Another snow day, another round of “I’m bored,” and your kids are looking at you like you’re supposed to pull a craft store out of thin air. I used to load up three grandkids and drive to buy supplies for one afternoon project, then watch the leftover pom poms sit in a drawer for months after they lost interest in ten minutes.
You don’t need a shopping trip for this one. Folded snowflakes come together with printer paper you already have, a torn paper snowman collage uses scraps headed for the recycling bin, and a paper plate penguin turns lunch supplies into something worth taping to the fridge. Twenty-nine winter crafts for kids, all sorted by what’s already in your junk drawer.
Paper Crafts
1. Classic Folded Snowflakes From Printer Paper
Six sheets of plain printer paper and a pair of scissors will keep a table full of kids busy, and nothing leaves your wallet. Fold a square in half, then in half again, then into thirds, and start snipping shapes along the folded edges. Every unfolding is a small surprise.
Ages 5 and up can handle this solo. Younger kids can do the unfolding while you cut. Figure five minutes per snowflake once they get the rhythm, so a batch of a dozen fills half an hour.
Mess stays low if you spread a towel under the table and shake it out into the trash afterward.
Printer paper folds thinner than cardstock, so it’s the easier choice for small hands. A ream at Walmart is about $6 if you’ve somehow run out.
2. Torn Paper Snowman Collage
Torn paper is more forgiving than cut paper, and that matters when little hands aren’t ready for scissors yet. Kids rip white scrap paper into rough pieces and glue them onto dark construction paper in three overlapping mounds, then add a marker face and stick arms drawn straight on.
I pull the recycling bin out for this one when the grandkids come over. Junk mail with a white back works fine, and so does the blank side of last week’s school papers.
Ages 2 to 6, about 15 to 20 minutes of real attention. Mess is minimal beyond glue-stick fingerprints, and a 50-sheet pad of construction paper is $1.25 at Dollar Tree if the dark backing is what you’re missing.
Give each mound its own small pile of torn paper ahead of time so the snowman actually ends up snowman-shaped.
3. Coffee Filter Snowflakes
When you’re out of white construction paper, the coffee filters in the pantry are already round, already thin, and already folded better than anything you’d cut yourself. Stack two or three, fold into a wedge, snip, and open.
Because they’re so thin, kids as young as 4 can cut through the folds without a fight. Ages 4 to 10 all get something out of it. Ten minutes for a set of four.
Color the edges with washable markers before unfolding, and the dye bleeds into the folds for a tie-dye look. Mess level stays low as long as markers stay capped between uses.
A store craft kit runs $12 to $25 at Target. This one costs you four coffee filters.
4. Paper Bag Snowman Puppet
A brown paper lunch sack turns into a puppet with nothing but scrap paper, a glue stick, and a marker. The folded bottom flap becomes the head, so glue the eyes and carrot nose there, then add buttons and a scarf down the body of the bag.
Ages 4 to 9. About 20 minutes to build, and then they’ll run around performing with it for another 30.
Free if you keep lunch sacks in the house. If you don’t, a pack of 50 costs about $3 at Walmart and lasts through years of rainy afternoons.
Cut a paper hat brim wide enough to hang over the fold so the puppet still opens and closes.
5. Paper Plate Penguin
Kids who can’t cut a straight line yet can still make a great penguin, because every piece is a circle or a blob. Use a paper plate as the body, glue on a white oval belly cut from printer paper, two black paper flippers, and an orange beak and feet.
Ages 3 to 8, low mess, 15 minutes start to finish. No paint involved, so this is the one to hand a kid in a clean shirt.
Costs nothing if you have plates left from a birthday party, and a 50-pack is about $4 at Walmart otherwise. Penguins carry all the way through February, unlike anything holiday-shaped.
Trace the belly oval yourself in pencil and let the child cut on the line.
6. Woven Paper Mittens
Two sheets of construction paper in different colors become a woven mitten that looks far more involved than it is. Fold one sheet, cut slits from the fold to about an inch from the edge, then weave strips cut from the second color in and out. Trace a mitten shape over the finished weave and cut it out.
