Signing flags and Paper Snowflakes

During training days, when it wasn't so busy there were a lot of school kids around. These three were daring enough to venture into the wax cabin area to ask for our autographs. They were too shy to speak English (even though it is better than my Swedish) so I stepped up to talk to them and to sign their hands and Swedish flags.

There is a school near where I am staying and plasterd in a lot of the windows were hand-made flags of some of the competing countries. It didn't see an American one, but thats okay. Next time. Mixed in with the flags were heart snowflakes, like the competition's logo. Do you know how to make those types of snowflakes?

Well here are some instructions that I found for you to give it a try:

Paper Snowflakes
Materials - (paper, scissors, glitter - optional)

Start with any square piece of paper. *If you are using a standard sheet of paper, take a bottom corner and diagonal fold it across to the opposite side of the page. Cut off the 2.5 inch strip at the top of the page to create an 8.5 x 8.5 sheet of paper. Fold it in half. Fold it in half again creating a smaller square.

One corner will be all folds, the other three corners will have some open edges. Finding the fold corner is key to making a snowflake.

Turn the paper so that the fold corner is at the bottom. Fold the corner on the right side over to the left side. You should now have a long, triangular paper, with the fold corner still at the bottom.

Depending on the thickness of the paper, and the children's skill with scissors, now may be when you start cutting out the snowflakes. Older children can continue folding the sides together to get narrower pieces of paper.

Cut off the tip opposite the fold corner. It can be point or rounded depending on the shape you want for your snowflake points.

Continue cutting out bits of the snowflake, but be sure to keep intact enough of the fold lines running out from the fold corner.

Open up your snowflake when you are finished cutting.

*Use glitter glue to decorate it if you want. And here is another idea I came across. Round coffee filters are easiest for the younger children. Any shape works with older kids. Color with markers. Any shapes, any design, any amount. Plan to experiment with the first ones until the children can see how they turn out. When finished coloring, move the snowflakes onto newspaper and spray with water. The children can flick drops of water on them, ring a wet wash cloth over them, anything to get water onto the colored filters. They dry fast and are very sturdy-they don't fall apart. Fold at least three times, and then cut out shapes for the snowflake.

Well, enjoy!
-Haley