’s a list of what we used to make our snowman, but you really can find things that you already have in the cabinet as substitutes.  The only essential is the marshmallows!

 

 

 

 

 Large marshmallows (the snowman’s body)

 White icing/frosting (used as a glue)

 Mini M&Ms (eyes, nose and buttons)

Colored decorative gel (to draw the mouth)

 Strawberries with the stem cut off (hat) - Hershey Kisses work too!

 Pretzel sticks (arms)

 Shredded coconut

 

I try to always have a sample of what we’re going to make before I start it with the boys.  It’s nice for them to see what the end result will be and gives us the opportunity to chat about what they think we have to do in order to make it.  Being able to look at something and figure out what’s needed and what steps to follow is an amazing skill that transfers to language.

 

First, we looked at our sample snowman and checked to see if Mommy remembered to take out everything we need.  (Leaving something out is always an easy way to further the communication and work on problem solving – “Oh no! Mommy forgot the strawberries!  Where do you think we can find some?”)  Once we had everything, we started by “gluing” the marshmallows together with the white frosting.  We talked about, TOP, MIDDLE and BOTTOM.  We even pointed out on our own bodies where the TOP, MIDDLE and BOTTOM would be.

So, what did our snowman need??? Arms!!!  The boys needed a little help with this part, so together we stuck the pretzel sticks in the MIDDLE marshmallow for the arms. 

 

 

Next, we smeared some white frosting on the TOP and MIDDLE marshmallow.  The boys stuck the mini M&Ms for the eyes, nose (orange for a carrot!) and buttons.  Of course, we ate a few, too!

 

 

After that, it was time to add our strawberry hat to the TOP marshmallow using our white frosting as the glue. 

All that was left was the mouth, which we used our gel writing to draw on.  It was a good time to talk about how our snowman was feeling so we knew how to draw the mouth (What would our snowman’s face look like if it was SAD?  HAPPY?  EXCITED?).  We practiced some different expressions then both boys decided on a HAPPY snowman so we drew a big smile!

As I was searching through the cabinets for our ingredients, I came across some coconut… And I had an idea…  SNOW!!!!  We sprinkled coconut over our snowman to create a little winter wonderland.  The boys had a great time with this! 

 

And then it was time for the best part, because Marshmallow Snowmen don’t just melt away like regular snowmen…  You eat them!

 

 

Here’s a great snowman book to go along with this activity:

That’s Not My Snowman… By Fiona Watt

 

 

 

This is a great book for introducing your child to some descriptive words.  They’ll love touching the textured pictures – a great sensory experience!  Don’t forget to describe your Marshmallow Snowmen too!

Hope you and your little ones enjoyed this activity!

Love & Language,

Marisa