Snow Art Like Simon Beck

I've always admired snow artist Simon Beck ever since I read about him a few years ago.  Whenever the snow falls and leaves a fresh coat of snow he is always on my mind.  Simon Beck creates amazingly intricate snow art by walking with snow shoes and then later photographing his work.  You can read more about him here. (And see his amazing work too!)

We tried our hand at some Snow Art after a recent snowfall.... Mostly using sticks and our fingers.

This was our stomping, which you can't get a great overview shot of, but still cool.  We've created hearts and words by stomping in the snow too.

We also enjoyed creating some tiny snowmen and adding scenery with tree branches.

If there is no snow where you are,  why not try mud or sand art?  Artists use what is around them to create their work.

The Value of Creating Snowmen

We never tire of making snowmen. I think I have made snowmen with my daughter ever since she could walk.  Not only is it a great excuse to get outside, but there is so much more value in this activity.  I must think there is value or else we wouldn't make them every winter.

Snowmen are so fun to make. They teach kids a lot. Obviously they teach kids about building and creating but there is so much more. When waiting to create a snowman each year I explain to my daughter about why the snow has to be a certain temperature before it can pack together(32 degrees and above), so there is definitely Science involved in the process. When we start building there is a lot of problem solving going on such as: "How large each "snowball" should be?"  and "Why the snow is falling apart....? and so on? Once the basic structures are built there are lots of decision making skills such as: "What will we make the eyes out of?" or "Who will the Snowmen look like?"

We had fun deciding to use pipe cleaners for mouths and pom poms for eyes/noses/buttons.  We lost our snowman kit so we had to be more inventive. We tried using candies too, but they wouldn't stay in very well and they were too small.

We also found if we used a popsicle stick to create a hole that the pom poms would stay in place more securely.

We had so much fun using our imaginations to come up with ideas for their hair.  We have always used hats in the past and the evergreen tree pieces and dead flowers made such a creative alternative. Snow Paint makes another great way to decorate a snowman too.

While making these snowmen my daughter commented on how these snowmen will make people smile
since our neighbors always enjoy seeing our creations. I think she remembered when we made a Snow Bunny and a neighbor put treats in the bunnies basket. So another value of creating snowmen could even be brightening someone's day. Once the snowmen begin to melt there will be a Science lesson on the temperature of when snow melts. The lessons are endless....Who would of thought?

Making GIANT Snowflakes

The other day we started making GIANT Snowflakes and it has been a HUGE hit with my daughter.  These snowflakes have made wonderful window decorations that literally fill the sections of our windows. They make great holiday and Winter decorations to brighten up the drab days of Winter here in Ohio.  Also, they would be a great way to bring some snow to warmer climates out there.

To make these GIANT Snowflakes you'll need:

Large White Gift Tissue 

Scissors

The White Tissue Paper is great to use because you can fold this paper countless times cut easily through many layers.  It is a little tricky to fold, but you could have the tissue pre-folded for your kids and show them how to cut shapes.  My daughter mostly cut triangle shapes which is the easiest shape to cut.

Here are the steps.  Basically you fold the square into a triangle and keep matching each corner to corner to create smaller triangles. Between steps 5 and 6 you want to round the top so the snowflake will be a circular shape. Then begin cutting shapes on each edge. My daughter mostly cut triangle shapes because that is the easiest shape to cut. You can definitely experiment with different shapes.

Have FUN! Children and adults get a lot of satisfaction from cutting snowflakes.

And it is always a surprise each time you open a folded snowflake. This activity could be a science experiment in which you predict what each snowflake might look like.  It is a great lesson in symmetry too. Also, you could pair this activity with my Exploring Snowflakes...Up Close post and observe real snowflakes and learn about Wilson Bentley who took the first pictures of snowflakes.  Look how big this snowflake is compared to my daughter....AWESOME!

Here is some of our window display from outside our house.  They look wonderful! I'm sure it brightens everyone's day when they go by our house. I know it makes me smile each time I see them. 

HAPPY WINTER!

Enjoy making snowflakes...

Snowy Hearts

If you've been following me a while you know that I LOVE Land Art.  We've done quite a few Land Art Posts that you can check out here or at the end of this post.  Winter introduces a whole new medium: SNOW!  It adds a crisp white background to everything.  We made Snowy (Land Art) Hearts since Valentine's Day is on our mind! Check them out and let me know what you think!

Evergreen Bush and Cranberries

More Evergreen and Cranberries

C painting our Snow heart on a tree
Recipe for snow paint click here

Finished Painted Snow Heart

A great book to go with our Snowy Hearts is Snow Valentines by Karen Gray Ruelle. The brother and sister cat in this book create Snowy Valentines because they want to be unique! This is such a sweet Valentine book!

I'm sure we will be doing more Snowy Land Art this Winter!

Stay tuned! 

Land Art Posts:

Our Land Art

Outdoor Fall Leaf Art

Rain Shadows

This post is linked to: Link and Learn

Exploring Snowflakes... Up Close

Have you every really looked at snowflakes?  Real snowflakes up close?  Well,  that is what Cassie and I did recently after finally getting some snow! (snow has been a precious commodity this winter) Either way this activity is fun to talk about even if you haven't had snow or live in an area with no snow accumulation.  Here is a picture of what a snowflake can look like up close.  Keep reading to find out how we did this activity and the fabulous book that we read too!

First we gathered a black piece of construction paper and a magnifying glass.  Some sites like Weather Wiz Kids recommend putting the paper in the freezer,  but it was a cold enough day for us!

