Snowflake Bentley & Winter Craft

books, kids, literature, teaching, winter

Are you familiar with Wilson Bentley? If not, I urge you to google him right away! He is the subject of one of my favorite books, Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, which to teach when i was always tucked into my teaching toolbox (which isn't an actual toolbox) when I was a second grade teacher. His story is interesting and his art is magical!

Without going into a lot of detail Wilson Bentley, The Snowflake Man, lived in the 1920s and was fascinated by snow. He developed a way to actually photograph snowflakes in that split second before they melted. What he created was image after image of the most beautiful of nature's art!

His photographs are considered part of the public domain so using them in my classroom (or here!) didn't violate any copyrights.

I would read the Caldecott Award winning book to the class and then we would spend a week on related activities such as writing snow stories, researching biographies of people from that era or other inventors, reading snowy poetry, using cameras to capture "small" objects in different ways, and we would use magnifying glasses to study snowflakes we caught on frozen black construction paper! The kids loved it!

Although I don't teach full time anymore, I still love looking at Snowflake Bentley's photographs and his story. This year, I used some extra fine platinum glitter and a wood snowflake form to create my own snowflakes. I love the sparkle they give our home!

I used a metallic craft paint to completely cover the snowflake and, while the paint was wet I sprinkled on the glitter. I think superfine glitter looks the best and most classy. Once one side was dry I repeated those steps on the other. A piece of twine made a hanging loop.

It is easy to incorporate a little snowflake into your winter decor and I urge you to share Wilson Bentley's story with your children!

This post contains affiliate links.

Days of Chalk and Chocolate