Weaving has a rhythm that keeps hands busy well past the first ten minutes.
Ages 6 to 11, roughly 30 minutes, mess low. Construction paper is about $4 a pack at Target if you’re down to your last sheet. Make two and punch holes to string them on yarn as a pair.
Wider strips weave faster and frustrate less.
7. Junk Mail Envelope Mitten Pockets
Save the return envelopes that pile up in the mail and turn them into mitten-shaped pockets. Seal the flap first, then draw a mitten across the sealed envelope and cut it out, leaving the top edge open.
Kids tuck notes, drawings, or paper snowflakes inside and hang them on the fridge. Ages 5 and up. Around 10 minutes for two or three.
A box of 100 plain envelopes is $5 at Walmart, but the mail keeps delivering yours for nothing.
Decorate the outside with markers before cutting, since a flat envelope is easier to draw on than a cut mitten.
8. Layered Cardstock Snowflake Mobile
For older kids who think paper snowflakes are baby stuff, stack three cut snowflakes of different sizes and glue them center to center, offsetting each layer a quarter turn. It hangs from a doorway with real depth.
Cardstock scraps from the printer drawer hold their shape best, and because the layering takes patience, call it ages 8 and up and 30 to 40 minutes for a set of three.
Nothing to buy if you have thread or yarn for hanging, and a 50-sheet pack of cardstock is about $7 at Target. The scrap pile gets big. Keep a bag open beside the table.
Tape the thread between the middle and top layer so the knot disappears.
9. Newspaper Mitten Garland
Trace both of a child’s hands on newspaper, round the shapes into mittens, and cut out ten or twelve. The newsprint gives them a gray, wintery look that plain paper doesn’t, and the size record of little hands is worth keeping.
String them along yarn with a glue stick or clip them to a length of string with clothespins. Ages 3 and up with tracing help, closer to 20 minutes for a full garland.
Free, and newspaper is one of the few craft materials that never runs short. A Sunday paper at the checkout is $3 if nobody in the house subscribes anymore.
Hang the finished garland across a window or a stair rail. It reads as winter through February with no holiday markers anywhere on it.
10. Rolled Paper Strip Snowflakes
I didn’t think a nine-year-old would sit still for this, but rolling thin paper strips into coils turns out to be oddly calming. Cut printer paper into quarter-inch strips, roll each one around a pencil, slide it off, and glue six coils into a snowflake shape on a piece of dark paper.
Ages 9 and up. Somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes, which is a long stretch for a craft using nothing but paper and glue.
Nothing to buy beyond glue sticks, and a six-pack is about $4 at Walmart. It’s the one paper craft on this list that older kids won’t roll their eyes at.
Pinch some coils into teardrops and leave others round for a snowflake with more variation.
Cotton Ball and Pom Pom Crafts
11. Cotton Ball Snowman on a Cardboard Box Lid
A dozen cotton balls, a cardboard box lid, and school glue make the snowman almost every kid builds at least once. Squeeze glue into three stacked circles, press cotton balls into the wet lines, then fill in the middle so the shape looks fluffy instead of outlined.
Faces come from whatever is already in the drawer. A black marker for coal eyes, an orange marker triangle for the nose, and two shirt buttons from the sewing tin work fine.
Ages 2 to 10, since little ones can press and older kids can add scarves cut from yarn scraps. Mess level is low. Glue only, no water. Time runs 15 to 20 minutes. Cost is nothing if you have cotton balls in the bathroom cabinet, and a 200-count bag comes in under $3 at Walmart if you don’t.
12. No-Sew Sock Snowman Stuffed With Cotton Balls
That single white sock with no match finally has a job. Stuff it full of cotton balls, tie off the top with a rubber band, then cinch a second rubber band about two-thirds up to create the head and body.
Roll the cuff of a second sock down over the tied-off top for a hat. A strip torn from an old T-shirt becomes the scarf, and a marker draws the face right onto the fabric.
