PAPER SNOWFLAKE KID's CRAFT

After a whirlwind of holidays and vacations, I wasn't in the mood for a complicated January-themed classroom door. A few pages of dollar store window clings...and some snow decoration thingies that were left out for grabs in the work room...and I called it good. 

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If I was just a tad less burned-out, I would have created something similar to this. (Does anyone else ever feel like they need a vacation to recover from their vacation?) Maybe next year. 

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For a January craft, I was excited to finally try this out. I saw it a few year ago and liked the variation from the traditional snowflakes kids seem to make every year at school.

Some of my third graders opted to copy the original exactly. 

And some got creative with colors and curls. 

I recently got a GINORMOUS new TV in my classroom--which is exciting enough--but this TV also hooks up to my computer!! Those of us without Smart Boards or projectors get excited about simple things like this. 

I just pulled up the blog where I originally found the craft, and scrolled through Simply Modern Mom's detailed picture tutorial.  Explaining to the kiddos what they were about to do was a breeze, because it was very visual and clear. It was like magic.

And kids apparently pay closer attention to a screen then to their teacher. Having left it up while they worked, I had to answer far fewer questions than usual. 

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I let my early finishers get started on other variations of her snowflakes. 

Next, I hung the finished products inside the front office's display case--either directly onto the butcher paper, or hung with string from the top. 

And then, because I felt the display should be somewhat educational, I googled a bunch of interesting facts about snowflakes, typed them up in a cutesy font, and pinned them up too. 

(Did you know that the largest snowflake ever recorded fell in Montana at 15 inches in diameter?! That little fact blows my frickin' mind.) 

And finally, my overachieving self went out and bought some of that white paper filler used in gift bags, and spread it along the bottom of the case to hopefully, further the look of snow. 

Now, we Southeast Idahoans just need some real snow outside to go along with this cold. This winter has been strangely devoid of any significant snowfall. Who's ever heard of a brown Christmas in Rexburg?