A-Maze-ing Winter Craftivity

Need a new fun winter craft for students?  This class craft is easy and perfect even for older kids!

When choosing winter arts and crafts for kids, I like to to find things that can be done inside, yet incorporate winter activities for kids outside in nature as well.  It helps if they are less than messy.  

One of my go to places to look for winter crafts is on Pinterest, but sometimes those “easy” items I know the kids will love involve way too many steps to make it an easy fun winter craft for a class of 20+ students at one time.

So today, I decided on a great winter paper craft that elementary students might like to create – and you can even tie it into your reading curriculum too!

How to use paper plates for this craft idea…

You actually only need a few basic and inexpensive supplies for this classroom craft!

• Paper plates – you can use plain, colored, square, or round.  Just make sure they can fit in a 6 inch maze.
• Scissors
• Glue Sticks
• Maze Template or markers if students want to create their own (download below)
• Optional:  Popsicle sticks and button magnets

What ages is this winter craft perfect for?

Kindergarten,

First graders,

2nd grade,

3rd graders,

and even 4th graders!  Honestly, it’s super easy and can be adapted to the age and ability of any student in grades K-5!

Steps involved in making the basic paper plate maze:

Begin by printing and cutting out the circle maze template from below.  Use the dashed red line as your cut line.

Next, use a glue stick to add the maze template to the top of the paper plate.   I prefer glue sticks over white glue for this as it’s much less messy.

Easy peasy!  Now you have a paper plate maze!  

What you decide to do with it now is part of the fun – there are lots of possibilities!

What do you make with the rest of the paper?

There are several options that I will share with you, but honestly, the sky is the limit when choosing your craft idea:

Option 1:  In honor of the season, I have included a snowman, polar bear, and fun snowflake icon on the maze template, as well as one blank icon for the paper plate craft.  You can have students use the glue stick to attach one of the icons in the center of the maze.

Then, they would think of 3 things that the icon would not want to be near and draw those 3 items into the maze where it makes sense.  In my example, I have chosen the snowman.  A snowman probably wouldn’t be too fond of the sun, a mean dog, or a truck (especially if it had a plow on the front).

Students can then use a finger to trace the right path to keep the snowman safe.

Option 2:  Repeat the same steps as Option 1, but laminate the work before attaching to the paper plate.

Students can then use a dry erase marker to do the mazes from their peers.

Option 3:  Instead of making the icon be the center, you can attach a button magnet to the back of it.   Grab a popsicle stick and attach the matching button magnet (they should pull towards one another when the poles are opposite).

The child can then use the popsicle stick on the bottom of the plate and the icon on the top and find the way through the maze that way.  This option is a really cute craft with the paper plates that students love because they all love the magnets!

Option 4:  The last option is customizing your mazes to your curriculum.  Maybe have students use the main character of a story of the week or an individual reading selection as the center icon.

They would then draw in 3 “obstacles” that the main character faces in the story.

Label the title of the story on the back of the plate.  Students can take turns trading their mazes and trying to guess the book title.

This is even a great way to incorporate a simple art project for kids in the specials classroom too!

Winter Bulletin Board Idea!

Everyone is busy after returning from winter break, so finding quick winter bulletin board ideas are key, right?

How is this for a winter wonderland bulletin board?   Grab the finishes student mazes, add some lettering that says “Winding Our Way Through a Winter Wonderland,” and then attach some twine that is connected to the left and right sides of the board.

Using glitter flocked clothespins, attach the student mazes to the twine.

Done and done!  Super easy and I bet if it is a hallway bulletin board, students in other classes will think the mazes are pretty awesome too!

Would it be helpful to have a blank maze template so you aren’t starting from scratch?  I’ve got you covered!  Download it below and then check your email for the file.

Hope you have an a-maze-ing winter!

~Charity

This post originally appeared at Organized Classroom.