Cargo-cult snowflakes?

Children find making snowflakes rewarding. Not only are they getting to mess with the urban legend of dangerous scissors, but they get to display their creations around the home as an early precursor to the celebrations. I am also starting to think their may be an alternate reason for their enthusiasm, the summoning of winter. Children think symbolically. Reason is elastically plastic for them. Whenever we’ve made snowflakes the whole, the ‘will it snow for Christmas’ conversation loops by again (its not been a proper white Christmas in London since 1970; ‘cos the one lame flake on the Met roof in ‘99 doesn’t count). There is a fledgling cargo-cult building around paper snowflakes; if we build them perhaps… just perhaps, they’ll fall.

This week, in particular, we’re in that betwixt and between time of the advent season. When, arguments about the ‘Christmas creep’ of shops aside, it’s actually still to early to get a tree if you want it to have pines come Christmas Day. So to fill the week, and keep the kiddywinks anticipation bubbling on the stove of excitement, we’ve been cutting up the paper recycling.

I’ve stuck together snowflake folding crib sheet - no nativity pun intended - for folding a six pointed snowflake. If you’re doing this with 5 yr olds, you may need to show then how to fold it a few times or you’ll get squares which don’t ever seem to be quite as fulfilling.

And should they be natural born snowflake geniuses, let them try this, and perhaps… just perhaps they’ll fall.

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