We love a good DIY toy around here - especially one that uses a cardboard box.  (We are avid Amazon shoppers).  I first saw a drop box on Play at Home Mom.  It's such a genius idea!  Since it's winter here, I decided to make a snowman drop box.  I knew X would be in toddler heaven, but I was surprised to find that S loved it just as much!

Doesn't he look super friendly?  X isn't old enough to learn his shapes, but if you have an older toddler, this would be a nice playful way to incorporate some shape/color learning.

Here S is poking a giant pom pom through the snowman's circle eye.

It was a great lesson for X on what would and would not fit.  He really wanted to drop that big blue jingle bell through the thin slot and it just would not fit!  Please note some items shown here do present choking hazards.  If you would like to do this activity with a baby or toddler who is still mouthing toys, I recommend cutting larger holes and playing with items that are not a choking risk.  Even if your child is no longer mouthing, please provide close and constant supervision if you choose to include chokable items in this activity.

The jingle bells were S's idea and they were perfect.  The made such a satisfying little jingle as they dropped into the snowman's belly.  :)

X loooooved this activity.  He would shout "YAAAAAAYYY!" and clap his hands every time he got something in.  It really was the cutest thing ever.

Sibling teamwork!!!

One of S's favorite jobs was emptying him of all the goodies.  It was like a giant piñata!

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To make your own drop box snowman, you'll need some sturdy cardboard.  Roughly draw a snowman shape and using a box cutter or xacto knife AWAY FROM CHILDREN, cut out the snowman.  If you wish to add shapes to his face, draw and cut those the same way.  Use the snowman as a template to trace and cut out the snowman that will become the bottom of your box.  Using a more pliable cardboard - we found that cereal boxes worked well - cut strips and apply them to the edges of your snowman.  You can either use hot glue or packing tape to attach the more pliable cardboard to the snowman front and back (we used packing tape).  Be sure to leave a gap somewhere along the snowman so you can get the dropped items out again.

To give his features more reinforcement, I lined them all with hot glue.  I also punched a hole in each side with my scissor tip and hot glued two branch arms in place.

S helped me paint his front with white paint and then I outlined his features with markers.

For more snowman fun be sure to check out our new recipe for Foaming Dough - uncolored it makes the perfect snow for erupting snowmen into icy frothy foam!