One of the hallmarks of winter are snowmen. Snowmen are everywhere, and if you’re lucky enough to have snow, you might even have a snowman in your own backyard! If it’s too cold to play outside, or you want a fun winter engineering activity for your kiddos to try, my kids had a blast with this marshmallow craft, an edible snowmen.
What makes this activity an engineering activity is allowing the kids the freedom to design their own marshmallow snowmen. You just supply the materials, and the kids are the ones who come up with the designs. Let them have plenty of candy to choose from and you will be surprised at how creative the kids will be with their designs. There is tons of creative freedom with this activity.
MATERIALS NEEDED FOR THE EDIBLE MARSHMALLOW SNOWMEN
Marshmallows| Toothpicks | Black food coloring | Round candies | Royal icing
This project is open-ended and is the perfect activity to do on a rainy day.
First, gather all materials. Don’t tell the kids how to build their snowmen and let them figure it out. My kids discovered that using a toothpick as a stabilizer was a good way to do it.
Use toothpicks as hands and as a nose (unless you have some orange candy taffy that you can roll into a nose shape).
Use royal icing to attach the ear muffs. If you have different candies, kids might like to make a licorice rope scarf or a taffy hat instead of candy ear muffs.
Dip a toothpick in black food coloring and paint on the eyes and mouth.
After the marshmallow snowmen are completed, let the kids devour them! Delicious and tasty snack!
Potential Variations
You can also make this engineering activity more difficult by giving the kids goals. Perhaps their snowmen have to be at least four marshmallows high, or you can’t use marshmallows for the body, but you have to use them in some way.
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