Winter in a bottle |A kid made Christmas ornament

Winter time has started early this year for us and my students are so excited. To capture the essence of winter, my students created their very own winter in a bottle and turned it into an ornament as one of our parent gifts this year…

Winter in a bottle Christmas ornament by Teach Preschool

To make our winter in a bottle, we gathered…

  • Empty water bottles
  • fake snow
  • pine branches
  • berries

Before making our ornaments, I set the bottles, pine branches and fake snow out for the children to explore. They enjoyed the sensory experience of playing in the snow and filling their bottles…

Christmas in a bottle ornament by Teach Preschool

Some of the children decided they were snow scientists as they used the variety of tools we set out for play…

Winter in a bottle ornament by Teach Preschool

All throughout the morning, children stopped by to explore the winter in a bottle center…

Winter in a bottle ornament by Teach Preschool

Later in the morning, we used the materials to make an ornament as one of our parent gifts.  To make the ornament, the children started by filling their bottles with a small amount of fake snow…

Winter in a bottle ornament by Teach Preschool

Then the children added a pine branch to represent the many pine trees we have outside our classroom…

Winter in a bottle ornament by Teach Preschool

And to add a little bit of color, the children added some berries that we found on one of our trees outside. We didn’t set the berries out for play and we have talked often about not eating the berries the children find outside in our environment. The children plucked a few berries off the branches to add to their bottles…

Winter in a bottle ornament by Teach Preschool

Once the children completed their winter in a bottle, we closed it up with a lid and added a ribbon around the top of the bottle for hanging up their ornament…

Winter in a bottle ornament by Teach Preschool

I went back later to hot glue the lids onto the children’s bottles to make sure the bottles would make it home without falling open along the way…

Winter in a bottle ornament by Teach Preschool

After the children completed their Winter in a Bottle ornaments, we wrapped them up with red material, purchased at Hobby Lobby, and set them aside until it’s time to take them home…

Winter in a bottle ornament by Teach Preschool

A couple of things to note (trying to think of what questions folks often ask me)…

  • We couldn’t use real snow or it would melt before the children would get it home but don’t worry, we played and will continue to play in plenty of real snow too.
  • We didn’t want the bottles to be too heavy so they would hang nicely on a tree at home without weighing down the tree branches.
  • The pine needles on the pine branches may well dry out and fall off over time but this can be part of the learning process for the children.
  • The plastic water bottles we collected and used are called Aqua Pod!  They do not have a label on them that leave a sticky residue which is wonderful. They are not super thick but we love them.  These bottles are available at grocery stores like Marsh.

20daysofakidmadechristmasPIN-460x614

This idea is only one of many wonderful ideas for making beautiful Christmas ornaments with kids.

  • To share your own ideas or to see the 50+ kid made ornaments being shared, stop by Mama Miss today!
  • See the schedule of all the other blogs joining in this kid-made ornament series by clicking here!

Available on Amazon

Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

Subscribe to My Newsletter

Latest Blog Posts

P is for Pizza!

While learning about the letter “P” we decided to explore with pizza! Pizza is an all-time favorite food for many preschoolers, and activities involving pizza

Read More »