Are you looking for an easy and fun Snow Globe Craft for home or the classroom? You’ve come to the right place! Toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners, and older kids will enjoy following along with our video and helpful step-by-step directions while making this DIY waterless snow globe with our printable template, plastic plates, paper, watercolors, and styrofoam craft snow.
Related: How to Make a Snow Globe
Plastic Plate Snow Globe Craft
Snow globes are an enchanting keepsake, especially when they showcase a child’s drawing. This winter season, invite kids to make their own snow globe craft with plastic plates, paper, crayons, and styrofoam craft snow. It’s the perfect gift for friends and family!
Plastic Plate Snow Globe Craft Supplies
- Plastic plate snow globe craft template
- Clear plastic plates, 7-inch
- Black construction paper
- Clear school glue
- Crayons or oil pastels
- Watercolor paints
- Styrofoam craft snow
- Scissors
Directions for Plastic Plate Snow Globe
1. After printing the template and gathering supplies, invite kids to draw a picture on the snow globe template. I asked my kids to draw an outdoor winter scene, but some other drawing prompt ideas include:
- Something/someone you are thankful for
- Your favorite winter activity
- An outdoor winter scene
- A picture of a person you admire
- Favorite holiday tradition
- A picture of yourself playing in the snow
Tip: When you are printing this template, be sure to have “actual size” checked in your printer menu.
2. Next, invite kids to color in their picture with crayons or oil pastels. Don’t forget to add white snowflakes to the sky!
3. Invite kids to paint over their picture with watercolors.
Using crayons or oil pastels and watercolors together is a beautiful art technique called watercolor resist. My kids really enjoyed watching their white snowflakes resist the blue watercolor paint…it really brought their drawing to life!
4. When the paint is dry, invite kids to cut out both parts of their snow globe. We used the snow globe base as a template and traced it onto black paper, but kids could also color it in with a black crayon.
5. Glue the snow globe base to the back of the snow globe.
6. Pour 1–2 tablespoons of styrofoam snow onto the middle of the picture.
Tip: If you wish to use an environmentally friendly option as opposed to styrofoam snow, invite kids to punch white paper with a single hole punch or a small snowflake hole punch to create filler for their snowglobes. You could also use small white pompoms, Epsom salt, or white rice.
6. Last, glue the plastic plate to the snowglobe. I recommend leaving the snow globe in place until the glue dries to prevent the styrofoam balls from adhering to the sides of the plate.
Of course, to expedite this process, you could use a low-temperature hot glue gun to secure the plate to the paper.
When the glue is dry, kids will enjoy shaking, twisting, and turning their snow globe!
7. If desired, glue a loop of festive ribbon to the back of the snow globe to create an ornament! Kids could also sign their name with a silver Sharpie marker on the base of the snow globe!
Video Tutorial: Plastic Plate Snow Globe Craft
Watch the video below to be guided through each step of this craft. You can view more easy kids craft tutorials on our Facebook Page, Teachers Pay Teachers Page, or right here on our website.
Save This Craft
Don’t forget to save this craft on Pinterest for later! Be sure you are following along with Fireflies and Mud Pies here.
Linda Caldwell says
The snow globe is one of the cutest crafts this season. I love it.
Shirley Estep says
Really neat craft !!
Olivia says
So cute! I want to do this at our holiday Girl Scout troop meeting. How long does it take?
Melissa Lennig says
The most time-consuming part is waiting for the glue to dry. I recommend using hot glue to attach the plates for your troop meeting, then the kids won’t go home with a wet craft. Have fun!
Cheng Ya Ning says
How to download the paper?
Thank you very much.
Melissa Lennig says
If you click the link in the list of supplies, it will take you to my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Thank you!
Lisa says
Where do you buy clear plastic plates?
Melissa Lennig says
There is a link in the list of supplies, Lisa. But you could also check your local party and dollar stores.
Belinda Pena says
I bought some at our local Dollar Tree. They had 2 sizes.
Belinda Pena says
Very cute idea but the stryo foam balls cling to the plate even with out glue on them. Did yours do this?
Melissa Lennig says
Some cling, but not all of them.
Belinda Pena says
Thank you, I will move forward making them.
Linda says
Make sure your kids are patient. Maybe have a snack for them while the paint dries. I used the hot glue gun to expedite the results. The kids are thrilled to shake these. Hint: We put the painted portion in a sheet cake pan when adding the styrofoam beads so as to control any pieces that get away (and they will.) This project thrilled my special needs great niece! I was kind of happy with my results too! Never too old.
Heather Killam says
Super cute! Thank you 😊
Terrie says
Sorry to be dense but just to be clear – no water, right?
Linda M says
We helped our students make these in our autism K-2 classroom. It seemed like the perfect project for kids who love sensory input. We made them with one child at a time over a couple of days to avoid mayhem 🙂 They turned out super cute and the kids loved to shake them. However, we discovered that, because the plates are made of non-porous plastic, the glue did not adhere to the plate very well after drying. Luckily my sample snow globe was the first to separate and send snowballs all over the place. Before we let the kids have theirs we checked them, and sure enough, all of them easily separated. We decided to staple the plates to the backing all the way around and that worked great with no danger of separating. Parents would not have been thrilled with us to have those little snowballs all over their house 🙂 We will definitely do this craft again, but continue to skip the glue.
Melissa Lennig says
Great feedback. Ours are still glued together, but my kids haven’t been shaking them daily…they are clipped to the refrigerator. Instead of school glue like I used, maybe next year you could try hot glue or tacky craft glue. Happy holidays!
Merita says
How long does it take to dry with glue gun?