Ages 4 and up, with an adult doing the rubber band tightening for younger kids. Mess level is almost zero, which makes this a good one for a hotel room or grandma’s house. Time is about 15 minutes. Cotton balls are the only real cost, and a 300-count bag is $4 at Target. It takes roughly 25 to 30 cotton balls per snowman, so pull from a fresh bag if the kids want more than two.
13. Fork-Wound Yarn Pom Pom Penguins
Kids go wild for the moment the yarn puffs open into a ball. Wind black yarn around the tines of a dinner fork about 60 times, slide a short piece of yarn through the center slot, tie it tight, pull the bundle off, and snip the loops.
Trim the ball round, then glue on a small white oval of felt scrap for the belly and two paper-punched dots for eyes. An orange scrap folded into a triangle makes the beak.
Ages 6 and up, since the winding takes patience, though a younger sibling can do the cutting with adult help. Mess level is medium because of yarn snippets everywhere. Time is 20 minutes per penguin. Free from a leftover skein, or about $4 for a new one at Walmart.
14. Stretched Cotton Icicle Window Danglers
Cotton balls pulled apart and stretched long stop looking like cotton and start looking like frost. Pinch one end thick and taper the other to a point, then tie a length of thread or dental floss around the thick end. Tape a row of them along the top of a window frame at different lengths so they hang like icicles. Six to ten across a standard window gives you the look without crowding it.
Ages 4 and up, mess low, about 15 minutes for a full window. The only cost is the floss, under $2 a roll at Dollar General, and the whole display comes down in two minutes when February ends. Hang the shortest ones at the corners so the window still looks balanced.
15. Dry Snow Globe in a Jar
Any clean jar with a lid works, and the empty spaghetti sauce and pickle jars in the recycling are the right size. Pull three or four cotton balls into loose fluff and drop them into the jar as snow, then glue a small toy or a cotton ball snowman to the inside of the lid.
Screw the lid on with the jar upside down so the scene sits upright. No water and nothing to leak on the table.
Ages 5 to 10, with an adult handling glass jars for younger kids. Mess level is low. Time is 20 minutes, including glue drying. The jar comes free out of the recycling, and a little toy for the lid is $1 at Target, and a plastic peanut butter jar makes a safer version for a preschooler who wants to carry it around.
Pipe Cleaner and Bead Crafts
16. Beaded Pipe Cleaner Snowflakes
Three pipe cleaners twisted together at the center, then loaded with pony beads and curled at the tips, give you a snowflake sturdy enough to survive a whole winter of being taken off the window and put back.
You’ll need three pipe cleaners per flake, 30 to 40 pony beads, and a bit of string or fishing line. Ages 4 and up work well, with a grown-up doing the first twist for younger kids. Mess level stays low, though loose beads do like to roll. Time runs about 10 minutes per snowflake.
Nothing to buy if your junk drawer already holds the leftovers from a summer camp kit. If you’re out, a bag of 1,000 pony beads runs about $6 at Walmart and pipe cleaners are $1.25 at Dollar Tree, which covers roughly 30 snowflakes.
17. Snowflake Wands With Ribbon Streamers
These have a way of turning into a full living room performance the moment the ribbons start twirling.
Bend a single pipe cleaner into a six-pointed star shape, thread a few beads onto each arm, then twist the base around a wooden spoon handle, a chopstick, or a pencil. Tie on whatever ribbon scraps are hiding in the gift wrap bin.
You’ll need one to two pipe cleaners, 10 to 15 beads, a stick handle, and ribbon scraps. Ages 5 and up, mess level low, and time runs about 15 minutes.
Costs nothing when you use what’s already boxed up from birthdays past. The wand holds up better than the flimsy $8 versions in the party aisle because the pipe cleaner core actually bends back into shape.
18. Beaded Cuff Bracelets
String beads onto one pipe cleaner, wrap it once around a wrist, and twist the ends closed. That’s it. No elastic, no clasps to fuss with, which saves a rainy afternoon when there isn’t a jewelry kit in the house. Each bracelet takes one pipe cleaner and 25 to 30 beads.
