Winter is the season for hot chocolate, sledding, and snowmen (depending on the weather where you live of course!). It’s also the perfect time for indoor crafts with kids as the temperatures dip down, and this popsicle stick snowflake craft is the perfect thing to keep you all entertained.
Popsicle stick crafts are great because you can make a ton of different things with them (like these handprint butterflies or this popsicle stick menorah) and toddler, preschoolers, and elementary age kids can all get in on the fun.
You can theme these for the holiday and make them in Christmas or Hanukkah colors, or just keep it a general winter theme and hang them up around the house.
Looking for more holiday crafts and activities? Check out:
- Easy Paper Plate Santa Craft (Perfect for the Holidays!)
- Christmas Bingo – A Free Printable Game
- How to Make a Paper Snowflake – 10 Free Designs
- Dreidel Garland (Easy Hanukkah Craft with Free Template!)
- Hanukkah Bingo – A Free Printable Game
Why kids love popsicle stick snowflake ornaments:
- Ornaments are great because you can hang them as holiday decor from trees and pack them away to use again next year. And you can add to your homemade ornament collection (don’t forget to write the year on the back!).
- Kids love to paint and get a little messy, and painting the ornaments helps them practice fine motor skills with holding brushes while painting. Adding small decorative stickers to your ornaments helps with that as well!
- Kids love to show off what they’ve made, and these ornaments also make great gift tags to attach to a present. Grandma or a friend can have an ornament they made just for them!
What you’ll need to make a popsicle stick snowflake ornament:
- Popsicle sticks (4 sticks for the simple design and 12 for the fancy design)
- Acrylic paint in your chosen colors and a small paintbrush
- School glue or low-temp glue gun (used with supervision)
- Twine or yarn for hanging loop
- Small pom poms or puff paint for decoration
How to make a simple popsicle stick snowflake ornament:
- For the more simple design (better for smaller kids), cross two popsicle sticks and glue together in the middle to make a “+” shape. Glue two more sticks to fill in the spaces between those original sticks and you have a simple snowflake design!
NOTE: While you can use school glue for this project, using a low-temp hot glue gun will allow you to get right to the painting and decorating without having to wait for dry time, so that’s a big plus!
For the more complicated snowflake design:
- Place 6 popsicle sticks with the centers overlapping so that it makes a star shape. Glue the centers on top of each other.
- Connect one of the “V” shaped openings with another popsicle stick and allow the stick to hang over the edges a little.
- Repeat with 5 more sticks until you have connector pieces the whole way around.
- Now that your snowflakes are assembled, you can paint them the color of your choosing!
- Once the paint is dry, make a loop with some twine or yarn and glue the loop to the back of your snowflake ornament.
- Decorate with additional mini pom poms and glue, more paint, or puffy paint.
- Once dry, your snowflakes are ready to hang or gift!
Tips for making snowflake ornaments:
- Put wax paper under the popsicle sticks when painting for easier removal off of the paper once the sticks are dry.
- You can paint your popsicle sticks either before assembling them into a snowflake design or after!
- For ultimate durability, have the adult use a more heavy duty glue like this for maximum adhesion.
Looking for more winter Crafts? Check out:
- Snow Globe Template – Free Printable
- Snowman English Muffin Personal Pizza (A Winter Snack Idea!)
- Winter Bingo Printable Game
- Snow Globe Craft with Handprints
- Mittens Template – Free Printable
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I store popsicle stick snowflake ornaments?
The more glue you use, the sturdier your ornament will be, but you can place these flat in a box of ornaments for storage. As long as there’s nothing too heavy on top of them, they should hold up until the next year for display.
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Get the How-To
Supplies
- Popsicle sticks (4 sticks for the simple design and 12 for the fancy design)
- Acrylic paint in your chosen colors and a small paintbrush
- School glue
- Twine or yarn (for the hanging loop)
- Small pom poms or puff paint (for decoration)
Instructions
HOW TO MAKE A SIMPLE POPSICLE STICK SNOWFLAKE ORNAMENT:
- For the more simple design (better for smaller kids), cross two popsicle sticks and glue together in the middle to make a “+” shape. Glue two more sticks to fill in the spaces between those original sticks and you have a simple snowflake design!
FOR THE MORE COMPLICATED SNOWFLAKE DESIGN …
- Place 6 popsicle sticks with the centers overlapping so that it makes a star shape. Glue the centers on top of each other.
- Connect one of the “V” shaped openings with another popsicle stick and allow the stick to hang over the edges a little.
- Repeat with 5 more sticks until you have connector pieces the whole way around.
- Now that your snowflakes are assembled, you can paint them the color of your choosing!
- Once the paint is dry, make a loop with some twine or yarn and glue the loop to the back of your snowflake ornament.
- Decorate with additional mini pom poms and glue, more paint, or puffy paint.
- Once dry, your snowflakes are ready to hang or gift!