M is for Marshmallows

Today at school we made a Marshmallow Wreath, this is the first time we have ever made this particular project and I definitely have some things I would change for next time. (see notes below)  One thing to remember about the crafts or activities we do at our preschool is that these are things that the kids can actually do by themselves.  We do the prep work and then the kids do the project.  I will walk you through the prep, and then through the step by step instructions to make it.  

What you will need, Blue construction paper or tag board, Mini Marshmallows, little picture of a Snowman, blue flare, (we used little blue gems and blue shapes), YES! glue or another sticky glue.

For Prep, you need to cut your Blue paper into a circle shape, we used a bucket turned upside down and traced around it, then you need to trace another smaller circle in the middle of that.  You are trying to achieve a wreath shape.  

Then you need to figure out how you will hang it when you are done.  We decided to hole punch it, put a reinforcement circle on the back and then threaded a white ribbon through it.  

Cut out your Snowman, put a bunch of Marshmallows in a container and also put a small amount of blue flare in a another container. You will need a container of each for each child.  

We used YES glue because it is super sticky and thick and while it worked I do have some notes for you to make it work better.   I put a "blob" of glue in a disposable container with a big wood stick for spreading for each child doing the activity.    

Because we knew they were gonna get sticky we started with the coloring of the Snowman, I gave them some ideas on how to color it and then off they went to give our Snowman some life.  I wrote names on the back of each Snowman so I could figure out which one went with each wreath when we were done.  These were collected when they were done coloring so they could be Hot Glued on later.

Then they fun really started, we had the kids spread the YES glue on a quarter part of their blue wreath, and then they could start adding flare and Marshlallows.  

Some of them just plop and mush them on and some are so meticulous about it, I always love to see their different personalities come out doing a craft. 

And some are just having a lot of fun with it.

We would frequently pick them up and figure out what was not sticking so that they knew where to add more glue.  And when they were done I went back over them using Hot Glue to glue the Snowman on the front of the wreath.  The finished product was very cute, we did not send these home today as they did need extra time to dry.  We will send them home with the kids on Friday.  

Notes: It turns out that Marshmallows are covered in Corn Starch so if the glue was not thick and  pretty wet the glue absorb the Corn Starch and they would not stick.  I am on the look out for a better glue for this project.  Also although the Construction paper we used worked I think next time we will use Tag board or glue the wreaths onto cut out paper plates to give it more strength.