Ages 3 and up, since threading beads is solid fine motor work for the younger end. Mess level is low, and time runs about 5 minutes each, though expect them to make eight. Zero cost with what’s on hand. Blue, white, and silver beads read as winter, and a small bag of assorted pony beads costs around $5 at Target if the junk drawer comes up empty.
19. Coiled Spiral Snowman
Back when my kids were little, this was the one craft I could set up at the kitchen table and actually finish a cup of coffee.
Wind a white pipe cleaner tightly around a pencil, slide it off, and you have a spring. Make three springs in graduated sizes, stack and twist them together, then add a black bead hat and two tiny beads for eyes.
You’ll need three to four white pipe cleaners, a pencil, four small beads, and an orange paper scrap for the nose. Ages 5 and up, mess level is none, and time runs about 20 minutes.
Free. The coiled body gives it a bouncy, springy quality that store-bought snowman kits at $15 never manage.
20. Borax Crystal Snowflakes
This is the one that makes kids think you’re a magician. The first winter I set one up, my grandson checked the jar every twenty minutes until bedtime. Bend a pipe cleaner into a snowflake, tie it to a pencil with string, and suspend it in a jar of hot water mixed with borax. Overnight, crystals grow all over it.
You’ll need one pipe cleaner, a wide-mouth jar, string, a pencil, and three tablespoons of borax per cup of water. Ages 7 and up with adult help, since the water needs to be very hot. Mess level runs medium, mostly wet counters, and time is about 15 minutes of setup followed by 12 hours of waiting.
The borax is the only thing you might not have. A box of 20 Mule Team costs around $7 at Walmart and lasts through years of laundry and crystal experiments.
21. Beaded Snowflake Suncatcher in a Jar Lid Ring
Save a canning jar ring, or cut the rim off a plastic lid, and use it as the outer frame. Kids stretch pipe cleaners across the opening like spokes, threading beads on as they go, then twist the ends around the ring to hold everything tight.
You’ll need one jar lid ring, three to four pipe cleaners, 20 clear or blue beads, and string. Ages 6 and up, mess level none, and time runs about 25 minutes.
Nothing spent, and it uses up the mismatched canning rings nobody has a lid for. A pack of a dozen new rings is $4 at Walmart if you already tossed yours. Hang it in a window where afternoon light hits, and the beads throw color across the wall.
Translucent beads work far better here than solid ones.
22. Interlocking Bead Garland Chain
Cut pipe cleaners in half, thread five or six beads onto each piece, then bend each one into a ring and link it through the last before closing it. The chain grows fast, which matters for the kid who usually quits early.
You’ll need 10 to 15 pipe cleaners cut in half and about 80 beads. Ages 4 and up, mess level low, and time runs about 30 minutes for a three-foot garland.
Free from stash supplies. A 100-count pipe cleaner pack comes in under $3 at Walmart and yields close to 15 feet of chain.
Drape it across a bookshelf or a mantel. Stick to whites, silvers, and icy blues, and it stays up through February instead of coming down the first week of January.
23. Zipper Pull Charms
Kids stuff these into coat pockets and hand them out to friends at school.
Thread six or eight beads onto a short piece of pipe cleaner, bend it into a snowflake or a tiny mitten, then twist the tail through a zipper pull or a backpack loop and pinch it closed.
Each charm takes half a pipe cleaner and 8 beads. Ages 5 and up, mess level none, and time runs about 5 minutes each.
Costs nothing, and the beaded charms on a mall kiosk rack are $6 apiece. Make a dozen in one sitting, and you have small gifts for a classroom party without a single trip to the store.
Pine Cone and Nature Crafts
24. Pine Cone Snowy Owl
Turn a fat, open pine cone on its side and it already looks like a bird sitting on a branch. Kids glue cotton ball wisps along the scales for feathers, add two paper circles with marker pupils for eyes, and tuck a small orange paper triangle in the center for a beak.
You’ll need one pine cone per owl, two cotton balls, scrap paper, and white glue. Ages 4 and up, mess level low, and time runs about 20 minutes, plus an hour for the glue to set.