Then we caught snowflakes on the black paper and our mittens.  It was a little easier catching them on our dark mittens because our paper would blow about at times!!! We observed lots and lots of beauties! Each snowflake is truly different and it is nice to show this through this activity.  C was a little scientest practicing her observation skills.

When we observed the snowflakes we saw all kinds of shapes very similar (but different) to these pictured below.  Each snowflake is different depending on the temperature,  humidity, wind speed,  and how long it takes for the snowflakes to hit the ground.  I'm sure if we observed snowflakes each time it snowed they would be different.  If you don't have snow you could observe Snowflakes Photographs from a Google Image Search by clicking here.  My daughter was fascinated at looking at the pictures too!!!

An excellent kid's book to go with this activity is Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline Briggs.  It is a true story about a man, Wilson Bentley, whom they called "Snowflake Man".  Wilson Bentley was obsessed with taking pictures of snowflakes in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  He was the first to do this and had a true passion for doing this.  He published a book in 1931, Snow Crystals ,with over 2,500 photographs of snowflakes!!! There is a Snowflake Bentley Museum too! 

 

Have Fun Observing Snowflakes!

Links:

Official Snowflake Bentley Website/ Museum
Experiment: Observing Snowflakes from Weather Wiz Kids 

My Other Snow Links:
Beaded Snowflakes
Snowflakes from Recycled Water Bottles

An Experiment in Making Snow

Two Kinds of Snow Dough

Bringing Color To Snow (Snow Painting)

Revisiting Snow Painting

Colorful Ice Sculptures 

Painting With Ice Cubes

This post is linked to: Link and Learn

An Experiment in Making Snow!

I often think about my readers that don't get snow,  so I thought they would appreciate a post on making snow!  We haven't really gotten much snow here in NE Ohio until recently and I can't imagine never really experiencing snow.  We had fun comparing our real snow to our homemade snow.  To create some snow all you need is a blender and some ice cubes!

First, pop about 16 ice cubes in your blender.

Then blend until you have ice that has turned to snow.  Make sure your blender is strong enough to grind ice! Here is our Instant SNOW!!!

C was AMAZED that we made snow!  We ran outside and grabbed some REAL snow and I told her to make some observations.  Can you guess which one is the real snow????  Pretty convincing???

C noticed the REAL SNOW was colder,  softer, and didn't taste as good!!!

C observed the HOMEMADE SNOW was warmer,  harder, and tasted better!!!  Both snows could form into snowballs when warmer.  Both melted....the homemade snow melted faster!

C had a great time with this experiment and I'm sure she will ask to do it again!!!

Check out this link from Weather Wiz Kids to find out all kinds of FACTS about SNOW,  like How is Snow Formed,  How do Blizzards Form, What are Snowflakes, Why is Snow white,  and more.....

If you don't want your snow to melt try some Insta-Snow and you just add water!

Also, check out this GREAT post At TinkerLab:  Making Fake Snow for some tips about Insta-Snow!!  

Which Snow do you think is the REAL SNOW in the photo with the two bowls of SNOW??? (the left or right bowl)

This post is shared with: It's Playtime, The Play Acdaemy, Link and Learn

An Easter Snow Bunny

Yesterday it snowed here, which isn't really that unusual for the end of March.  The minute it began snowing Cassie started singing, "Jingle Bells Jingle Bells", and that really put a smile on my face.  I'm so thankful for my daughter's positive attitude, when most people are grumbling because of this Spring snow. Today we decided to continue being positive and play out in the snow and create this wonderful Easter Snow Bunny! Cassie helped to build the Snow Bunny and we brought out our leftover "snow paint" from when we last did Snow Painting in February. Cassie was so proud of this  Snow Bunny!

Adding some color to the bunny's face that Cassie
made with snow.

Adding color all over!

Using the "pouring" method to add color!

Finished Easter Snow Bunny!

I'm so happy to have this positive girl!

I think we brought a lot of smiles to our neighborhood today!

Hoping to bring a smile to you too!

Did a child made you smile today?

This post is linked to:

FUN FOR KIDS FRIDAY
PRESCHOOL CORNER
NO TIME FOR FLASHCARDS
SHOW AND TELL
THE IDEA BOX: EASTER
CHILDMADE
FOR THE KIDS FRIDAY
MONKEYING AROUND
HIGH PAW
CRAFT SCHOOLING SUNDAY
PRESCHOOL CORNER

Revisiting Snow Painting!!

Well, since we were dumped on with all this snow again it gave us another opportunity to paint the snow!!!  This time we used brushes instead of spray bottles.  We used about a cup of water and five drops of food color or liquid watercolor. The brush method was not working well because the mixture was freezing on our brush so we ended up doing more of a Splatter Painting like the artist Jackson Pollock. So here were our results:

Cassie enjoyed the Splatter Painting, but then I suggested spraying the trees with the spray bottle technique and thought that turned out pretty! (spray bottle technique) I was really disappointed with the brush idea and knew we had to wait for a bit of a warmer day! Here is a tree picture:

We ended up having a warmer day yesterday so we tried out the brush technique again.  Still pretty discouraging for a preschooler, but I noticed that the foam brushes were working better because they held more color and spread it out better!  Much better success!  Solution: Use a foam brush and wait for a day over freezing!!!

Here is my little Artist at work:

Here is a BEAUTIFUL snow painting (with a foam brush)!!!!  The Artist told me that it is herself with the sun and it is raining!!! I think she is ready for Spring!!!

Have you had successes with snow painting?

This post is linked to:

SHOW AND TELL
TOT TUESDAYS
HIGH PAW
KIDS GET CRAFTY
MONKEYING AROUND
NO TIME FOR FLASHCARDS
PRESCHOOL CORNER