Make a Homemade Snow Globe

Is there anything more enticing to a young child than a snow globe? They’re associated with holiday celebrations, with glitter and water, and most kids love them. Unfortunately, they’re also expensive and delicate, a combination that often renders them off-limits to children. Here’s a snow globe that your kids can not only play with – they can make it themselves!

What You Need:

• A clean jar with a water-tight lid (test it by filling it with water, turning it upside down, and holding it over your sink)
• A festive, waterproof figurine or holiday ornament that will fit inside the jar
• A cork
• A knife
• Waterproof glue (such as superglue)
• Water
• Coarse glitter
• Ribbon
• Optional: glycerin (available at drugstores)

What You Do:

1. Trim the cork so one piece is just taller than the jar lid. Discard extra cork.
2. Remove the lid from the jar and set jar aside.
3. Put the lid upside down and help your child affix the cork piece to the center with a dab of waterproof glue.
4. Glue the figurine, bottom down, to the cork (if you’re using a little person as the figure, glue the feet to the cork). The cork is a platform that will allow the figurine to show above the rim of the lid, and the lid will eventually be the bottom of the snowglobe.
5. Let cork and figure dry completely.
6. Have your child add a few dashes of glitter to the jar, along with a few drops of glycerin if you’d like the glitter to fall slowly.
7. Help your child fill the jar almost to the top with water.
8. Screw lid back on jar, so the figure is pointing down. Reverse the jar so the figurine is right side up.
9. Tie a ribbon around the jar lid and knot decoratively.
10. Have your child shake gently and watch the glitter fly! Watch carefully for leaks and store on a waterproof saucer, just in case.

Not only is this homemade globe a hit for kids, it also makes a great holiday gift for friends and relatives, so stock up and make several!