Nothing to buy as long as you’ve walked past a pine tree recently, and a bag of cones at Hobby Lobby is $8. Gather six or eight on the next cold-weather walk so nobody fights over the good round one, and bake them at 200 degrees for 30 minutes first to chase out any hitchhiking bugs.
25. Peanut Butter Bird Feeder Cones
This is the craft kids request every January, and it buys a good half hour of quiet at the kitchen window afterward. Spread peanut butter over a pine cone with a butter knife, roll it in birdseed on a paper plate, and hang it from a branch with kitchen twine.
We hung four off the crabapple tree one January, and the grandkids spent the rest of the morning arguing about which bird was the fattest.
You’ll need pine cones, peanut butter, birdseed, and string. Ages 3 and up; mess level runs high, so work over newspaper, and time is about 15 minutes.
If you don’t keep birdseed on hand, a bag runs about $5 at Walmart and will last all winter. Plain cornmeal or crushed stale cereal works in a pinch, and the birds do not complain one bit.
26. Twig Snowflakes Tied With Yarn
Three sticks of roughly equal length, crossed at the center and wrapped with yarn, make a six-point snowflake that looks like something from a $20 boutique wreath. Older kids can wrap the yarn in an over-under pattern to lock the sticks in place, then knot the ends and add a loop for hanging.
You’ll need three twigs per snowflake, yarn or embroidery floss scraps, and hot glue for younger helpers. Ages 6 and up, or younger with an adult running the glue gun. Mess level is none, and time runs about 15 minutes each.
Free, assuming a windy day has already delivered your supplies to the yard. Dab a little white craft paint on the tips so they read as icy rather than woodsy.
27. Frozen Ice Suncatchers
Fill a pie pan or a plastic lid with about an inch of water, drop in whatever the kids collect outside, and lay a loop of string with the ends submerged so it freezes into place. Berries, evergreen sprigs, and a few drops of food coloring all work.
You’ll need a shallow pan, water, string, and whatever natural bits the kids collect. Ages 2 and up, mess level low, though wet mittens are guaranteed, and time runs about 10 minutes of active work, then overnight to freeze.
Costs nothing but a $4 four-pack of food coloring at Walmart, and that pack lasts years. If temperatures stay above freezing where you live, the deep freeze does the same job in about six hours, and the suncatcher will still last an hour or two hanging outside on a cold morning.
28. Stacked Stone Snowman
We started collecting flat, round rocks on camping trips years ago, and a coffee can of them still sits in the garage earning its keep every winter. Stack three in descending size, glue them together, and draw the face and buttons on with a permanent marker.
You’ll need three smooth stones per snowman, strong glue, a black marker, and a fabric scrap for a scarf. Ages 5 and up, mess level low, and time runs about 15 minutes, plus setting time.
Nothing to buy but the glue, about $5 a tube at Dollar General. These hold up outdoors on a porch step where paper crafts would fall apart in an afternoon, and they come back out year after year instead of ending up in the trash by March.
29. Pressed Evergreen Wax Paper Suncatchers
Flatten evergreen sprigs, seed pods, and skeleton leaves inside a heavy book for three or four days first. Then arrange them between two sheets of wax paper, cover with a dish towel, and press with a warm iron until the sheets seal together.
You’ll need wax paper, pressed greenery, an iron, and an adult on iron duty. Ages 5 and up with supervision, mess level medium, and time runs about 20 minutes of assembly after the pressing wait.
Wax paper costs about $3 at Walmart, and most kitchens already have a roll shoved behind the foil. Trim the finished sheet into a mitten or snowflake shape and tape it to a window where afternoon light hits it.
No Shopping Trip Required
That “I’m bored” announcement doesn’t have to send you looking for your keys or your wallet. The junk drawer and the recycling bin already hold what you need, so nobody waits on a store run.
Start with Classic Folded Snowflakes From Printer Paper if you need something fast, try the Paper Bag Snowman Puppet if you want a toy that lasts past the afternoon, or make Peanut Butter Bird Feeder Cones when you want the kids outside for a while. The best winter crafts for kids are the ones you can start five minutes after somebody asks.