# Snow Jars
> Kids slather glue on clean glass jars, roll them through a sparkly Epsom salt 'snow' sensory bin, then fill them with more salt. Turn them into snowmen with craft foam features and buttons.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/winter-crafts-kids-snow-jars/
- Ages: 3–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: high
- Time: prep 25 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group · one batch serves about 2 kids
- Skills: sensory-exploration, fine-motor, pouring-scooping, vocabulary, facial-features
- Cautions: ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- Epsom salt
- Iridescent flakes
- 1 piece Clean glass jars (household)
- Mod Podge or glue
- Craft foam (orange, black and white)
- Buttons
- 1 piece Sensory bin or tub (household)
- 1 piece Scissors (household)
- 1 piece Small plate (optional) (household)

## Substitutions
- Instead of mod podge: Glue (The author says you can use glue as well.)

## Safety
- Glass jars can break. Work low over the sensory bin, check jars for chips first, and supervise closely.
- Epsom salt is not food. Don't let kids eat it. It can also sting eyes and small cuts, so wash hands after play.
- Buttons and small foam pieces are choking hazards. Supervise closely with children who still mouth objects.
- Wash glue or Mod Podge off hands when finished. Adult handles the scissors when cutting foam.

## Before you start
- Make the pretend snow sensory bin: Epsom salt with iridescent flakes mixed in.
- Wash and dry the glass jars and check them for chips or cracks.
- Cut snowman features from craft foam: eyes, a nose and a hat.

## Steps
1. Set the clean glass jars and the Mod Podge or glue inside the snow sensory bin.
2. Slather glue all over the outside of a jar. Bare hands are fine.
3. Roll the glued jar all around the bin to pick up as much glittery salt as you can.
4. If you want a thicker coat, let the jar dry for a while and repeat the glue and rolling.
5. Scoop and pour more sensory salt into the jar to fill it up.
6. Name the snowman's facial features, then glue the foam eyes, nose and hat onto the jar.
7. Glue buttons down the snowman's front.
8. Display your snow jars proudly, preferably with a small plate underneath.

## Tips
- My older one went at it with her bare hands to 'paint the jar with glue.' She oddly enjoyed this part very much.
- Her relationship with glue has been on and off. Some days she loves glue on her hands, and other days she can't stand the feeling, so follow your child's lead.
- Rolling the jar in the bin was the best part. The rolling was non-stop.
- With a younger child whose mantra is still 'instant gratification', skip waiting for a second coat and go straight to filling the jar with salt.
- Filling the jars brought lots of scooping, pouring, squealing and vocabulary-building. Singing too!
- A younger kid would have even more fun identifying the facial features and attaching them to the jars.
- These are made from the remnants of our winter sensory bin, so it's a great way to reuse one.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2014)

Most of our [**winter activities for kids**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/season/winter-season/) have been [**sensory activities**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/sensory-bins/). We did make one [**winter craft for kids**](https://www.funlittles.com/winter-activities-kids-pretend-snow-play-ideas/) and this is our second. The children are not tired of our [**winter sensory bin**](https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-for-kids-winter-sensory-play-with-pretend-snow/) we created a while ago. The base was good old Epsom salt with iridiscent flakes added for good measure. { Access all our winter crafts here and our Epsom Salt posts here} Materials **[Epsom Salt](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064GBCL0/?tag=blmemo-20)** Iridescent Flakes Clean Glass Jars Craft foam ( orange, black and white) Glue/Modge Podge Button s In the same [**pretend snow sensory tub**](https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-for-kids-winter-sensory-play-with-pretend-snow/), I added a couple of clean glass jars I had on hand. I set out Modge Podge ( you can use glue as well) in the same winter sensory bin.



My older one just went at it with her bare hands ( literally) to slather glue all over the glue. She oddly enjoyed this part very much. Her relationship with glue has been on and off- some days she loves getting glue on her hands and then there are other days where she can't stand the feeling of glue on her hands. ( Now goop and paint- that's a whole different story} However that day was special since she wanted to "paint the jar with glue" with just her hands. That's what we did and she had bright smiles on her face.



Then came the best part. We rolled the glued up jar all around the salty sensory bin trying to pick up as much glittered salt as possible. The rolling was non-stop.



You can let the jar dry for a while and do another coat reapting the process again. Since I'm working with a younger child whose mantra is still "instant gratification" we went ahead and filled up the jar with more of the sensory salt. There was lots of scooping, pouring, squealing and vocabulary-building. Did I mention singing? Yes definitely singing.



Here are our shimmering winter crafts for kids all made from the remnants of our winter sensory bin.

 Then what's the next logical step int he crafting with kids world? Do you wanna build a snowman? Ofcourse! Always the women's rights fighter " Why always a snowman, may be I want to make a snow woman some day" says the 5 year old. The snowman features are all simply cut from craft foam.  An younger kid would have even more fun identifying the facial features and attaching them to the bottles. { Check out our recent winter craft for kids - [**magnetic snowman play kit**](https://www.funlittles.com/snowman-crafts-kids-magnetic-snowman/)}  These 2 look so adorable together! Display proudly ( preferably with a small plate underneath)



Thanks for reading

More [**winter crafts for kids**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/season/winter-season/) on our category page

Even more **winter activities for kids** on Pinterest