It's Snowing in Kindergarten!

This fun lesson was inspired by a project I saw on Art Projects for Kids... "Watercolor Resist Snowflakes". I changed it up just a little for my Kindergarten classes and they had a blast doing this!

First we talked a bit about snowflakes and then I showed them some amazing photographs of real snowflakes (taken with a special microscope) in The Little Book of Snowflakes by Kenneth Liebrecht.


Next, we learned how to draw a snowflake using diagonal and horizontal lines:


1. Draw a tall, skinny "X".
2. Draw a horizontal line through the middle of it.
3. "Decorate" each of the six branches in the same way, using short lines and small circles or dots.

Then we used white oil pastels and watercolor to create our snow paintings:

1. Write the word "SNOW" across the middle of your 12x18 white construction paper using white oil pastel. Make your letters big and go over them several times to make them nice and thick.
2. Now draw as many snowflakes as you can all over your paper. Fill every empty space with different snowflake designs.
3. Use a Sharpie to write your name near the bottom.
4. Finally, paint over your entire paper with a colorful watercolor wash. Use lots of water so your paint will be transparent. Every time you pick up more paint, dip your brush in the water first. Experiment with mixing lots of different colors!

Tip: When Kindergarten students want to pick up more paint on their brush, they will often forget to add water and instead grind their brush into the paint, producing what we like to call a "bad hair day" (see below). I find myself reminding them over and over that if they have to press hard with their brush to get more paint, that means they need to add more water!! This can be hard on your paint sets (and brushes!), but kinders learn by doing and eventually proper brush techniques will sink in! Don't let this stop you from giving your students lots of opportunities to work with this versatile medium. With practice, most of them will have the hang of it by first grade.

Avoid a "bad hair day" by reminding your students to use plenty of water when they paint with watercolors!

One last tip.... Save your good brushes for other projects and use your cheap ones (the red-handled ones that come in the paint sets) for this project. The oil pastel gets into the hairs and you might need to use soap to wash it out.