Winter is here! Dress warmly, bundle up, enjoy the snow. Build a snowman, shovel the driveway, have a snowball fight - spend time playing. When it's time to get warm - pull out supplies to have a snow crafty afternoon with the kids. Everyone will enjoy a snow-filled day of fun with four easy (and frugal) craft ideas for children.

Start off the snow craft party with some Snowman Soup. Make a package of Hot Chocolate mix (the Nestle kind is great!) according to the package directions, but make it in a soup bowl. Add two Hershey Kisses, three regular size marshmallows and stir it all together with a candy cane. Yummy treat and great way to warm up from that cold weather!

Finished with the Snowman Soup? How about creating a cute paper bag snowman for the next easy craft? Only a few supplies are required for the snowman - 2 white paper bags, newspaper or scrap paper, 18" string or yarn, construction paper to make Snowman accessories, and glue. Open one of the white paper bags and stuff it with crushed newspaper. Open the second paper bag and carefully pull it down over the newspaper-stuffed bag. Simply tie the yarn or string around the bags to make a separation for the head and the body of the snowman. Then comes the creative part - cut out eyes, nose, hat, buttons from construction paper and glue them onto the snowman. Let the child's creativity shine - there's no snowman rules. When finished, put the snowman on display in a window or on a table for a great wintery centerpiece.

Another fun, easy and quick craft project involves paper doilies. Paper doilies are readily available at party stores and craft stores. To craft a doily snowman, the following items are needed: three white doilies (one small, one medium, one large), glue, 12" x 18" construction paper. Ask the child to build a snowman with the three circles, then glue the doilies onto the large piece of construction paper. Pull out some crayons, markers or construction paper to make snowman features - the eyes, nose, mouth, etc. Have fun and let the child's creativity shine. Again, there are no rules in crafting play.

Looking for something a little messier? Another easy snow craft involves white tempera paint, silver glitter, blue or black construction paper and a snowflake sponge or stamp. Create a glittery snowflake picture by dipping the snowflake sponge or stamp in tempera paint and stamping it on the paper. Stamp as much or as little as desired, there's no limit. While paint is still wet, sprinkle glitter on the picture. When it dries, the snowflake picture will be ready for display.

The most important part of crafting with kids is that everyone enjoys the process, the results and the companionship. Enjoy the snow, enjoy the crafts and love those kids!

Snow Crafts was written by Kim Monaco (with help from her Preschool Teacher mom), a crafty work at home mommy and owner of Learn Crafts Online. Monaco enjoys sitting down and crafting with her children, even messy crafts sometimes!