Winter in Animal Crossing New Horizons is a magical time for players to enjoy island living. With Toy Day right around the corner, you’ll have a plethora of new and fun activities to do on your now snow-filled island. One of the newest activities that is the easiest to enjoy is catching snowflakes.
Snowflakes will start to appear on your island a day or two before your island is covered is now. These little dancing flakes will pop up in a similar fashion to how the maple leaves in fall appear. But what’s really the point of the snowflakes in the game? Here are some tips, tricks, and DIYs for the season’s snowflakes!
Further reading
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons snowboy guide
- How to time travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- How to fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Snowflake guide
The snowflakes that are dancing around your island are necessary for a few of this season’s DIYs. Snowflakes are crafting items that are used for the DIYs that Snowboys give out, or they can be used for a whole new line of DIYs that are snowflake themed.
The Northern Hemisphere will get a chance to catch snowflakes from December until February, while the Southern Hemisphere can catch them from June until August. Catching as many snowflakes as you can now will pay off in the long run, so be sure to get your hands on as many as you can!
You’ll need to equip your bug net in order to nab these floating flakes. Don’t be too eager and treat snowflakes as if they will escape, as they’re a little bit tricky to catch. Sneaking up on the snowflakes and using the camera from a high angle is the best approach to catching snowflakes. Remember, sneaking with the bug net just means pressing and holding A and approaching whatever you’re trying to catch. This will help you better align the net with the snowflake. Be careful, though. You have two swings at a snowflake with the bug net before the snowflake will disappear.
Catching snowflakes this season is a similar experience to catching leaves in the fall. What makes the snowflakes different from the fall leaves, however, is that you can hear the leaves floating around. While traversing your island, listen carefully for a twinkling sound that doesn’t seem to line up with the island’s music. This generally means that a snowflake is nearby and is ready to be caught. Snowflakes will be fluttering around your island all day, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to catch them throughout the season.
Another great thing about the snowflakes is that they don’t melt. You’ll be able to travel around your island and collect however many snowflakes are around, then put them in your home storage indefinitely. They won’t melt and you won’t lose them.
We’d also like to point out that snowflakes can be sold at Nook’s Cranny. For players who want to flip snowflakes for profit, regular snowflakes sell for a mere 200 bells each. However, if you find you have a plethora of snowflakes, this may be a good time to sell them and make some extra money.
Snowflake DIYs
On the first day the island is covered in snow, Isabelle will make an announcement about the weather changing. She’ll also give you a DIY for a snowflake item. After that, it’ll be up to you to find the other DIYs.
In a similar fashion to other events, players will need to shoot snowflake DIYs out of the sky. The only way to get the DIYs that have been verified is by shooting down the balloons that have them. However, you may be able to find the DIYs from crafting villagers or in bottles that wash up on your island’s shore. Hopefully, there are more balloons with DIYs this season than in the fall.
The snowflake DIYs will only be present in the winter, so you’ll have to catch them all before the spring arrives. If you can’t catch them now, you’ll either have to time travel back to winter and try again or ask a friend in a different hemisphere to help you out. Here are the DIYs that are available in the snowflake season:
- Iceberg flooring: 10 snowflakes
- Iceberg wall: 10 snowflakes
- Ski-slope flooring: 8 snowflakes
- Ski-slope wall: 8 snowflakes
- Snowflake pochette: 6 snowflakes
- Snowflake wall: 12 snowflakes
- Snowflake wreath: 4 snowflakes
- Falling-snow wall: 3 snowflakes, 10 stones
The snowflake wreath will most likely be given to you by Isabelle during the morning announcements. Be sure to keep an eye open for it!
