Ah! The elusive snow day!
Those rare days when classes are canceled due to snow, heavy ice, or extremely low temperatures. A snow day often means everyone in your household is stuck inside, doing what you can to stave off boredom and cabin fever.
The thing is:
Snow days are the perfect time to bond and have fun with your kids – while also teaching them valuable lessons – through arts and crafts. Making art with your kids not only avoids boredom and stimulates their creativity, but it also gives you insight into how your child is feeling as well as how they think.
Try Out These Cool Art Ideas with Your Kids
If you're currently stuck with the kids during a snow day, then this article is for you. Below you'll find some fun arts and crafts that are sure to entertain you and your kiddos. Each entry comes complete with the required materials as well as instructions.
So, let's get started:
1. Personal Christmas Tree
Materials:
- Paper
- Acrylic paints
- Paintbrushes
Instructions:
Have you ever wondered how your kids would design and decorate your Christmas tree if they had their way? With this simple project, you simply ask your kids what they'd want their own Christmas tree to look like, if they could design it themselves, then let them unleash their creativity through paint and paper.
Ask them questions like:
- How big do you want the tree?
- What color do you want the leaves and trunk to be?
- What decorations would you put on your tree?
- What about the Christmas lights?
- What would the gifts under the tree look like?
- And much more…
2. Glittery Snowy Town
Materials:
- Silver or white-colored glitter
- White glue
- Paper
- Acrylic paints
- Paintbrushes
Instructions:
This next project is a good way to teach your kids how to use glue and glitter – and how to respect both.
First, let them draw and paint a landscape scene.
Once the paint has dried, have them squirt tiny drops of glue on their painting, starting from the top (where the sky would be) to the bottom. If your glue doesn't come in an easy squeeze bottle, you can just dip the non-bristle end of your paintbrush in the glue and then dab it on the paper.
After applying the glue, carefully sprinkle a pinch of glitter on each glue drop. Once the glue dries, you just need to funnel the loose glitter back into its container and you're done!
3. Glue Resist Falling Snow
Materials:
- White glue
- Paper
- Acrylic paint
- Paintbrushes
Instructions:
If glitter isn't your thing, you can do this project instead.
Similar to the last project, you start by painting a landscape. The only difference is you don't paint in the sky yet – just the land and the clouds.
Once the paint has dried, apply glue the same way as in the previous project. This time, though, you're not sprinkling on any glitter. You just wait until the glue fully dries.
Once the glue dries, it's time to paint in the sky. Dip your brush in water then, without draining the excess water, immediately dip it into your desired sky color. Dip it in the water again, then paint proceed to paint in the sky, making sure to paint over the glue drops.
Because white glue repels water, its color should remain the same as the paper underneath. All that's left to do is let the paint dry and you're done!
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4. Colorful Paper Snowflakes
Materials:
- Coffee filters
- Kiddie scissors
- Acrylic paints
- Paintbrushes
- Pen (optional)
- Colored paper (optional)
Instructions:
Did you know that snowflakes look the same from a distance but are each actually unique upon closer viewing? In this project, you can have your kids design their own unique snowflakes.
There are two ways to do this:
Method 1- take a coffee filter then fold it in half then fold it again to get a "pizza slice" looking shape. Then fold it again to make a thinner pizza slice. Use the kiddie scissors to cut the "crust" side into your desired shape then unfold the filter to reveal the whole "snowflake".
Method 2- draw your desired snowflake shape on the coffee filter then cut it out with the kiddie scissors.
No matter which method you use, paint your snowflake with your desired colors. Let it dry, and you're done!
Alternatively, you can stick your snowflakes on a piece of colored paper (preferably blue or violet) to give it the appearance of falling snow.
5. Stampy the Snowman
Materials:
- Thin kitchen sponges
- Scissors
- Paper
- Acrylic Paints
Instructions:
This project is a neat way to teach your kids the stamp technique, and a good way to recycle your old kitchen sponges instead of throwing them away.
Make sure the sponges are dry and cut out different shapes. It doesn't matter what shapes you cut out, as choosing which shapes to use is going to be half the fun later. Just make sure, though, that you cut out various-sized shapes to give your kids more options.
Once you cut out all the shapes, have the kids paint a snowman by first dipping a foam shape in acrylic paint, then stamping it on the paper until they finally form a snowman.
You can also have them paint snow animals, should they wish. They're limited only by their imagination.
6. Three-Layer Landscape
Materials:
- Colored paper and/or different colored craft felt
- Scissors
- Paper
- White glue
- Acrylic paints
- Bond paper-sized plastic netting or mesh fencing (either 1/8 or 1/16-sized holes)
Instructions:
In this project, your kids are going to make a snowy landscape scene but different materials, in different layers.
The first layer is going to be the snowy sky. Let them pick a color from your colored paper or just paint a sheet of paper with their desired color and wait until it dries. Then, take the plastic netting or mesh fencing and place it over the colored side of the paper.
Paint over it with white, making sure each hole is filled in. Take the netting off before the paint fully dries to keep it from tearing the paper. You now have a "snowy sky" layer.
Next, cut out various-sized shapes from the colored paper/felt and have your kids choose and glue the shapes onto the first layer to make mountains.
Then, have them choose and glue shapes onto the base of the mountain to make a little house and maybe even some trees. Make sure not to move the 2nd layer too much so as not to displace it.
Then just let everything dry and you're done!