We love using a snowman theme as part of our winter activities for preschoolers. That’s where the snowman snacks come in! These adorable winter snacks are easy for the kids to assemble themselves and are always a big hit.
Are you following Fun-A-Day’s Winter Pinterest board?
Related: Name Snowman Preschool Craft
Making snacks together in preschool has a lot of benefits:
- You can talk with the children about nutritious choices versus “sometimes” snacks
- Lots of oral language development as you chat with the kids
- Children can working on following multi-step directions throughout the process
- Add in a written “recipe” to work on even more early literacy concepts (like we did with our reindeer graham cracker snack)
- Cooking and preparing snacks shows children how innate math is (shapes, colors, measuring, counting)
- Little fingers work on their fine motor skills while assembling many snacks
And of course we can’t forget a very important benefit . . . it’s fun! Most children REALLY love making snacks. This makes for a lot of smiles and memories along the way.
Snowman Snacks
Now that you know some of the benefits of making snacks with kids, both in and out of the classroom, let’s take a peek at some of the snack-y snowmen ideas.
Please keep in mind that some of these snacks are more nutritious than others. And one definitely falls into the “treat” category.
Related: DIY Snowman Kit
You can make tweaks to these snack suggestions as you see fit. Be sure to keep students’ allergies in mind when perusing the recipes.
Oh, and while the directions and ingredients are probably pretty obvious with the pictures, I’m still going to write it out for you. Just in case!
Snowman Snack #1 – Apple Snowman
Related: Melting Snowman Activity
For the apple snowman, you need (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):
Apple snowman snack directions:
- Cut apples into thin slices. Use a round cookie cutter or a small glass to cut the apple slices into circles.
- Break pretzel sticks in half for the arms.
- Add mini chocolate chips for the eyes and buttons.
- Cut tiny triangles of cheddar cheese for the nose.
- Add a red icing mouth.
This was probably my favorite of the snack snowmen due to the crispy apple slices (and just a touch of chocolate).
Snowman Snack #2 – Cheesy Snowman
Related: DIY Snowman Fingerprint Ornament
Ingredients for the cheesy snowman:
- Thin cheese slices
- Mini chocolate chips
- Pretzel sticks
Directions:
- Use a circle cookie cutter or a small glass to cut circles from thin cheese slices.
- Add mini chocolate chips for the eyes.
- Break pretzel sticks in half for the arms.
You can use any type of cheese that you’d like for this snack. Why not take a poll and see what the students’ favorite cheeses are!
Snowman Snack #3 – Bagel Snowman
Related: Free Printable Snowman Game
Snowman bagel ingredients:
- Mini bagel (plain)
- Cream cheese
- Mini chocolate chips
- Pretzel sticks
How to make your own bagel snowman:
- Use a mini plain bagel, pulled apart into halves, for the snowman body.
- Add plain cream cheese for the “snow” on the bagel.
- Mini chocolate chips are for the eyes and mouth.
- More pretzel sticks for the arms.
If you don’t care if the cream cheese is white, you might consider adding some flavored cream cheese!
Snowman Snack #4 – Marshmallow Snowman
Related: I Like Winter Book
Marshmallow snowman ingredients:
- Large marshmallows
- Pretzel sticks
- Mini chocolate chips
- Peanut butter (or non-nut butter)
- Red icing
- Chocolate kiss candy
Directions to make your own:
- Use two large marshmallows for the snowman’s body. Add a dab of peanut butter to hold the marshmallows together.
- Press mini chocolate chip “eyes” into the top marshmallow.
- Grab some pretzel stick halves for the arms, and add a red icing smile and buttons.
- If you and the kids want to be fancy, place a Hershey’s Kiss on top for a hat.
The chocolate kiss “hat” elicited a lot of giggles over here! As you can tell, this one is more of a treat than a true snack.
Snowman Snack #5 – Cracker Snowman
Related: Popsicle Stick Winter Crafts
Cracker snowman ingredients:
- Peanut butter crackers
- Pretzel sticks
- Mini chocolate chips
How to make it:
- Use three peanut butter crackers for the body.
- Add a pretzel stick, broken in half, for the arms.
- Place mini chocolate chips on the top cracker for the eyes and the mouth.
Replace the peanut butter crackers with basic crackers if you have any allergies.
The kids can be involved in every step of creating the snowman snacks. Of course, I’m sure they’ll also love to be involved in the eating of the snacks!
You can change out ingredients based on what you have at home, what foods your preschoolers like, and any food allergies you have at home or at school. I had intended to use raisins for some of the snacks . . . but apparently we ran out!
Do you have any favorite winter snack ideas for kids? Are there special snowman snacks they enjoy? Feel free to share ideas in the comments below.
Winter Snacks for Kids
Along with snowmen snacks, there are a ton of other winter-themed snacks for kids! Here are some of our favorite ideas to try.
- Cinnamon-Sugar French Toast Mittens by Happy Hooligans
- Snowflake Cookies – Sunny Day Family
- White Chocolate Snowman Lolly – Kids’ Craft Room
- Kid-Made Snowman Treat – Fantastic Fun and Learning
- Banana Snowman – Pre-K Pages
- Polar Bear Cupcakes – Totally The Bomb
- Grinch Fruit Kabobs – MOMables
Preschool Snowman Lesson Plans
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for classroom teachers and home preschool families so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.
This set includes active hands-on learning ideas, book suggestions, and the following printables:
- Measure the Snowman Activity
- Roll a Snowman Game
- A to Z Build a Snowman Activity (focusing on uppercase, lowercase, and beginning sounds)
- Snowman Pattern Cards
- Roll and Cover Snowman Math Game Boards (numbers 1 to 12)
- 1-20 Snowman Counting Mats
- My Snowman Emergent Reader
- 0-35 Snowman Counting and Calendar Number Cards
Snowman Books for Kids
You know what’s fun to do while eating snowman snacks? Yes! Listening to books all about snowmen. Here are a few fun snowman books to read with your students:
Do you have any favorites to add to the list?
Originally published January 2015.
Amanda says
The variations are fantastic! Will be trying the apple one this week!
Mary Catherine says
Thank you! The apple one is my favorite!
Natasha says
I love all the ideas! Where were you when I was looking for a sweet treat?
Mary Catherine says
Oh, I’ll help out with sweet treat ideas any time! 😉
Nicolette Roux says
this looks great! and you get to eat it when you are done.
now.. who wants a snack.. me me!
Mary Catherine says
Thank you! We’ve had fun with these snacks!
Danielle says
These are adorable! My son loves making (and eating!) fun food, so we are definitely going to make some of these!
Mary Catherine says
Thanks! Let me know if you try any of them!
Theresa says
I love all of these fun Snowman snack ideas! I am off to pin this now.
Mary Catherine says
Thanks so much, Theresa!
Colleen Kessler says
I LOVE these! Now my kids {after peeking over my shoulders while I read} are debating which one to try first.
Mary Catherine says
Let me know which one they chose! 😉
Jodie @ Growing Book by Book says
We had the cheese one today!
Mary Catherine says
Yum! I hope you and the boys liked it!