Up-cycling Snowman craft

I don't know about you, but I'm loving snowmen these days. I think they're so stinkin' cute.  We had our Jog-A-Thon last week and my kiddos were given water bottles.  I knew they had to be used for something!  And ta-da, the snowman idea popped into my mind.

Here's what you need need:

water bottles {big or small or even both}

black sharpie

orange puffy paint

ribbon for scarves

packing peanuts or cotton balls

Q-tips

• Have students tear off the wrapper and dry out the water bottles {I had them leave them upside down for the morning and then right-side up in the afternoon}.
• Have students draw eyes, a coal mouth, and buttons on their water bottle.  You can even glue on cute buttons, but this was a last-minute idea and I was short on time!

• While students were drawing their faces and buttons, I walked around with orange puffy paint and added a carrot nose.

• Then, have them fill up their water bottle with white packing peanuts or cotton balls.  I put a huge box with packing peanuts and let each table group sit around it and fill up their bottles.  Luckily, I received a package with lots of packing peanuts. I even have so many left over for next year!
• I had the students line up and tell me what color ribbon they wanted for their scarf.  Just a quick tip: have students work with a partner to tie their ribbon onto the water bottle.  Have one partner hold both ends of the water bottle while the other kiddo does their best to tie a knot.

How cute are these?  I fell in love with this little Snowman family and so did my kids.  

• While they were working independently on another activity, I called up each group so I could glue on the Q-tip arms.  I had the student hold the water bottle sideways and I added some hot glue and placed the Q-tip onto the glue.  It took about 10 seconds to dry.  Then I had the child turn the bottle onto the other side and added the Q-tip.

So that's it, easy peasy craft.  Here's a freebie for you to incorporate writing into this fun craft!