Cold & Snowy

What a blustery cold and snowy day!  As I scrambled to get the kids out the door for school this morning, I was bracing myself against the sleet and slush.  I'm not a huge fan of winter, generally speaking.  But, it always helps to cheer my mood with a little thematic and seasonal project.  Here is a recent project I did with my preschool art students, we called it "A Snowy Day".  If you're trapped inside today, you  may like to try it yourself!

For this project, you will need the following supplies:

2 pieces of blue construction paper, size 12x18

1 piece of brown construction paper, size 5x7

1 piece of dark green construction paper, size 5x7

1 piece of light green construction paper, size 5x7

1 scrap piece of yellow construction paper, size 3x3

white chalk

cotton balls

glue

white paint

Here's the step by step:

From one of the blue pieces of construction paper, cut a wavy line 2-3" high,  leaving 3 sides straight.  Have the child stretch cotton balls into long shreds.  Paint the wavy blue piece of paper with glue and have the child press the cotton shreds onto the paper.  Set aside to dry.

On the large piece of blue construction paper (the un-cut one), give the child a piece of chalk and have them smear it all over the page in any way they would like.  It's a good time to show and explain the difference on drawing a line or shading by manipulating how they hold the chalk.  Spray with a little hairspray once they're done to make the chalk "stick" and not smear additionally.

Give the child the brown and green pieces of paper all at once and have them paint them with white paint.  They can use a brush, q-tips, fingers,  sponge pieces or stamps.  We used round foam stampers.

Once the white paint dries, cut the brown paper into rectangles and cut the green papers into tree shapes. The yellow paper gets cut into a moon shape. It's ok to use cookie cutters or a template to help younger children get the right shape.  Simple triangles and circles would also work well. 

Let the child decide how to arrange the trees and help them glue the pieces into place.  Each child's art will be unique!