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Embrace the snow and your inner creativity this winter by making wildlife variations of the traditional snowman. In addition to the typical buttons and other household items, try using natural items like seed heads, twigs and parts of cones or make parts some by cutting out shapes from cardboard such as bird wings. Remember that packing snow is best and sometimes you’ll need to get your warm hands on the finer part to help the snow stick around added items like buttons. Here are some ideas to get you started - please send us your own creative ideas and photos!
Snow bear: Make an upright oval with rounded ears at the top. Just below two black eyes, add a small rounded snowball for the muzzle on which you can put a round black button for the nose. Add a couple of twigs for arms.
Snow porcupine: Put a rounded oval of snow lengthwise along the ground with a slightly pointy end for the muzzle on which you can place two black eyes with buttons, seed heads or pine cone pieces. Use lots of small twigs or the stems of seed heads for the quills that point away from the head. Add a flat tail behind it if you fancy, with smaller twigs for quills.
Snow bunny: Make a rounded oval and place along the ground. Make two smaller longer ovals and attach as ears. Make the face long and add eyes and nose. If you want, add paws along its sides.
Deer (lying down): Form a rounded rectangle to be the deer’s body. You don’t always notice a deer’s legs because they can be hidden by grass or leaves on the ground. But if you want to make legs, form a small, narrow mound on each side of the body to be the hind legs. Pat a bit of snow on the body above the hind legs to make the thighs. Next, make a neck that is thick enough to support the head, which should be a rounded oval with a pointy muzzle. When making the ears, keep in mind that deer ears are relatively large flattened ovals with slightly pointed tips. If you are making a buck, you can use a couple of sticks with branching for antlers. The deer’s eyes can be made with small cones or the scales of a larger cone. Of course, children will come up with even more creative ways to bring the deer to life, so let their imaginations soar and see what they come up with.
Bird: The bird’s body can be made of a small blob of snow with two points attached on either side for wings. Shape a point at the end of the body to make a tail. Add a couple of sunflower seeds for eyes and a bill, and you’re done! Although, did I mention it can be tricky to get the wings on just right?
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