Snowman-in-a-jar and a teachable moment

by Vicky When I was in teacher's college, I came up with this fun little snowman craft to do with the kids. The bonus was that it  also provided a lesson in how water changes from solid to liquid, and the changes in volume observed. It can easily be done outside of the classroom, and will provide a teachable moment for your kids too!

Here's what you'll need:

-large baby food jars or mason jars -construction paper -glue -any other decorations you'd like to add - googly eyes are fun, so is felt for the snowman's scarf

Leaving the lid off the jar, decorate it to look like a snowman. This is where you can get as creative as you want! Once the glue is dry, take your jar outside and fill it to the top with snow. Put the lid back on, and leave the snowman on the window ledge or table. Come back in a few hours and see what happens!

If you want to take this activity to the next level, you can put the jar back outside and make some observations. Here are some questions you can ask your kids to talk about the changes they observed:

-Where did the snow go? Why did it melt? -What happened to the water in the jar when we put the snowman back outside? -Why do you think the snow filled the jar, but the water only fills half? -Describe the ice. What does it look like? Feel like? -What is ice made of? -How long do you think it will take the ice to melt if we leave it on the table?

For older kids:

-Water is the only substance that exists in liquid, gas and solid states. What are some ways to change water from one state to another? (freeze it, boil it, melt it) -Pour the water from the jar into another container or a bowl and ask your child this: did the ice change its shape when you poured it into this container? Why or why not? -Can you think of anything else that we can pour that will take the same shape of the container? -Pour the water back into the jar. Is there any way that we could change this water back to ice? How? How long do you think it would take?

Good luck and have fun teaching your kids about the changes of state in water!

Vicky is the mom to 4 year old son named Joel and 1 year old daughter named Mieka. You can read her blog at blog Some Kind of Wondermom.