This snowman fingerprint ornament is a sweet and simple gift kids can make themselves, so make sure you’ve added it to your list of preschool Christmas ornaments.
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Parents, grandparents, and other caregivers are sure to love this preschool keepsake. Most importantly, your students are going to love using their fingers to make snowmen decorations!
Snowman Fingerprint Ornament
Helping my students make their loved ones Christmas gifts is always fun. I love helping them create meaningful, sentimental presents.
It’s important to me that the children have a say in what they’re creating, and that they enjoy the process. While I am a big proponent of process art in preschool, I also dabble in some crafts. This is especially true when helping my students make gifts for others throughout the year.
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I’ve done some variations of these snowman fingerprint ornaments many times over the years. They are cute, use the kiddos’ fingerprints, and they get the children involved in making something special for their families.
This ornament is one of my favorite Christmas activities for preschoolers. Now let’s get started!
Materials to Make a Snowman Fingerprint Ornament
You don’t need that many materials to make these ornaments with your own students. We used a total of four items, and you can definitely reduce that number a little if you want to!
Here’s what we used (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):
- Semi-rounded plastic ornament
- White acrylic paint
- Permanent markers (in a variety of colors)
- Pretend snow
I really liked these kind of flattened round ornaments. They seemed easier for the students to work with, although fully round ornaments would work just as well. I’ve used them in the past with great results.
Fingerprint Snowman Ornament Directions
Here’s what we did! You can make adjustments to these directions based on your own preferences.
- Paint child’s pointer, middle, and ring fingers with white acrylic paint.
- Carefully place child’s fingers on the ornament and help the child press down.
- Have the child paint a bit of “snow” underneath the fingerprints if desired.
- When paint is dry, have child use markers to decorate their snowmen (hats, gloves, buttons, etc.).
- Write child’s name and the year on back of the ornament (I used a silver permanent marker).
- Using a funnel, help the student add pretend snow to the inside of the ornament. This is an optional step – the ornament will still look great without it.
I have to admit, it took a few tries to come up with this version of the snowman fingerprint ornament.
After a few tries, we were pretty happy with how these ornaments turned out! More importantly, so were the kids.
It was fun watching my students give life to their snowmen. Some of them were so meticulous about adding all of the details, while others preferred to go the abstract route.
Either way, I feel like their personalities showed in their ornaments!
Related: Easy Snowman Face Ornament
Based on the families’ feedback, these ornaments will be treasured for years to come.
My son and I ended up making a few of these snowman fingerprint ornaments too. One will stay here at our house, while others will be given as gifts. He was just as excited as my preschoolers to make these ornaments.
Related: Beaded Candy Cane Ornament Craft
Have you ever made a snowman fingerprint ornament with your students? If not, I highly suggest you give it a try!
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
Originally published December 2013.
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